Table of Contents

How to Use Pantone Colors for Screen Print & Embroidery 3

The Advantages of Digital Printing T-Shirts 5

Custom T-Shirt Printing: Process & Technique 7

Seven Simple Tips When Designing a Logo 9

Rise Up: The Meteoric Success of One Design 10

How to Effectively Embroider Small Letters 12

Three All-Over Printing Approaches for Custom T-Shirts 13

Why Promotional Clothing is Perfect for Branding Your Business 14

Five Art Elements to Avoid When Direct-to-Garment Printing 15

The Impact of Apparel Manufacturing in America 17

The Best of Apparel Articles 2 How to Use Pantone Colors for Screen Print & Embroidery

Pantone colors are the universal language for communicating specific colors right down to the shade, between designers, artists, and decorators of all kinds. This language overcomes distances and computer monitors with different calibrations. If both parties involved in a project are looking at a Pantone book, referencing the exact number, both parties can rest assured that they are on the same page.

Brand guidelines define specific colors of logos in terms of Pantones. T-shirt designers and artists call out Pantone colors in their work so the image can be re-created exactly from digital media to print and embroidery. As decorators, we live and die by Pantone colors. However, the language of Pantone colors translates a little differently between screen print and embroidery - like a different dialect between the mediums of decoration. Let’s look at why and what this means for the logo or design you are having screen printed or embroidered.

Embroidery Thread manufacturing companies have companion books that gives us a quick reference of all colors available and their corresponding Pantone color.

PANTONE BOOK

PANTONE THREAD CHART

The Best of Apparel Articles 3 A few things you’ll want to note:

You’ll notice on the picture of the Pantone book there is a finite number of thread color created by the manufacturer. You’ll also notice from the snippet of the full thread chart, not all thread colors have a Pantone match assigned. The snippet of the thread chart includes a disclaimer that Pantone colors represent the closest available thread color, and is most accurate when viewing the colors under cool white fluorescent lighting (4100 degrees Kelvin). The thread color may not match the corresponding Pantone color under every lighting condition.

Another consideration to make is that not every color in the thread may be available. You see, it’s not simply a matter of having one spool of each color. Embroidery houses frequently stock the most common colors only. This ensures that a color won’t run out because the spool is low and the embroidery manufacturer can pass on volume thread purchase discounts to you. On top of specific colors, embroidery shops may stock both rayon and polyester thread by several different manufactur- ers so the absolute best quality can be achieved based on the color, fabric, and/or garment you wish to have customized..

What can be done if the embroidery manufacturer does not stock the exact thread color you’ve selected? Here are some options:

Stick with the closest match. A slight difference might only be noticed if you put a Pantone book up against the sewn logo and who carries around a Pantone book. Also remember that the logo colors may look different depending on the lighting in the environment anyway. You can provide the thread. Embroidery houses do carry the most common colors, so if yours is a little more unique, inquire if you can provide the thread. Your decorator can let you know how much and where to purchase the thread. The thread is then yours for each and every time you place a custom order. You can take the thread from shop to shop if the decorators are willing to accommodate.

Ask if your decorator can provide the thread. If you will be running a consistent, large program it may be easiest for every one if the shop simply acquires a new color.

Screen Printing Ink manufacturers work differently than thread manufacturers. Although it’s possible to buy premixed colors, ink manufacturers have developed ink mixing systems that are used to create Pantone match- ing inks colors for print. We keep common colors on the shelf, but for more unique shades, it’s no

The Best of Apparel Articles 4 problem to custom mix it.

An important thing to note when referencing Pantone colors and screen printing inks is that the inks can still vary slightly despite the exact nature of the formulas. This depends on the color of garment being printed, material we are printing on, and whether or not we need to print a white under base. The Advantages of Digital Printing T-Shirts Digital printing t-shirts, a new type of t-shirt printing that offers an alternative to the traditional screen printing method, is a surefire way to create custom designed t-shirts that represent your business in the best way possible. Even better, digital printing t-shirts will ensure that your custom designed t-shirts are produced efficiently both in terms of time and money.

This technique also gives your business more flexibility with being able to produce variations of the same shirt, and it also allows for a higher resolution and overall quality in the design of your shirts. Read on to learn four advantages that might just make digital printing t-shirts the perfect option for your business.

Quality Image quality is one of the biggest reasons that many businesses choose to digitally print their t-shirts. Digital printing simply allows for a higher resolution, giving your shirts a cleaner overall appearance. This high quality appearance is what initially made digital printing popular, though there are also additional benefits.

