So many companies have moved off-shore to manufacture in China. Those that moved to Mexico in the early 90's have even made the move to China. The word manufacture nearly equals China. With all of the talk about China and the near non-existance of apparel manufacturing in the US, you would think manufacturing will never return here. The few remaining factories in the United States, owned by small companies, produce little volume.
And then a suprise in the latest Newsweek magazine (6-26-06) about American Apparel. Here is a company located in Los Angeles that employs about 3,500 people and pays them $8-$18/hour! They produce about 90,000 units a day. On top of that their sales were $250,000,000 in 2005. Yes, you can manufacture in the US!
One thing is clear - you CAN manufacture in the US!
2019 note - American Apparel has had some financial struggles. Their financial woes have been in part dealing with lawsuits from the previous CEO's behavior toward his employees. There have been other issues because American Apparel not only manufactured but retailed their own product. Thus the company had to compete with cheaper imported products at the retail level. Regardless of their struggles, apparel manufacturing is returning to the United States. Many contractors are maxed out in capacity and are not able to take on more work even though there is a demand. There is high demand for qualified pattern makers, graders, technical designers, and sewing contractors.
i just stumbled upon your blog from fashion incubator, and i'm reading all your past entries. its wonderful, i've loved every post.
ReplyDeletei loved this post as well, i know this is an older one -- but i feel like its sooo important, im a d-e and just starting in the manufacturing, i feel that it sooo important to keep production in the US, thank you for your support.
I think manufacturing will have to come back to the US at some point. The Chinese are catching up to Western nations tecnologically and culturally. Chinese workers are starting to demand better pay and benefits (sound familiar?). It is still cheaper to manufacture most things (children's clothing included) in China. In the mean time we continue to face a brain drain in the USA. That is why blogs like Fashion Incubator are so important.
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