Sign up to receive the Vogue Business newsletter for the latest luxury news and insights, plus exclusive membership discounts.
One year on from an earthquake that devastated regions heavily dependent on textile manufacturing, Türkiye — the world’s fifth largest textile exporter — is showing its resilience. But, as concerns about conditions in the supply chain linger, a large question mark over its future as a sourcing destination remains.
Türkiye is home to 65,000 textile and apparel companies. The earthquake of February 2023 hit the regions of Gaziantep, Malatya, Adıyaman and Kahramanmaraş, which collectively contribute over 40 per cent of Türkiye’s textile exports and 10 per cent of garment exports.
“The earthquake posed a severe challenge, impacting the country and its industries profoundly,” acknowledges Ahmet Öksüz, chairman of the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (ITHIB). “It was recognised as one of the most catastrophic events in recent history, and it tested the resilience and operational capacity of the textile sector.”
One year on, Türkiye is coping with problems shared by other exporting nations, including global economic uncertainty and inflationary pressures. In 2023, textile exports fell by 11.3 per cent year-on-year to $11 billion, while apparel exports were down by 10.7 per cent to $19.2 billion, according to Turkish export industry associations.
However, the country’s proximity to the European Union gives it a powerful geographic advantage over Asian sourcing destinations. Industry representatives believe the sector will bounce back, particularly in the second half of 2024.
ITHIB is encouraging its members to invest in research and development to maximise competitiveness. Manufacturers are also working hard to deliver production that complies with new sustainability commitments and legislation. “Innovation is critical in an era where consumers and businesses alike demand not only quality and cost-effectiveness but also sustainability and ethical production practices,” Öksüz explains. “We aim to align our production processes with global environmental and ethical standards.”
In March, the Istanbul Apparel Exporters’ Association (IHKIB) initiated cooperation with non-profit organisation Wrap to develop a pilot project to incentivise Turkish companies exporting to the US to obtain Wrap certification.
Türkiye is also looking to new markets to counterbalance a decline in exports to its major customers in the European Union — including Italy, its most important export market. Trade delegations to Mexico, Colombia and Argentina are scheduled this year.
Ethical concerns
However, concerns remain about ethical malpractice and workers’ rights in a country where independent unions, while permitted, do not operate with impunity.
A report by Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), released in January, suggested that the earthquake exacerbated and exposed already difficult working conditions and violations of workers’ rights in the textile sector, including concerns related to health and safety, instances of harassment and inadequate wages.
These issues have been identified in other exporting nations. “In countries that rely heavily on the garment industry, we see people without any real social safety net and for an industry that produces billions of dollars of profit every year, it’s indicative of a system that is severely broken. It generates so much wealth, but you have people working within the supply chain where if a disaster happens, they have nothing to fall back on,” says Elizabeth L Cline, lecturer of fashion policy at Columbia University.
Following the Türkiye earthquake, more than half of the respondents to the CCC survey reported damage to their homes and said both factories and the government failed to provide sufficient assistance. “One year later, tens of thousands of workers and their families still live in containers in these areas with little hope of securing permanent housing in the foreseeable future,” says Mehmet Türkmen, president of workers’ union Birtek-Sen.
Just over a third of workers who responded to the CCC survey also said they received no wages during enforced time off work. ITHIB refuted these claims. “The factories of many of our businesses were inoperable, despite severe operational disruptions, numerous companies continued to pay their workers for months, reflecting a deep-seated respect for labour rights and the human aspect of the industry,” says Öksüz. “While the industry as a whole is committed to upholding the highest standards, individual instances of non-compliance or shortcomings do not define the entire sector. It is not possible for workers to be victimised in a sector where social compliance and sustainability audits are multifaceted.”
Türkmen of Birtek-Sen claims significant action is rarely taken over grievances. “If an issue is reported to a brand, it takes some brands weeks before they respond — and weeks for a garment worker is a considerable amount of time. It results in financial losses for them if they’ve been wrongfully terminated or are striking before an issue is resolved,” he says.
The role of brands
Türkmen emphasises that these challenges persist because brands rarely visit or conduct audits, remaining largely disconnected from the processes within the factories with which they are contracted. For garment workers, there is apprehension about the future. “If orders start to increase, it will only mean more pressure on workers, which in turn leads to worsening conditions and lower wages,” Türkmen warns.
Despite the documented efforts of global fashion companies to address the aftermath of the disaster and to prevent the mistreatment of vulnerable workers, surveys conducted by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) and the Middle Eastern Technical University (METU) regarding their purchasing practices revealed responses considered unsatisfactory.
While union membership is legally permitted in Türkiye, garment workers still face repercussions for joining an independent union like Birtek-Sen. Last November, nearly 500 workers from Özak Tekstil, a major apparel manufacturer and supplier to Levi Strauss, protested at a factory in Urfa after a colleague was dismissed for switching unions at the end of last year — many were sacked.
“The real issue is the power imbalance in the supply chain. It can override national laws because governments can feel pressured to look the other way when it comes to their own labour laws just because they’re fearful of losing business,” says Columbia University’s Cline. “You have these extraordinarily powerful brands at the top of the supply chain [with] all of these incentives for brands to not really show real responsibility.”
Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.