Range and technology on one side, lead time and proximity on the other.
China has the widest range of mills, fibres and finishes in the world. Bangladesh is the world's second-largest garment exporter, with a growing base of knit and denim mills close to its factories. Both are right; for a given fabric, usually one is more right.
When China usually wins
- New or technical qualities: performance synthetics, specialty blends, technical finishes.
- Small runs across many colours, where a deep mill base helps.
- Fibres that are hard to find locally, such as lyocell blends or recycled nylon.
When Bangladesh usually wins
- Core cotton knits and denim in volume.
- Garments made in Bangladesh, where local fabric removes weeks of sea freight.
- Programmes where the buyer's market gives better duty terms to garments made with local fabric.
We start every programme by asking which country serves the requirement better, and we're comfortable with either answer.
