Offshore manufacture, also called offshoring, refers to the relocation of manufacturing processes overseas, typically as a way of increasing profitability through low labor costs. The shift to offshore manufacture in the fashion industry has been critical in increasing the complexity of its supply chain, which is now linked with a myriad of social and environmental issues. Offshoring removes immediate control over manufacturing, dilutes responsibility for its social and environmental impacts, and leads to long and opaque supply networks that make complete transparency difficult to achieve. Yet, without transparency it is impossible to improve the damaging environmental and social practices in the production of fashion. In addition, offshoring significantly contributes to deskilling and the loss of manufacturing facilities in the countries of the Global North, which makes transition back to local production alternatives nearly impossible.
OFFSHORE MANUFACTURE