The custom designed t-shirts that you produce for your business will be an extension of your brand, so focusing on image quality is truly worthwhile. You want to make sure that your brand's custom designed t-shirts are eye-catching, and digital printing t-shirts is a way to make that happen.

Efficiency

The Best of Apparel Articles 5 One of the biggest perks that comes along with digital printing t-shirts for your business is an increased level of efficiency. This efficiency means that you are able to get your t-shirts produced with a much faster turnaround time. If you need custom t-shirts fast, digital printing will likely be the best way to accomplish that.

This boost in efficiency is primarily due to the fact that traditional screen printing is very time and labor intensive. A busy print shop will sometimes have a wait time of several weeks before you are able to see the design of your t-shirts firsthand. With digital printing, you can cut down on the wait time and see results faster.

Variation Because digital printing t-shirts is much less labor intensive than the screen printing method, it allows your business the option of producing small batches of shirts. This in turn means that you can create a variety of designs within your order and have them all completed in one batch. Variation is great because it will give you a chance to test out different designs that you might have in mind.

Whether you are looking for multiple shirts commemorating the same events or just trying to get a number of different branding methods out there, producing a variety of custom design t-shirts is a great way to go.

Cost Of course, the decision about whether or not to digitally print t-shirts for your business will likely come down to price considerations. In addition to the other reasons detailed above, digitally printing t-shirts became popular largely because it carries a lower price tag than other methods of producing custom t-shirts.

Each situation is unique, but obtaining a price quote on digitally printed t-shirts for your business should be part of your due diligence. You just might find that digital printing t-shirts works for you in every way imaginable.

Clearly, digitally printed t-shirts carry a ton of benefits with them. No matter what kind of t-shirt order you are interested in making, digital printing t-shirts may prove to be a truly ideal fit. Make sure that you explore all of your options and discover the many benefits of digitally printed t-shirts for yourself.

The Best of Apparel Articles 6 Custom T-Shirt Printing: Process & Technique If you're thinking about printing custom t-shirts for your business or organization, its important to consider the process and technique before moving forward with your project. Whether one chooses a traditional screen-printing process or a modern digital printing process, custom t-shirt printing is easier than ever before. Each technique offers unique advantages, so make sure to consider all elements before choosing screen-print or digital.

Screen Printed T-Shirts The screen-printing industry is continually growing and changing. Press and equipment companies are developing new machinery and technologies every year. This revolution has led to ground-breaking technology that has led to increased efficiency and quality.

With this advancing technology, the process for t-shirt printing is not only considered an art, but a science. While there are different methods used for screen-printed t-shirts, all-over printing garners the most attention. This printing of the entire surface area of a t-shirt depends on the desired style of art, and can vary in complexity and price. There are 3 main types of all-over printing: One Color, Standard, and All-Over.

One Color All-Over Printed T-Shirts One Color prints can be considered the simplest of the three methods. It consists of a single color of ink, which is passed over the entire surface area. For optimal quality, one shade variation is usually recommended.

Standard All-Over Printed T-Shirts With this method, multiple spot colors are used to print over the entire t-shirt. As with One Color, shade variations can be implemented, but remember, simple is better.

All-Over Plus Printed T-Shirts Multi-color designs are used in conjunction with a One Color AOP for this method. Or you can take the route of adding additional print to a Standard AOP.

The Best of Apparel Articles 7 Overall, there are a number of steps involved before a request for a t-shirt project reaches packaging & shipment. Here is a quick breakdown:

- Review Art Submission - Art Proof - Color Separation & Film Output - Pre-Press Meeting - Screen Exposure - Screen Prep for Production - Mixing Ink - Set Up

Digital-Printed T-Shirts Digital printing, aka direct-to-garment (DTG), is a newer form of printing that involves a different kind of process. While screen-printing is generally used for larger jobs, digital can be considered more feasible and cost-effective when running small-to-medium sized projects.

Considered the “new age” of printing, digital printing is best known for its speed when it comes to color separation and artwork – especially on dark garments. Set-up times and color arrangements are no longer considered complex or time consuming. Because DTG allows for the art file to be directly printed on the garment, quick turnaround and affordability is usually the main attraction for this technique. As attractive as digital printing may sound, a stone-cold reality is that screen-printed t-shirts can be considered the more desirable option when factoring in size, touch, appearance, and range of garments. Jake Saunders, Sharpint’s Production Artist, sums it up nicely in his recent article titled “Screen Print vs. Digital Print: Epic Print Media Battle”.

