Socio-Cultural Factors:

Age Group 0-14 Years 15-66 Years 66 Years and above Male 733,597 3,003,358 753,293 Female 692,194 2,927,038 950,171 % 15.7 65.5 18.8%

Now talking in terms of the age group this factor does have an impact on the sales and performance of the apparel industry. As we can see that most of the population of Sweden lies in the age group of 15-66 years which means that most of the population of Sweden is youth and youth is the target market of the apparel industry. So the performance of apparel companies such as H&M and Tommy Hilfiger is expected to be good.

Now coming towards the ethnicity Sweden mostly comprises of the Swedes followed by the Finns and the Assyrians. But Ethnicity has nothing to do with the apparel industry. People from each ethnic group are bound to have clothing needs and will buy cloths so ethnicity has no impact on the apparel industry.

Now coming towards religion although only one fifth of Swedes in one investigation chose to describe them as believing in God, the majority (78%) of the population belongs to the Church of Sweden, the Lutheran church that separated from the state in 2000. Now moving on to the religions,
same thing is to be repeated here religion has no impact on the performance of the apparel industry. People from all religions buy cloths so religion has nothing to do with the performance of the industry. Now education has a slightly retrospect to it. The more the educated people are more they know about brands and the more brand conscious they are. Because in under developed or developing countries people tend to go for things that are unacceptable such as local brands which are the cheap imitations of the original brand.

Technological Factors:

Swedens textile and apparel industries are investing in new technology at an unprecedented rate. Productivity growth in textile manufacturing has been double the average growth of manufacturing as a whole for over a decade, and apparel production may be on the brink of a revolutionary increase. New information technologies have the potential to unify disparate elements of the industry, from fiber production and weaving to product assembly and retailinglinkages that can reduce costs and tailor products to changing patterns of consumer taste and preference. Such new technologies are rapidly changing the face of one of the Nations oldest industries. The manufacture of textiles and apparel has the potential to remain a significant part of the Swede economy. Despite the optimism made possible by technical progress, Swede textile and apparel firms are in danger. Little of the technology that allowed for increased productivity was developed by Sweden based enterprises. The same advanced technology is available to firms throughout the world, including those in nations that pay workers a small fraction of the Swedens minimum wage. Sophisticated networks of Sweden and foreign companies use these factors to undercut Swedens supplier prices; apparel imports have grown from 25 to 50 percent of the Sweden market during the past 10 years. Technology alone may not be able to salvage major parts of the industry. Economic Factors: The apparel industry is highly cyclical and heavily dependent upon the overall level of consumer spending. Purchases of apparel and related goods tend to be highly correlated with changes in the disposable income of consumers. Consumer spending is dependent on a number of factors, including actual and perceived economic conditions affecting disposable consumer income (such as unemployment, wages and salaries), business conditions, interest rates, availability of credit and tax rates in the general economy and in the international, regional and local markets where our products are sold. Our wholesale customers may anticipate and respond to adverse changes in economic conditions and uncertainty by reducing inventories and canceling orders. Furthermore, in such circumstances, our customers may encounter difficulties in other apparel categories or their non-apparel businesses that may cause them to change their strategy with

respect to intimate apparel. As a result, any deterioration in general economic conditions, reductions in the level of consumer spending or increases in interest rates in any of the regions in which we compete could adversely affect the sales of our products. A return to recessionary or inflationary conditions, whether in the United States or globally, additional terrorist attacks or similar events could have further adverse effects on consumer confidence and spending and, as a result, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.