ar.) Depending on the firm, garment orders would have to be placed about 6-9 months before scheduled delivery. Textiles were then booked and production took between 3 and 6 months from order to shipment.
26 On the fashion side, events were more closely geared to the seasons, except in the case of classic designs. Firms decided on and booked fabrics about a year in advance of garment delivery. Collections were completed about 4-5 months in advance of scheduled delivery and orders taken about 4 months ahead. Production took between 2-3 months, and delivery about 7 days (fashion garments were almost invariably air-freighted). Firms producing classic designs or holding stocks of basic materials were less closely tied to this timetable.
Role of international buying offices in Hong Kong
27 Hong Kong's eminence as a manufacturer of consumer products has resulted in the establishment of a number of international buying offices (Appendix J) to look after the interests of major customers, mainly in North America and Western Europe. Clothing being Hong Kong's principal manufacturing industry, it is also the major activity for the buying offices which, besides the obvious role of an intermediary between garment manufacturers and buyers, undertake most of the following services:
(1) monitoring local quota allocations and assessing their effect on final costs of garments;
(2) producing a range of sample garments for the benefit of buyers;
(3) arranging programmes for visiting buyers;
(4) checking quality control, including pre-shipment inspection;
(5) ensuring adherence to delivery schedules;
(6) in some cases, providing pre-shipment finance for local garment factories.
Because of their familiarity with local conditions and knowledge of the availability of alternative merchandise, buying offices are usually better placed than garment buyers to evaluate fabrics offered for bulk orders. This has resulted, in some cases, in garment buyers checking with their overseas buying offices that no comparable materials are available more cheaply when offered fabrics on their home ground.
Role of textile agents in Hong Kong
28 By no means all garment manufacturers bought textiles via agents. Those that did quoted several advantages, such as the availability of a greater variety of fabrics and elimination of the need to order a fixed minimum quantity of material. Additionally, agents should be able to obviate delivery problems from sources such as China.
29 Much of the trade in UK suitings material was done via local agents dealing with wholesalers and retailers for the tailoring sector. From the textile manufacturers' point of view, although not a necessity for dealing with other sectors, agents should at least be able to fulfil their usual roles such as keeping their principals informed about changes in the market and new designs, and promoting their principals' products at the start of the buying season. They should also be useful links in establishing and maintaining a long-standing relationship between UK textile manufacturers and Hong Kong garment manufacturers. These are all obvious points, but many of the manufacturers interviewed for this report said that they had never been offered British textiles, and that local agents representing British textiles were not as active compared to the French, Italians and Americans (Appendix K). In case this is due to lack of support and attention from the UK end, it would be useful to have the views of the principals listed.
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