The Galician Fashion Textile Cluster (COINTEGA) is made up of 85 companies operating in each link of the value chain: textile, knitwear, auxiliary industry, technical textiles, retail, and specialised services. COINTEGA is the leading entity for all agents and companies operating in the Galician Textile-Fashion ecosystem.

What is the differential value of the products manufactured in Galicia?

One of the main strengths of the Galician textile-fashion sector is that it manages the supply chain. This means being able to control the entire process, from product development, a much broader concept than simple design, to the selection of materials and the manufacture of garments.

Thanks to this competitive advantage, which has translated into great flexibility, Galician brands have been able to achieve better results when carrying out their strategies for accessing the market segments where they have positioned themselves, the results of which we can now see at the international level.

In short, the ability to meet the changing needs of demand, without becoming mere distributors, is possibly one of the main differential values of the products sold by Galician brands.

The search for flexibility has always been in the DNA of Galician industry, and it is important to highlight the fact that it has been a pioneer in the reconciliation of work and family life for women, anticipating as early as the 1960s the possibility of working from home, which seems to be the great improvement of our time through teleworking and which had already been achieved here more than 50 years ago.

How are the companies of the Region approaching the process in terms of sustainability?

The bulk of the sector has always sold a sustainable product, proof of this are the continuous statements from customers, referring to the amount of time that the garments have been in their closets, often for decades.

Large Galician companies have also been pioneers and driving forces in the implementation of corporate social responsibility policies for years, being models in the recently created Observatory of the Textile and Fashion Sector, the improvement of the sector's sustainability being among its main goals.

Also noteworthy is the existence in Galicia of a growing number of companies specialised in consulting services for the implementation of sustainability policies, which also represent a very efficient formula for business cooperation, since they act as “pollinators”, transferring knowledge and good practices from leading companies to SMEs.

What are the challenges for a small textile retailer in a globalised market?

Not only globalised, but also increasingly digitised. Undoubtedly, the main challenge for small textile retailers is to find the formula for adding value, which is going to be their only guarantee of survival.

Until not so long ago, this small trade was limited to waiting for the representatives of different brands to visit, placing orders according to what seemed most interesting, and at most complementing that with a visit to a few fairs. For those ahead of the game, it may have meant travelling to scope out trends and see what was happening out there. But today that’s not enough.

At the very least, they will have to be the ones who go out to look for products for their customers, get to know much better what they are selling, find new ways of relating to their suppliers, generate a relationship of trust with the customer, becoming their "personal shopper” in a way, because anyone who intends to limit themselves from a small business to just selling clothes, no matter how well located they may be, is going to have a hard time.

What is your assessment of Altri's announcement to set up a textile fibre factory in Galicia?

This is great news, which will generate business opportunities beyond what we can imagine, since in addition to adding value to the forest products that are the raw material, this activity will generate its own business ecosystem.

On the other hand, although it does not have to be the same company, it would be interesting to link the production activity of these new fibres with a recycling plant, creating an Iberian hub here in the Northwest of the peninsula.

We seem to be seeing a generational change in Galician firms.

In some cases, we are already in the second generational replacement, but to analyse this issue in depth we must pay attention to what have been the great moments of creation of textile companies in Galicia.

The three great waves have occurred in three stages, the first in the 1960s, probably the most important one, the second in the 1980s, undoubtedly the most publicised, and the third in the 1990s, possibly a transit phase, although with some cases of great success. Unfortunately, in the last 20 years, the number of new companies has not been as high as we would have liked.

Against this backdrop, it is easy to guess that the processes of changeover have been going on for years without interruption, although it is worth highlighting two characteristic elements. On the one hand, longevity, both of the companies and of the people who have been at the helm. On the other hand, takeovers have almost never been carried out abruptly or by resorting to outsiders, but by accompanying the successor, generally a member of the family, for quite some time, until they get a solid grip on the role intended for them.