Volume 62, Issue 1

Introduction: Production and Sales of Clothing since the End of the 19th Century This paper traces the development of the clothing industry and the clothing retail trade in Germany, and the historiography thereof. In contrast to the textile industry, which experienced substantial technical progress in the course of the industrialization, these industries remained labour intensive. After World War II, the European clothing industry followed cheap labour. Production was relocated in the 1950s from the urban consumption centers to the countryside, in the 60s to the European periphery and in the 70s outside Europe. The German clothing retail trade underwent fundamental change as well, especially in the 30s when many of them were «aryanized». This issue contains five papers on the German and American clothing business.

Unnoticed Disappearance – The Decline of the West-German Clothing Industry in the 1960s/70s In the beginning of the 20 th century the German clothing industry used to be a considerable producer of consumer goods, manufacturing clothes for both home and export market. In the 1960s and 70s this branch of the German industry began to decline, mainly due to the pay gap between the labor costs in Germany and low-wage-countries located in Eastern Europe and Asia. In response to this development bigger German companies outsourced their production abroad to save labor costs. Smaller companies often lacked the needed financial resources and had to face bankruptcy as result. At the end only services like planning and quality control remained in Germany. In consequence of this development a lot of German seamstresses lost their jobs. The government did not care about these problems; the enterprises did not receive subsidies. The unions in the sector were weak due to a high percentage of working women and the high ratio of small and medium sized regionally dispersed enterprises.

The Role of the Ghetto Litzmannstadt (Łódź) for the Clothing Provision of the German Armed Forces and Private Firms (1940 to 1944) Shortly after the establishment of the Ghetto in Łódź, the German administration set up a textile and clothing department. As Łódź was the leading Polish textile center, many ghetto inhabitants had basic or advanced skills in the textile and clothing business. After several months it became clear for the Jews that working for the Germans was the only chance to making themselves valuable and to avoid or postpone being deported to extermination camps. The textile and clothing department soon became the largest sweatshop in the ghetto and was also an important provider of textiles, clothing and leather goods for the German economy. Previous research followed the claim of the department's head that the German military took over 90 per cent of its production. We show for the large textile and clothing department that the share of production for civilian purposes was much higher, around 50 per cent. Moreover, we analyze the business relationship between the ghetto administration and German firms.

Uniforms instead of Ulsters. Textile Retail Trade in the First World War The study explores the impacts of war time economy and regulation on German textile retailers. An adequate supply with clothing was essential for military success as well as for keeping social peace at the home front. The article deals with this central conflict and asks for the reasons, the implementation and the consequences of regulation on the clothing distribution sector and its single businesses. Special attention is paid to the expectations and demands the distribution sector had to deal with – by its suppliers, customers and public and military authorities. I argue that only because of the systematic robbery of textile resources within the occupied territories in 1914/15, there was little regulation on textile retailers within the first months. But because «Textilnot» was already eminent and the war lasted longer than expected, regulation reached a new high by establishing the central institutions of clothing rationing in 1916: the «Reichsbekleidungsstelle» and the «Bezugsschein». It can be shown that the regulation amplified structural changes within the retail sector. It accelerated the vertical integration of production and distribution. The war also showed the flaws within the retailer`s organizations. Compared to their suppliers the retailers were deeply divided and did not stand on common ground to influence the regulation process. They were held responsible for the lack of supply and rising prices. But this loss of trust by the broad public helped to overcome division and paved the way for the first umbrella organization. The article concludes that the lack of textiles was both – impulse and unsolved problem for war-time regulation. The textile distribution did not collapse because of an effective regulation, but rather because of the strict civilian textile abstinence.

The Principle of «Objectivity in Distribution». The Marketing Concept of the Schocken Group in the Weimar Republic The First World War and the Hyperinflation of the early 1920s threw the German retail trade into a serious crisis. After the currency stabilization of 1924 many companies tried to increase revenues and reduce overheads by focusing more on the demands of the customers. One measure taken most notably by some large companies was to build central advertising agencies to pool their energies. This essay explores the increased customer and marketing orientation of the textile retail trade by using the example of the department store group Schocken. The new business strategy of Schocken was accompanied by a similar corporate philosophy and was based on the principle of «objectivity in distribution». This principle affected their range of goods, their architecture and decoration of the shops, their customer service and their advertising strategy.

A World of Experiences under the Banner of the Elk. On the «Fabrication of Visibility» in the History of Abercrombie & Fitch The article sheds light on the history of the US-American fashion cult label Abercrombie & Fitch. It departs from an episode that dates back to the corporation's early heydays as an outfitter for hunters, fishermen, and outdoor enthusiasts, and then turns to the more recent history of the company as a supplier of exclusive casual apparel mostly catering younger target groups. In doing so, particular attention is given to the sometimes aesthetic, sometimes scandalous, but always attention catching «fabrication of visibility» which used to be typical for Abercrombie & Fitch from its relaunch in the 1990s until its recent decline and which largely contributed to the company's profitable difference.