Branch Spotlight: The Textile and Clothing Industry in Europe and Germany – There's Life in the Old Dog Yet

The clothing industry in Europe has lost vast swathes of its industrial base. This also now applies to the textile industry to a far lesser degree. Textile and clothing manufacturers in a few European countries were nevertheless able to hold their own relatively well in a sector characterised by the international division to a greater extent than almost any other. These manufacturers specifically include representatives of the German textile and clothing branch, who have not only outperformed the EU average since the economic crisis of 2008/2009, but have also made better progress than almost all of their Western European counterparts. In the textile sector the success of German firms is due to their focus on (high) tech textile segments. However, textile manufacturers from China are also competing for Germany's leadership of the market even in this segment. German textile and fashion firms will nevertheless continue to enjoy success at a national and international level in the future.