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25 years ago international buyers just sought manufacturing options, but now, they view Colombia as a supplier with the full package in all product lines, brands and new business models such as franchises and joint ventures.
" Colombiamoda is a good example of the growing interest. We started to support the fair in 1992, when 10 foreign business people participated. They were only looking for garment assembly. Now, we have 789 confirmed buyers from 33 markets with different supply interests," explained the PROCOLOMBIA president, Maria Claudia Lacouture.
In fact, in the last 10 years, market diversification has been one of the key aspects. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, with figures from the DANE (National Administrative Department of Statistics), 29 markets were registered in 2012 that did not buy clothing from Colombia in 2002.
These markets include countries such as Cambodia, Lithuania, Romania, Latvia, Egypt, Qatar, Iraq, Kenya, Ukraine and Luxembourg.
This has contributed to a consistent annual growth, which for apparel between 1991 and 2012, was at a rate of one percent, going from USD 595 million to USD 775 million.
Furthermore, textile exports have increased at a compound annual growth rate of 4% in the same period, going from USD 221 million to USD 342 million, according to information from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, based on DANE figures.
Quality and Design Is What Buyers Most Admire about Colombia
In the words of the protagonists themselves, the evolution is clear. " I' ve been doing business with Colombians for 10 years. Many things have happened with Colombian fashion during this time because there has been evolution. They are at an amazing level, even higher than many brands in Europe," said Maria Panteleeva, when participating in Colombiamoda 2012. She is the official representative in Moscow of the Spanish brand, El Punto.
The same year, the Japanese businessman, Shoichi Sasaki, president of Show One Sports, said that he has been buying bathing suits from Colombia for seven years now because " they are number one in the world because their colors and designs are always completely new for us Japanese."
This kind of testimony is also heard in the countries of the Americas. The Canadian, Philip Newman, for example, during his participation in Colombiamoda 2011, stated that, " you hear more and more about Colombian fashion in cities such as New York, Chicago and Toronto. This is for several reasons, but mainly because manufacturers in Colombia respect every detail in production, and their decoration and needlework are just fantastic. Furthermore, they have the best fashion intuition and acumen."
Andre Badi, a Mexican company that has had trade relations for 3 years, is another example. " We have found very professional business people who deliver on time and provide quality. They are very well positioned in Latin America, to such a degree that their good reputation is heard everywhere," said its vice-president, Francisco Vega.
