The emerging threats to the global economy are already affecting the industry in Turkey as sudden store lockdowns have led to “a number of defensive measures which have severely harmed the garment manufacturing industry employing over 1.5 million people in Turkey,” we’re told. The TGSD has set up a Coronavirus Help Desk and said it has received “hundreds of messages expressing concerns and complaints” in the past four weeks.

It said complaints include a “large number of brands” telling manufacturers “that there will be no future orders until further notice,” leaving the factories to cover labour and overhead costs on their own for an unknown period. Some brands have also asked “for the suspension of production in the pipeline and in some rare cases, solicited…