Fashion Blogs

Just incase you have not been paying attention, let me point out a few scary reminders about the USA Apparel Industry.  Condensing a century into a paragraph... the USA clothing factories of the past have been for the most part decimated by low cost labor in other countries.  As USA labor costs increased and labor cost in other countries declined, more and more production shifted offshore.  At the same time, Mom & pop fashion retailers, have been reduced to ashes by large retailers such as Wal-mart, Target, JC Penney, etc.  Subsequently fashion wholesalers were being squeezed for better pricing from the mass merchants.  Further more, consumers demanded lower prices driving mass merchants to squeeze wholesalers even harder.  All in all, it became a very difficult environment.

Now the USA Clothing Industry is faced with another sort of slow but steady invasion.  Sure it is not complete domination of the USA fashion industry, but it certainly a step in that direction.  Have you ever asked yourself, what would happen if "clothing factories" or "sourcing agents" started buying up popular brands???  In my opinion, it puts them in the drivers seat.  They take one step closer to controlling the market.

Here is a very good example of a long term USA company falling.  And a large foreign company, moving in the direction of control

Oxford Industries, Inc. announced today that on January 3, 2011 it consummated its previously announced sale of substantially all of Oxford Apparel, one of its operating groups, to LF USA, a subsidiary of Li & Fung Limited.  The net cash proceeds are expected to be in excess of $95 million after the collection of retained accounts receivable, the sale of in-transit inventory to LF USA and the payment of retained liabilities, transaction expenses and income taxes.  The Company's Oxford Golf business and a distribution center in Lyons, GA, which were part of Oxford Apparel, were not included in the transaction and will continue to be operated by the Company.

It is really not an issue of the dollars spent or earned on the deal, but more importantly it is key to keep on eye on the "brands" being gobbled up.  Read below to learn about what Li & Fung has just digested.

Oxford Industries, Inc. is an international apparel design, sourcing and marketing company featuring a diverse portfolio of owned and licensed brands and a collection of private label apparel businesses.  Oxford's brands include Tommy Bahama^®, Ben Sherman^®, Lilly Pulitzer^®, Oxford Golf^®, Arnold Brant^® and Billy London^®.  The Company also holds exclusive licenses to produce and sell certain product categories under the Kenneth Cole^®, Geoffrey Beene^® and Dockers^® labels.  Oxford's wholesale customers are found in every major channel of distribution, including national chains, specialty catalogs, mass merchants, department stores, specialty stores and Internet retailers.  The Company operates retail stores, restaurants and Internet websites for some of its brands.  The Company also has license arrangements with select third parties to produce and sell certain product categories under its Tommy Bahama, Ben Sherman and/or Lilly Pulitzer brands.  Oxford's stock has traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 1964 under the symbol OXM.  For more information, please visit Oxford's website at www.oxfordinc.com.

Learn more about Li & Fung.

For the record, I have absolutely nothing against Li & Fung.  As a matter of fact, I think they are awesome.  They have maintained a steady plan and have executed it well.  They are doing exactly what I wish I could do...  I see the direction in which they are moving and I applaud them for being this clever.  Start with production, buy brands, own retail, get a hand in e-commerce, control the world of fashion...

OK, they will not take over, but we must give them credit for making very smart moves on the chess board...

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