Confection
Confection (from the Latin confectio , from French confection , "production, manufacture") usually refers to the serial production of outerwear and underwear and also the garments themselves produced in this way. The general meaning manufacture, preparation for very different economic objects of other types such as Confectionery .
Beginnings
Until well into the 19th century, clothing was traditionally made in family self-sufficiency or by craftsmen who had been organized in tailors' guilds in Europe since the Middle Ages and made individual items to order. The gradual transition to new forms of production began around 1800. Individual entrepreneurs employed a large number of seamstresses to have clothing produced in series, but still sewn by hand in the usual way. When there was greater demand, orders were given to so-called interim masters, who in turn let seamstresses work for them, mostly working from home and extremely poorly paid. This type of garment factories first emerged in France and England , while the strict association with guilds in small German states delayed development. A first notable clothing company was founded in Paris in 1770 , and since 1789 other companies have sprung up in Paris and other French cities. In 1799, the first German clothing store was established in Hamburg . In 1836 a company for the serial production of coats started work in Berlin , the city quickly developed into a nationally important manufacturing and trading center for ready-made clothing.
Early industrialization
Since around 1850, manufacturing has been used as an industrial technique on a larger scale. In the 1840s, powerful mechanical looms had been developed, in 1851 the American mechanic Isaac Singer received a patent for the sewing machine , which he had significantly improved , and in 1858 the first cutting machine was available. For the most part women worked in the new factories, mostly under oppressive working conditions. Many craftsmen had to give up the tailoring profession entirely or also go to the textile factories as professionally declassified workers because they could not stand up to the competition of mass production. In the long term, in addition to patchcutters, there were relatively few bespoke tailors who serve a more demanding and well-to-do clientele.
Modern manufacturing
The contemporary job description of the clothes maker is not based on manual work processes, but on the concerns of industrial mass production. Large numbers of items are produced based on prefabricated model cuts in various internationally standardized sizes ( clothing sizes ). Modern industrial clothing production is organized based on a division of labor ; production is divided into the areas of cutting, assembling the cut parts and accessories, sewing and quality control. Each employee only works in one area at a time. Usually, electronically controlled systems are used for cutting . For sewing work there are halls with special sewing machines for each individual part and each work step - for collars, pockets, sleeves, lining, etc. Certain machines , for example for buttonholes or sewing buttons, do their work completely independently. Semi-skilled workers are almost exclusively employed on the machines. Dressmakers, i.e. trained skilled workers , take on the coordination and control tasks or particularly qualified activities such as the production of models and cuts.
globalization
Despite the division of labor and the use of specialized machines, manufacturing remains a relatively wage-intensive industry. As a result, many companies relocated jobs from traditional locations abroad, to low-wage countries such as China, for example, which in 2005 achieved a global market share of 50% in textiles. Textile manufacturers calculate with a saving of 20 to 30 percent if they have production in low-wage countries instead of, for example, in Germany, and they explain that the market dictates the low sales prices that can only be achieved by outsourcing. At the beginning of the 1970s, 150,000 people were still working in the German clothing industry. 30 years later, 100,000 jobs had moved abroad. The development was similar in other countries with traditionally highly developed textile industries , such as England and France.
Environmental and social aspects
Fashion is considered to be the epitome of consumer society , which is expressed in particular by the fast fashion business model , through which customers who are willing to buy should always be offered new fashion. Companies such as H&M and Zara are considered pioneers of this business model . The United Kingdom has the highest per capita consumption of clothing in Europe at 26.7 kg. The fashion industry is seen as a major source of greenhouse gases and other damage to the environment. In 2015, the global fashion industry was responsible for around 1.2 billion tons of CO 2 emissions. A normal pair of jeans uses almost 4,000 liters of water in the course of its consumption cycle. The fast fashion business model involves outsourcing production upstream of the supply chain to contract companies in low-wage countries (see supply chain management ). This has resulted in recurring disasters, including the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory, killing more than 1,100 employees.
See also
literature
- Axel Föhl and Manfred Hamm: The industrial history of textiles . VDI-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1988, ISBN 3-18-400728-6
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ursula Hermann, Knaurs etymologisches Lexikon , 1983, p. 264
- ↑ a b c Harrabin, R. (2018) Fast fashion is harming the planet, MPs say, https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45745242