Overall, digital printing is still a preferred option among many individuals, depending on the general scope of the project. The processes involved are the following: Review Art Submission - Art Proof - Design Optimization - Pre-Treat - Cure - Print - Package

The Best of Apparel Articles 8 Seven Simple Tips When Designing a Logo

A company's logo can tell a lot about an organization. It provides a recognizable image that will instantly make a person think of the organization itself. Therefore, logo design has to be eye-catching, memorable, original, and engaging in order to capture the attention of the consumer. Here are a few tips to consider when designing your next logo.

1. USE A PROFESSIONAL DESIGNER Utilizing the skills of a professional designer is arguably the first step in ensuring a highly memorable original design. Professional designers can use their experience and expertise to prevent simple mistakes often made by non-professionals. When working with your designer, make sure to write down and share your expectations in advance so there is no confusion during the review of the final image. It’s also recommended you interview a few designers and research past work before deciding on a final partner.

2. SHOW COMPANY/ORGANIZATION ORIGINALITY A logo is an ideal way to showcase a company or organization's originality. Logos are one of the first ways a consumer is exposed to a company, therefore a completely original logo is essential in terms of capturing the necessary attention. Make sure your logo portrays your organization's unique personality and clear company image.

3. MAKE THE LOGO "COME ALIVE" The logo should "pop" or "come alive" off of the page, t-shirt, hoodie, or anything else it is emblazoned on. Such logos are generally considered the most effective and therefore the most memorable. While it is important that the logo "makes sense" for the business (i.e. a kitten logo is not going to be used to advertise a law firm), the logo should be bold in design. When discussing ideas with the designer, try to incorporate blue hues if possible, as blue is known to "communicate trust."

4. THREE-SECOND RULE Remember the "three-second rule" when designing a logo. This rule means that a consumer looking at the logo design will have grasped its meaning within three seconds..

The Best of Apparel Articles 9 5. DO THE RESEARCH Just because your logo idea is symbolic of a positive idea or image in the United States, it could be offensive to another nation. The same is true on a smaller scale. If the design is potentially offensive to another organization or business, do not use it. Do the proper research when thinking of logo designs to avoid such mishaps.

6. KEEP IT SIMPLE Just because the logo should "pop" off of the proverbial page or garment does not mean the logo design should be overdone. Whether its too much glitter or to too many words, simple, "uncluttered" designs work best.

7. SHARE THE LOGO Once the logo is finished, use it everywhere to brand the organization. Emblazon the logo on any and all merchandise that relates to the company. Put it on paper and electronic mailings, use it on organiza- tional apparel, include it on business cards, and incorporate it into email signatures.

Rise Up: The Meteoric of One Design Cole Mitchell is out of breath, talking a mile a minute. "Hey, sorry, I'm in the car right now, we just set up a new website for the shirts today and it went down and I have to go to the bank." This seemingly jumbled string of non-sequiturs makes sense only when you consider that Mitchell had woken up two days earlier with 500 requests for a t-shirt that had an immediate stock of about 50.

The shirt in question was for a design of Mitchell's creation, an Atlanta Falcons fan piece-slash-Samuel L. Jackson-tribute called "Rise Up Mother#@$%." Sharprint had done a couple runs of this design late last year and early this year - and as much as we here love the design and are always happy to see reprint requests, we had no way of knowing the design was about to explode in popularity. Neither did Mitchell, 26, who woke up on January 12 bombarded with email requests for the shirts after Falcons wide receiver Roddy White and former wide receiver Brian Finneran both tweeted photos of a fan wearing the shirt.

The Best of Apparel Articles 10 In the coming days, Sharprint printed almost 2,000 Rise Ups. When the dust settled (and the guys at Word of Mouth were finally able to get more than two hours of sleep a night), I interviewed Cole about the incredible success of the shirt.

Hi, Cole. So how did this now-infamous design come about? The idea was sparked by the Falcons' popular 'Rise Up' campaign that was launched a couple of years ago with the commercial featuring Samuel L Jackson as the face of the franchise. I thought to myself how funny it would be if the message was coming from one of his foul-mouthed movie characters instead of the clean-cut, choir backed Samuel L Jackson depicted in the commercial. Since Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite movies, Jules Winnfied was my obvious first choice. I quickly mocked together the original design as a joke to text around to my friends. They all really liked the idea and requested that I have some shirts printed. So the first batch was just that, my crude illustration of an idea that I though was pretty funny. After they actually started selling to people outside of my group of friends, I decided that it was worth sitting down and spending some time on the illustration so that it was a good design and not just a good idea. The new t-shirt (printed by you guys) features the new artwork and is what we have been selling ever since.

