Esquel is one of the largest suppliers of premium shirts and polos around the world. The brand produces and sells cotton shirts, men’s and women’s dress shirts, sport shirts, and woven and knitted tops as well as accessories such as buttons, labels, and hand tags.
The group has a profound focus on sustainability in its way of conducting business. It integrates sustainability into every step of the supply chain, from cotton farms to fabric mills and garment factories.
Founded in 1978, the Esquel Group, based in Hong Kong, is a global textile and apparel manufacturer with a vertically-integrated supply chain that straddles from cotton to retailing. It employs a 58,000 multinational workforce, with manufacturing facilities in China, Malaysia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, and merchandising offices servicing markets worldwide. It manufactures over 100 million pieces of garments annually for leading brands including Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Nike.
About two-thirds of its final products are made in China. The firm is running a complete value chain in China, from cotton growing to spinning, weaving, dyeing, sewing, and retailing. And instead of chasing after cheap labor, Esquel has optimized value by focusing on so-called deskilled automation, where less talent and training is needed to operate each machine – as well as fewer staff.
