Catalan textile-fashion companies look to 2023 with uncertainty

The Modacc cluster has today published its report on the outlook for Catalan fashion in 2023

17 of May of 2023
Modacc

The Catalan Fashion Cluster has presented today, Wednesday, the report on the perspectives of Catalan Fashion 2023. The report is based on data collected from a total of forty Catalan companies representative of the Catalan textile and fashion sector. The companies surveyed are small and medium-sized companies with a turnover of between 5 and 40 million euros. From this barometer, Modacc assures that the sector has experienced a positive evolution during the last two years and has definitively recovered from the effects caused by the pandemic.

Inflation also affects the textile and fashion sector

In terms of sales, 77.8% of the companies state that in 2022 they have increased compared to the results obtained in 2021. Looking ahead to 2023, almost 63% of companies believe that the volume of sales will continue to increase compared to the previous year. 

The Modacc study also reveals that one of the factors that most concern the companies surveyed is the impact of inflation on consumers' budgets, price increases in supplies and energy and labour costs. 

Another of the concerns detected as a result of this report is the adaptation of companies to adapt their processes and products to the new European environmental regulations, although this is still very unstable and uncertain.

36% of the companies surveyed in the Modacc barometer plan to increase their workforce

While 50% of the companies are committed to maintaining their entire workforce as it was in 2022, more than 35% of the companies foresee an increase in the number of their employees. 

36.1% of companies in the Catalan textile and fashion sector have between 11 and 50 employees, and 38.9% have more than 51 workers.

Fashion more sustainable and customized 

Regarding the tendencies of market, Modacc says that the consumer decants by products more customized, sustainable and identify the digital interaction with the customer as a key fact in the next years.

Internationalization and innovation

The fashion catalan sector concentrates their  international sales in the rest of Europe, North America and Latam. Asia follows showing reluctant by their high barriers of access to the market. Practically 70% of the fashionable companies of the sector foresee to increase his investments and international bandages during the 2023 causing a greater growth of the company consolidating his product and the mark and like this increasing it competitiveness in the market.

The innovation turns into the big and main bet for the companies of the sector. It estimates that 88,5% of the companies invest 10% of their annual budget in R&D that will allocate , mainly, to the purchase of teams and/or softwares for the digitalization of processes, in the communication and in the marketing to reinforce the notoriety of mark and improve his platforms of e-commerce.

The president of the Clúster Català of the Fashion (MODACC) and Ceo of the brand SIMORRA, David Dimas, affirms that the study shows that, "in spite of the inflation and the uncertainty to the future, the sector of the Catalan Fashion is surpassing the difficulties lived with the pandemia and is optimistic in relation to the future."