Wertschöpfungsketten von Luxustextilien in Delhi

Abstract

In the last three decades, Delhi has witnessed the emergence of an independent textile industry that focuses on the production of highly specialized luxury garments. Until the 1980s, the Indian garment industry was mainly characterized by self-employed, locally operating tailors, and unorganized retailers. By that time, a few innovative entrepreneurs had identified the potential of the traditional Indian textile handicrafts for contemporary fashion however, and thus laid the foundations for today’s luxury garment industry. This development was actively fostered by the Indian government, which created supportive institutional framework conditions for this emerging industry.
Against this background, different value chains within the heterogeneous luxury garment industry in Delhi are analyzed in this exploratory study. While production processes are similar in all of the researched companies, there are significant differences regarding the size of these companies and related to the networks in which they are embedded. Although these value chains are mainly organized regionally, the designers act as lead firms and are embedded in global networks. In contrast, the suppliers are globally disconnected and often marginalized. The findings indicate that the emerging industry still mainly serves national or regional markets, but especially larger and established companies consider expanding to global markets.