ABSTRACT
The production, distribution and consumption of textiles and clothing has epitomized the uneven development of the world economy since the very beginning of industrial capitalism in the eighteenth century, when the highquality, handicraft-based, Indian textile industry was destroyed by the output of Lancashire’s mills. In its turn Lancashire gave way to the United States, Germany and Japan; while today South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and, latterly, China, challenge the older established locations.
