ITAA-KSCT Joint Symposium

Why Sourcing from China? A Case Study on VF Corporation’s Textile and Apparel Sourcing and Supply Chain Strategy

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Abstract

This study explores the key factors that affect U.S. fashion companies’ choice of China as a sourcing base for apparel and their textile intermediaries. Different from existing studies based on macro trade data, we conducted a firm-level analysis of VF Corporation’s entire apparel supply chain in 2020, which included a total of 327 factories worldwide, making either finished garments or their textile inputs. The logistic regression results show that VF seems more likely to source T&A from China when a higher percentage of production processes across the apparel supply chain happens in Asia. Reflecting China’s shifting role in the supply chain, the result also shows that VF is more likely to use China as a supplier of textile intermediaries than the finished garment. However, no evidence suggests that an apparel item’s retail price and a factory’s record in environmental compliance or social compliance affect VF’s consideration of sourcing from China.

Keywords: sourcing strategy, China, textile and apparel supply chain, VF corporation

How to Cite: Lu, S. (2022) “Why Sourcing from China? A Case Study on VF Corporation’s Textile and Apparel Sourcing and Supply Chain Strategy”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings. 78(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.13327

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