Apparel Manufacturing Reshoring to USA
Workers cut and sew garments at Karen Kane’s manufacturing facility in Los Angeles. (Photo: Greg Cox, YouLookFab)
A small but growing number of clothing designers and retailers are bringing some production back to the U.S. The firms cite rising labor costs, poor quality and long lead times in China.
Apparel manufacturing, which left the U.S. in massive waves for more than two decades, is trickling back.
In the past few years, major designers and retailers such as Brooks Bros. and Saks, as well as dozens of smaller companies, have moved some production from foreign countries to the U.S., creating perhaps 1,000 jobs.
That’s minuscule compared with the 800,000 jobs lost to foreign clothing factories since 1990. Yet it’s raising hopes that the trend will grow, even though garment production remains highly labor-intensive and U.S. manufacturers still face stiff competition from low-wage countries in Asia and elsewhere.
Asian factory wages, however, are rising rapidly and U.S. consumers have shown a willingness to pay more for Made-in-America products.
In the past few years, major designers and retailers such as Brooks Bros. and Saks, as well as dozens of smaller companies, have moved some production from foreign countries to the U.S., creating perhaps 1,000 jobs.
That’s minuscule compared with the 800,000 jobs lost to foreign clothing factories since 1990. Yet it’s raising hopes that the trend will grow, even though garment production remains highly labor-intensive and U.S. manufacturers still face stiff competition from low-wage countries in Asia and elsewhere.
Asian factory wages, however, are rising rapidly and U.S. consumers have shown a willingness to pay more for Made-in-America products.
Read the rest of the USA Today article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/07/04/some-apparel-manufacturing-returns-to-us/2454075/
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