hankyoreh

A sewing company in Seoul’s Yongsan District makes clothing for the Dongdaemun clothing market on June 1.

“It’s better than doing nothing, I guess,” Kim Jeong-jong said with a sigh. The CEO of Green Trading Company, based in Seoul’s Geumcheon District, spoke with the Hankyoreh on the telephone on June 8.

Kim’s company generally makes pants and skirts for G-Cut, a clothing brand operated by Shinsegae International. But since February, when orders fell, he started making masks. Kim has been running a sewing company for 17 years now, but this is the first time he’s made masks.

Sewing companies that had been getting orders from online stores, brands, and the Dongdaemun clothing market have been eking out a living by making cloth masks and protective gear. They were left with little choice after orders fell amid a contraction of the apparel industry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kim said that Green Trading Company used to get sewing orders from an average of 30 brands a month, but during the pandemic, that number has dropped to five. But he’s been able to avoid closing, though just barely, thanks to orders for cloth masks from the Blue House, local governmental bodies such as Guro District Office and Geumcheon District Office, and companies in the private sector; some orders are even bound for Canada.

“It would be much better to make clothing,” Kim said, noting that the margins for sewing apparel are much higher.

It takes about 30 minutes on average to sew a single cloth mask with a filter slot, with 1,600 won (US$1.34) allotted to labor. In contrast, sewing an item of clothing takes about 3-6 hours, with 20,000 won (US$16.70) allotted for labor.

“I used to have five or eight freelancers on the job, but now I only have one,” Kim said.

Shalom Passion — a bigger company, with more than 50 employees on its payroll — has been making between 2,000 and 3,000 protective suits a day since April. The company generally sewed tops for such brands as LF’s Daks Ladies and Athe’s Vanessa Bruno. But after clothing orders plunged by about 70% year on year during the COVID-19 crisis, the company has shifted its focus to protective gear.

“We’re just grateful to get orders for protective gear. Protective gear is tricky to make, both because of its length and because of the hoods and zippers. But as competition heats up between companies bidding for orders, pay for factory workers continues to fall,” said Yu Myeong-hui, the company’s CEO.

Labor costs for a single item of protective gear were at 4,300-4,500 won (US$3.59-3.76) when Yun started making it, but it’s now much lower, at 3,200-3,600 won (US$2.67-3.00). Some companies that placed big orders for protective gear without taking their finances into account have run out of funds and aren’t able to make their payments, Yun said.

“We supplied 50,000-60,000 pieces of equipment but are still owed 200 million won [US$166,928],” Yun said.

Smaller sewing companies don’t have staff and equipment for bigger protective gear orders to make up for losses

But small-scale sewing companies aren’t likely to win orders for protective gear because they lack the equipment and staff to handle big orders.

“Masks might be an option, but I’ve never thought about protective gear,” said Choe Ho-geun, who sat down with the Hankyoreh on June 1. Choe is the CEO of Lione, a sewing company that supplies attire to the Dongdaemun clothing market and other places.

“Our clothing orders have fallen by more than 40% during the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve had to cut my employees’ wages by 700,000-800,000 won [US$584.25-667.71],” Choe added, describing the company’s financial difficulties.

Some sewing companies that fill orders for online clothing retailers have seen their sales increase during the pandemic. Rock Apparel, a sewing company that has been doing business with an online retailer for about eight years, reported that its monthly sales since February have on average been about 10% higher than in January, before the coronavirus began to spread.

“The percentage of sewing companies that deal directly with online clothing retailers is still small,” said Lee Sang-taek, CEO of Rock Apparel and chair of the Korean Sewing and Fashion Association.

“It’s hard to source fabric and miscellaneous materials from China, and the Chinese clothing vendors who used to bring samples aren’t allowed to enter the country. On top of that, the domestic market is sluggish, so a large number of sewing companies have had to close.”

By Kim Yoon-ju, staff reporter

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