American fashion brands book $80M in orders

A number of American fashion brands are buying nearly $80 million worth of garments from Philippine factories, marking a small but important win for the local apparel industry after the pandemic led to a slew of canceled orders.

These are the first purchase orders the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (Fobap) had reported since March, a momentum it hopes to sustain and eventually grow in the coming months, its president said in an interview with the Inquirer.

Fobap is a group of buyer representatives that monitor for their foreign principals how orders are being done in economic zones in the Philippines, from sampling and sewing to shipment and even after-sales.

“Hopefully, we won’t lose the momentum,” Fobap president Robert Young said in a phone interview with the Inquirer this week.

Young said Fobap members had been appealing to their principals abroad to give them at least some of the orders, especially since many workers are having a difficult time to cope with the health crisis.

“Please help us. Nobody will help us except you,” Young quoted Fobap’s message to the foreign principals, as government efforts to help ailing companies during the pandemic fall short of the promised relief.

“We have been serving you for the past 10 to 20 years. What is another order? Everyone else canceled.”

Young estimated that around $300 million worth of planned orders were canceled at the start of the year.

The events started to turn for the better last week when popular brands Ann Taylor, Vineyard Vines and Ralph Lauren confirmed orders worth $28 million, Young said. Another $50 million was made by Lucky Brand Jeans, Talbots, Kohl’s and Champion.