Bulgarian textile, clothing and fashion industry - present, future and opportunities

Textile and apparel industry in Bulgaria is the second most important industry (after tourism) for the country’s economy. This industry includes around 3000 small and medium companies, which employ approximately 170 000 people. According to some research, in 2009 the occupied in the production of clothes in Bulgaria are specialized mainly in the creation of lady’s store clothes – trousers, skirts, jackets, dresses, blouses, shirts, top garment.

The apparel industry sector in Bulgaria has one of the highest shares in employment – 22.4 %.
Presently, Bulgaria is Europe's most resilient market for the production of apparel.
Bulgaria’s export of textiles and clothing has increased compared to previous years. 86% of all exports of these products are directed to the EU countries, which Bulgaria joined in January 2007.

The Apparel industry creates high value added share, accounting for a large share in total manufacturing value: 4 per cent, against 1.2 for EU. This is due to the positioning of the Bulgarian production in a specific production niche: toll processing.
But what is toll processing and how it works?

In the crisis the production of apparel moves to countries with cheaper labor such as Bulgaria. The toll manufacturing’s main advantages are associated primarily with the possibility of better and more easily provision of the necessary raw materials and seamless implementation of the production. Bulgaria is closer to the clients, the used materials are with better quality and the costs of transportation are low, compared to countries like China.

The main sources of raw materials are Turkey and the EU as the distribution is evenly – 25% Proximity to the Turkish market, its abundant supply and the toll processing are the main reason for these results. Some companies (33.4%) are trying to combine the raw materials for use, using not only imported but also Bulgarian materials.

Origin of the materials, used in the Bulgarian apparel companies

The Bulgarian companies are producing clothes for many foreign commercial brands such as „Hugo Boss”, „Esprit”, „Roy Robson”, „Tommy Hilfiger”, „Balmain”, „Lise Charmel”, „Next” and a number of others. These Bulgarian companies for clothing have quite stable material resource and building fund. Almost 80% of them dispose with private production buildings, and about 50% of them have private stores. Some of the clothes are produced with materials supplied by the client on a subcontract work. Some of them are made by Bulgarian and other quality materials.

In the coming years, European retailers will be forced to import the majority of large order, commodity clothing from China in order to remain competitive. But remaining competitive for these firms will also mean reducing opportunity costs of lost sales resulting from mid-season stock- outs, particularly for higher quality items. China, due to its slow delivery and inability to ship in small quantities, will not be an option for retailers and buyers to respond quickly to unforecasted fluctuations in demand. European retailers must look closer to home for these solutions.

Summarized the advantages for Producing in Bulgaria are:

- It’s in Europe, which means closer than other manufacturers of apparel (like China)
- Low transportation costs and quick response via fast delivery
- Competitive prices relative to the region
- High quality
- Flexibility for large and small orders
- Highly-skilled labor force
- Consistent reliability
- Modernized technology base
- Modern management systems of production quality
- Elimination of the import taxes of Bulgarian textiles and clothing in EU, which facilitates the delivery on these markets

In bgfashion.net are included over 3000 Bulgarian companies - manufacturers, trade companies, service providers in the field of fashion and beauty.

We are major media partner of many events, including Fashion evenings – one of the biggest fashion events in Bulgaria, which is presenting collections of famous Bulgarian designers and fashion houses and the International Fashion Congress, which was held on 23-24 April 2010 in Ruse and brought together Western Europe and the confection and fashion industry of the Balkans.

If you are interested in finding a company in Bulgaria, manufacturing apparel - ready garments or CMT, you can contact us with all your requirements and we are going to send your inquiry for free to all registered companies in our fashion directory.