By Anita Zuñiga
Did you know that there's a trend indicating that Chilean consumers are preferring to buy local brands? This is essentially due to the fact that designer brands are gaining ground thanks to the fact that brands market primarily through social media, better addressing consumer needs in areas such as product quality-price ratio, durability, authenticity, and after-sales service. This is reflected in an Accenture study , according to which: post-pandemic Chilean consumers are more conscious of prioritizing the purchase of more environmentally friendly products, shopping in neighborhood stores, or simply purchasing locally sourced brands.
Sustainable Fashion Consumer
Added to this is the socioeconomic crisis generated by the global coronavirus pandemic, and the call to raise awareness due to the effect of the ongoing climate emergency - reflected in the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) which establishes that among its goals for 2030 the circular economy hopes to have generated a change in consumption habits , promoting sustainable local development, compatible with the visions of each country.
A report reaffirms that “the circular economy is expected to become firmly established in the culture of each continent, promoting sustainable and conscious patterns of use, purchasing, and production within each society . ”
And this is confirmed by the trend with recent literary releases, referring to the Chilean clothing industry, with investigations such as: "I Make My Clothes: Sewing and Recycling for a Sustainable World" by journalist Maryló, a clothing recycling enthusiast; or "Reviving a Thousand Garments" by Dani Seguel (aimed at educating children about sustainable clothing); or "Changing the Verb: A Journey Through the Hidden Side of Our Clothes" by Sofía Calvo, which addresses the importance of sustainability in the fashion industry.
Buying from China vs. Buying Local
But how is China linked to the Chilean fashion industry? As in the rest of Latin America, and particularly in South America, Chile's trade with China has grown exponentially over the past two decades, facilitated by the FTA between our country and China, which came into effect in 2005 and has included trade in services and other items such as apparel since 2017.
China is the main driver of the rampant national consumption of "fast fashion," represented by the Santiago Chamber of Commerce, with 80% of textile imports coming from the Asian giant. Examples include Shein, which sells its garments in 220 countries and has become the fashion store of Generation Z, leaving behind Aliexpress, Shopee, and Mercado Libre, thanks to the sale of low-cost clothing at half price. Meanwhile, India, Vietnam, and Bangladesh contribute 6% of the national market in clothing imports alone.
In a scenario where the trade link: Chile versus the People's Republic of China, which has been characterized mainly by selling basic products with low added value, such as second-hand clothing and clothing rejected for its low quality, made in China or Bangladesh that passes through Europe, Asia or the United States before reaching the ports of our country, which resells containers or bales of "fast fashion" clothing to Latin America, while the rest arrives in the Metropolitan Region to be sold by stores in Barrio Meiggs in Estación Central, Bandera Street in Downtown Santiago or in the Patronato neighborhood in the Recoleta commune.
Fast Fashion vs. Tons of Clothes
Every year, some 59,000 tons of clothing enter Chile via the port of Iquique to the Alto Hospicio free trade zone in northern Chile, of which at least 39,000 tons, if not sold, end up in landfills in the Atacama Desert, according to the South China Morning Post .
This contrasts with the skepticism of Chinese millennials, who currently maintain a rejection of fast fashion, just like Chilean millennial and zentennial consumers post-pandemic, who are fueling a budding appetite for buying national brands online. In Chile, this is due to the gradual rise and commercialization of designer designs, which are traded mainly through social media (29.5%) and their own stores (26.3%). In addition to being sold by the same costume designer (86.3%), who is also in charge of its communication (89.5%), according to the survey "Economic diagnosis of designer fashion in Chile" MODUS .
Meanwhile, the same research indicates that "Made in Chile" clothing contributes around 1% of GDP, while the turnover of Chinese products exceeds 70%, and the remainder is divided between garments from Southeast Asia, Latin America, and, to a lesser extent, Europe. This concludes that the local fashion industry's contribution to national GDP within Chilean manufacturing as a whole is only 1.9%, an insignificant figure considering that 22.1% of Chilean fashion designers export products, with shipments occurring no more than twice a year (52.8%), according to MODUS .
Facts that are urging a series of local companies that manufacture designer fashion to try to understand if consumers truly prefer local brands, in order to adapt their marketing, given that the country's growth has allowed consumers to demand better quality products, although price, according to Reaching the Chilean Consumer , remains the main factor in purchasing decisions, but other determining factors are quality, manufacturing materials, sustainability of textiles, durability, customer service and after-sales experience and the availability or stock of items for sale in online channels.
Despite the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Chileans remain loyal to brands, with nearly 70% expressing their independence from them. Respect for the environment is increasingly important in consumer decisions. In fact, in Latin America, Chile is considered the most aware of environmental issues , and consumers are increasingly paying attention to the labels of the products they consume and therefore to the authenticity, durability, and quality of clothing. Even more so given the recent case of a controversial retail chain that is being investigated for allegedly selling counterfeit products. The future of sustainable fashion is on the horizon, with a growing number of fashion-loving Chileans demanding local designers who make clothing with traditional textiles, with the aim of promoting the local development of a sustainable fashion industry compatible with the visions of each country.