Behind glamour, Argentina's textile backbone buckles

Buenos Aires Fashion

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Week bustles with models showing off the creations of local designers, some well known and some hoping to break through in one of Latin America’s most influential fashion capitals. This year, though, the glamour on the runway contrasts sharply with the turmoil behind it: Argentina’s textile and apparel sector is entering one of its worst downturns in decades, battered by ultra-cheap imports—many from Chinese fast-fashion platforms - that are flooding the market.President Javier Milei’s market-opening agenda, aimed at deregulating trade, driving competition and lowering prices, has accelerated this shift. Last year, his government cut clothing and footwear tariffs from 35% to 20% and it has relaxed rules on cross-border e-commerce orders, lifting in 2024 the duty-free threshold for courier shipments to $400. Milei’s policies have helped rein in inflation, stabilize prices and boost economic activity, primarily in agriculture.