Turkish textile, which quickly overcame the stagnation caused by the pandemic in foreign trade, increased its exports by 50% in 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year. Sabri Korkmaz, the Founder of Shout, which reached an export of $9.8 billion in the first 7 months, said, “We aim to carry our products labeled as ‘Made in Turkey’ to wider geographies, by taking the ‘street fashion’ wind that we have caught in the last period behind us.”
According to TUIK data, Turkey earned $14 billion from textile exports in 2020. The sector, which made a dynamic start to 2021 compared to last year, saw $9.8 billion at the end of the first 7 months. The highest export was made to the USA with $1.2 billion, followed by Germany with $1.1 billion, Italy with $6.2 million and the United Kingdom with $6.1 million. Sabri Korkmaz, the Founder of Izmir-based clothing brand Shout, evaluated the positive developments in the textile industry with the following words:
“We see that the recovery after the pandemic is progressing rapidly. We are working to deliver our products to more countries, especially after Europe’s interest in Turkish textiles. We see the locomotive of growth in street fashion, which is the favorite of young generations.”
“MADE IN TURKEY” LABEL PRODUCTS WILL BE MOVED TO WIDER GEOGRAPHIES
According to TUIK data, the textile industry, which has a significant share in Turkey’s total exports, has achieved 8.5% of the export revenue in the first 7 months of the year. Expressing that behind this success is Turkey-based production and sectoral efforts to increase exports, Korkmaz said, “The performance achieved by the sector is very promising not only for our economy but also for domestic producers like us. We have been investing in high-quality production for years. We produce our designs according to Organic Textile Standards in a way that does not harm human health. With the power of the wind we caught from street fashion, we aim to carry our ‘Made in Turkey’ labeled products to wider geographies.”
“THE AVERAGE OF $200 SPENT ON A SINGLE PRODUCT”
Sabri Korkmaz said that according to a global survey conducted by PwC’s consulting company Strategy& and Hypebeast, more than 60% of street fashion consumers are under the age of 25, and that one of the new and important export markets is the internet. Korkmaz said, “Half of this audience buys their products from the brands’ websites and spends an average of $200 on a single product. For this reason, we will expand our market by investing in technology and supply chain while maintaining traditional sales. I believe that street fashion is the new locomotive of the textile industry.”
Source: Sabah / Translated by Irem Yildiz