Countries such as Brazil resorted to their own huge domestic market, while Argentina and Colombia diversified production to find new ways of staying afloat.

Still, the region's garment industry is anticipating a modest rebound in sales in 2010 through both expansion in foreign markets and protective measures instituted by national industries.

In some countries of the region, local factors have had an equal or greater impact than that of the world crisis.

Brazil's strong domestic market, about 80 percent of total sales, helped lessen the effect of global crisis; however, the country was still hurt by falling exports.

In 2009, exports, excluding cotton fiber, dropped by some 40 percent, said Texbrasil, which helps Brazilian companies to promote their products in export markets.

Colombia's textile and apparel industry is the third pillar of the national economy. In the last two years the sector has had difficulties exporting to Venezuela, a situation that worsened in 2009 because of the state of political relations between the countries.

The problem is particularly troubling for Colombia as its neighbor accounts for some 65 percent of Colombia's exports, said the Instituto para la Exportacion y la Moda (InexModa).

In Argentina, facing ridiculous product prices due to the drop in global consumption, applications for non automatic import licenses (LNA) have risen from 10 to 160, said representatives of the Fundacion Pro-Tejer, whose goal is to develop, integrate and promote the textile and apparel industry.

In addition, given that Argentina consumes fashion against season, unsold stocks in the northern hemisphere are exported to the South American country at a low cost that undermines the competitiveness of the local product. According to Marco Meloni, secretary of the Fundacion Pro-Tejer, in the second semester of 2009 when the rise in LNA applications began to have an effect, imports dropped and local producers increasingly began to fill the gap with locally manufactured apparel.

Sixty percent of manufacturers anticipate a six to 13 percent increase in sales this year, says the 2010 qualitative survey done in 100 Argentinean companies by Pro-Tejer. Meloni expects greater activity in the industry although it will not be large nor immediate.

Brazil's economy will be reactivated this year, general director of Texbrasil Rafael Cervone Netto believes. Among other things, international buyers from the United States, the European Union and Asian and Arab markets have expressed interest in substituting some Chinese products for those from Brazil beginning in 2010.

The information is encouraging for the South American country since China is the leading producer of textiles and Brazil is number six. Colombian businessmen have already begun taking steps to halt their dependency on the Venezuelan market, but it is expected that the process will be a long one.

Apparel industry leaders are attributing new importance to the domestic market, strengthening acceptance of local brands, by putting a lot of emphasis on design. “We believe that Mexico, Peru, the United States and Canada can be future markets, but it will take time to grow to the level of Venezuela.

The strength of the peso against the dollar has made our products more expensive in international markets. For that reason we must strive for with greater value added in specific niches. The internal market will be a factor of important growth,” InexModa said. With respect to how to compete with the Asian giant, Colombia is developing textile products with value added “since that is the only way to be distinguished from and to compete with China,” noted the apparel industry agency.

There are creators of fashion like Francesca Miranda, Beatriz Camacho, Olga Piedrahita and Juliana Correa, who transform textiles using their own techniques and design, generating unique fabrics, InexModa added.

In 2009 Brazil outlined a three-prong strategy in a 15-year plan to improve its performance in the sector.

One strategy involves launching innovative products to entice new consumers through design, texture and colors. Another is to encourage environmental preservation and thereby sustainability through such methods as natural dye usage and an increase in organic cotton cultivation.

The third strategy is to articulate and consolidate the concept of a “Brazilian lifestyle” by translating the joy and humor characteristic of Brazil into products. “One example of that was the development of Hawaiian sandals, from being a very popular, low-cost product, it became something of very high value. This was because an extra value was added, it succeeded in expressing a feeling that became associated with the product: the feeling of joy, typical of the Brazilian identity,” the general director of Texbrasil, Rafael Cervone Netto, said.