Find A Clothing Industry Directory or Textile Industry Guide

Don't forget to visit the Fashion Industry Directory and Textile Industry Directory section.

When searching for apparel industry guides and databases the Apparel Search online directory is most definitely the best place to begin your search.  In our directories section you will find resources of all varieties.  This area of our web site contains guides to assist garment importers as well as fashion and textile exporters.  In an effort to maintain a well balanced resource center, the Apparel Search directory & guides section contains publications to assist clothing manufacturers, apparel wholesalers, and even clothing retail stores.  If you are a buyer or seller of fiber, fabric, or fashion, you have come to the proper place to research the most appropriate database to meet your companies requirements.

Among the most popular you will find clothing retail directories for women's wear, men's wear, and children's wear.  In these directories, you will access information regarding stores that are selling activewear, swimwear, surfwear, sportswear, dresses, lingerie, jeans, t-shirts, outerwear and much more.  The retail fashion store directories may also display a variety of retail classifications such as department stores, specialty stores, mass merchandisers & fashion boutiques.  If you are looking for buyer contact details such as buyers name, buyers phone numbers, etc., the retail store buyers guides are an appropriate choice. 

If your company purchases fabrics, you may wish to investigate the various textile manufacturer directories that are in the market.  Keep your eyes open to pick the right fabric guide for your company.  You may find some that specialize in a particular country.  Certainly if you are searching for USA fabric mills, you do not want to mistakenly purchase a fabric mill directory for China, Taiwan, or Korea.  Before ordering a fashion guide or directory, always make certain to ask which countries are represented in the book / cd rom.  Some databases will combine countries.  For example, a textile directory for fabric mills in the USA may also contain fabric mill information for Canada as well.  Anyway, my point is that you should make certain to read the directory cover and description of the publication carefully to make sure that you make the proper selection (make sure you are buying the type of book you need for your market).  And if you are not sure, do not be afraid to contact the directory sales representative by phone or by e-mail.  The sales reps are there to assist you.  Make sure you take advantage of their experience to make certain you make the proper selection for your purchase.

In today's market place clothing wholesalers, clothing store buyer, and clothing manufacturers must have access to many resources at their finger tips.  Certainly online b2b directories like ApparelSearch.com are great resources, but lets be honest. it is also nice to have a book to flip thru once in a while.  Personally, I read fashion news online all the time, but I also enjoy holding a news paper like the WWD, California Apparel News, or the DNR in my hands on occasion.  In the same manner, I enjoy having a copy of my salesman's guide in my desk drawer. 

If you are interested in locating jobbers, production resources, buying offices etc., read further into the directory section in its entirety.  I would be very surprised if you can not find a guide to satisfy your thirst.  If you do not find the directory that you are searching for, be certain to ask the publishers regarding custom directories.  Some of the leading publishers such as Fashiondex, Douglas, Infomat, The National Register etc., may possibly create customized directories based on your specific requirements.  If you are a production manager that is sourcing trimming for garment production and you can not find zipper, button, brand labels, or hangtag suppliers, and you can not find a single trim supplier directory to cover you needs, ask them if they can possibly create a customized directory for you.  The publishers may say no, but it surely can not hurt to ask.  Also, if you are looking for special sizes such as petites, maternity clothes, plus sizes or big & tall, missys or juniors be sure to ask about this as well.

Typical fashion industry directories will provide information regarding the following categories.

Clothing industry manufacturer directories may include information regarding contractors and factories that handle tasks such as the following: