Low prices, decent quality and a wide choice of fashionable clothes sum up its appeal.

ECONOMIST: Hennes & Mauritz

There are no reliable figures for the phenomenal growth of the fashion industry, chiefly because its reach is so wide, not just clothes, but everything that goes with them, from buttons to scent.

ECONOMIST: Bonnie Cashin

Marzotto makes clothes for a wide variety of labels.

ECONOMIST: The changing fabric of Italian fashion | The

Though its clothes are basic, its retail spaces are novel and edgy, with sleek lines, wide-open expanses and flashing video monitors.

WSJ: This Man Wants to Clothe the Planet | Renegade