After Years of Globalization, It’s Time to Pay the Tab
The Textile Exchange just celebrated its 20th anniversary -- and did so at an exhilarating conference and trade expo in Colorado Springs....
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From Field to Shelf
Opinion about the global market for cotton, textiles and apparel.
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Robert Antoshak
- Mar 15, 2021
- 7 min
The Good and Bad of Globalization
So, what do you do when business decisions made more than 30 years ago come back to haunt you? Well, you either acknowledge there's a...
285 views0 comments
Robert Antoshak
- Dec 28, 2020
- 3 min
A New Year, A New Blog
The year 2020 may go down in history as an inflection point, a time of significant change when so much went so wrong. But from out of...
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Robert Antoshak
- Dec 16, 2020
- 6 min
Will A Troubled Presidential Transition Add To Apparel Industry Woes?
(Co-Authored with Fashion+Sustainability advisor, Thomasine Dolan Dow.) As Americans, we're concerned that the presidential transition...
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Robert Antoshak
- Jun 12, 2020
- 6 min
Now's The Time For NGOs To Up Their Game
In the famous 1976 movie "Network," a distraught fictional American television news presenter, Howard Beale, had a breakdown on live TV....
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Robert Antoshak
- May 15, 2020
- 8 min
The Apparel Industry Is About To Change
Two recent articles left me wondering about where our world, let alone our industry, will end up once the Covid-19 pandemic eases. The...
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Robert Antoshak
- May 1, 2020
- 6 min
Does Covid-19 Mark the End of Globalization?
Are we witnessing the end of globalization? The simple answer is no. But, there is a more nuanced answer that I'd like to suggest:...
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Robert Antoshak
- Apr 20, 2020
- 7 min
The Growth Conundrum: How Does Slowing Global Economic Growth Affect Apparel?
Allow me to begin this column with an apology: I’m now going to sound like an economics wonk. Yikes. Economics. Growth rates, GDP, trade...
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Robert Antoshak
- Mar 14, 2020
- 5 min
Why Is Cotton Always The Apparel Industry's Punching Bag?
Having worked in the cotton business for many years, one of the things I’ve noticed about various clothing brands when pressed about...
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Robert Antoshak
- Feb 23, 2020
- 4 min
The Environmental Cost of Online Shopping
Years may change, but some things stay the same. For sure, many of the problems we faced as an industry last year still plague us at the...
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Robert Antoshak
- Oct 17, 2019
- 6 min
What Price Fast-Fashion and the Future of Clothes?
"Since the invention of the mechanical loom nearly two and a half centuries ago, fashion has been a dirty, unscrupulous business that has...
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Robert Antoshak
- Aug 18, 2019
- 5 min
Can Global Supply chains Ever be sustainable?
It's an old story. I've heard it from proponents of Made-in-USA production. How can our industry be truly sustainable if it maintains...
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Robert Antoshak
- Jun 2, 2019
- 7 min
Economic Inequality and its Impact on Apparel Demand
There seems to be growing concern over the future of capitalism – at least the American variety – so says The Washington Post in a...
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Robert Antoshak
- Apr 20, 2019
- 7 min
How does Slowing Global Economic Growth Affect Apparel?
Allow me to begin this column with an apology: I'm now going to sound like an economics wonk. Yikes. Economics. Growth rates, GDP, trade...
2 views0 comments
Robert Antoshak
- Sep 1, 2016
- 6 min
The Spear of Globalization and a World Divided
Protestors were arrested in Brussels recently for pelting trade officials with confetti, upset over the latest round of Transatlantic...
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Robert Antoshak
- Jul 4, 2016
- 7 min
Beyond Globalization: A Changing Textile and Apparel Industry
There are two distinct tiers of today’s textile and apparel industry to approach consumers. One tier embraces intricate far-flung global...
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Robert Antoshak
- May 16, 2016
- 5 min
How to Sustain Cotton's Competitive Advantage
Cotton isn't in the fabric of our lives anymore. Polyester holds that distinction today. Why is that? Price is a major factor; globally,...
11 views0 comments
Robert Antoshak
- Jun 15, 2015
- 5 min
The 'True Cost' of the Global Garment Business
It’s about time. Someone has finally produced a compelling documentary about the ills of the global garment industry. I’m speaking about...
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Robert Antoshak
- Jun 24, 2014
- 7 min
Cotton's Muddled Message
[Editor's note: I wrote this back in 2014, but we're still faced with the same muddled message about cotton today.] As you read this...
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Robert Antoshak
- May 24, 2012
- 1 min
The Impact and Unforeseen Implications of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement
As many of you may recall, there was a time when global trade in textiles and apparel was regulated by a system of quotas operated under...
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