War on Iran is about to make clothes more expensive. Here’s why

Planning to update your wardrobe this summer? Industry insiders have some advice: do it soon.By the time autumn collections hit the racks, the aftershocks of war on Iran may have quietly picked your pocket.Clothing manufacturers and industry analysts are warning consumers to budget for price increases of 10 to 15 per cent as South Asia’s US$50 billion garment export industry reels from a cascade of war-driven shocks.Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has choked natural gas supplies to the subcontinent, sending power bills rocketing for the factories that stitch together much of what the world wears.Workers make clothing in the sewing section of a garment factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh. Photo: ReutersMeanwhile, Iranian drone and missile attacks targeting Gulf airports, Dubai’s in particular, have pushed air freight rates for fast-fashion orders up by as much as 70 per cent, making the route, in the words of one analyst, “far less viable”.The full pain has yet to reach shoppers. Orders placed months ago at fixed prices mean South Asian manufacturers are currently absorbing much of the higher energy and logistics costs themselves.