Can you describe the exact moment you knew something was going on with Rise Up? I was selling them all season but I never really did much to promote myself. I just sold them to people who found me tailgating at the games. It wasn't until Brian Finneran and Roddy White tweeted about it that orders really started piling in and I knew something big was happening. Someone I had sold a shirt to was wearing it at a pep rally where Brian spotted him and it all just blew up from there. I had hundreds of emails pouring in over the span of a couple of hours and ended up hiring my roommate and another buddy of mine to help me sort through all of the requests. Within a couple of days we had a website up and made Word of Mouth T-Shirts an official company.

What was the funniest, weirdest moment of this entire experience? There have been a couple of weird (or surreal) moments. I had the opportunity to meet both Roddy White and Brian Finneran which was incredible. Roddy was even nice enough to give me tickets and sideline passes for the NFC Championship game in exchange for some shirts. It was far and away one of the best experiences of my life (aside from the fact that we ended up losing the game). My room- mate and I also had the chance to talk about the shirts on The Regular Guys, a morning radio show based out of Atlanta. It was really cool to get that kind of exposure and support from people that I've been listening to for years. Both The Regular Guys and the crew over at 680 The Fan have been super generous to us and we can't thank them enough.

The Best of Apparel Articles 11 What's next for you guys? Word of Mouth is in the process of getting a few new designs out right now. The 'Rise Up' shirts were a big hit but we don't want to stop there. We want to use the momentum they created and the lessons we've learned to turn Word of Mouth T's into a company people can rely on for great shirts with great designs based on ideas worth talking about, especially for the people who live in or love Atlanta. How to Effectively Embroider Small Letters In the decorated apparel industry, it is very impor- tant to capture the greatest level of detail possible to leave the customer with the end result that they expect.

With a professional digitizer and the appropriate machinery, it is possible to achieve very detailed and excellent embroidery results.

However, there are limitations to the amount of achievable detail when applying embroidery. When embroidering letters, it is important to follow a few guidelines and understand what will and will not work. Just like in a limbo contest, you can only go so low before things turn ugly. The height of an embroidered letter should ideally be no smaller than a quarter inch. Trying to go any smaller than a quarter inch will likely result in sloppy, illegible text.

Both script and block fonts can be embroidered at a quarter inch. The type of stitching will probably be different, since the thickness throughout a script letter is not consistent. For example, the block ‘S’ below can be embroidered using a satin stitch (which is the most common stitch type when embroider- ing letters). On the other hand, the script ‘S’ below would use both a satin and walking stitch. The walking stitch, which is used to capture very fine detail, would be used on the thin areas of the ‘S’.

High pile fabrics (fleece, sweatshirts, hoodies, towels) cause another issue when embroidering letters. Small letters can become lost in the fabric, resulting in unreadable text. On a positive note, there are ways to deal with this problem. One solution is to use a dis-solvable plastic topping known as solvy. Solvy is used to create a smooth foundation for embroidering custom designs. This topping is placed on the fabric before the sewing begins. The thread is then embroidered on top of the solvy, to help

The Best of Apparel Articles 12 avoid the text from being buried in the fabric. The excess solvy, which wasn’t sewn over, can be ripped off the garment or misted with water, which will cause it to dissolve.

The second option is to use a small fill area, basically creating an underlay of stitches for the text to be embroidered over. When using this method, the tone of the thread matches with the tone of the fabric to give it the look that no underlay was used. Three All-Over Printing Approaches for Custom T-Shirts All-over printing does encompass the entire surface area of a shirt, however, the are three different approaches a printer might take based on the desired print and style of art. Each approach varies in complexity and price, so please be sure to consult with a sales insider before you finalize your design.

One Color All-Over Prints This method is as simple as it sounds. One screen and one color of ink are used in one pass over the tee's surface area. Halftones can be used to create shades of the print color; however, for the best print, try to keep it to only one shade variation. The halftone percentage for this range should stay between 40%-60%.

Standard All-Over Prints This is a design incorporating multiple spot colors to be printed over the entire shirt. Shades can be utilized in the same manner as with the One Color All-Over Prints, but the simpler you keep the design, the better. All-over printing presses do not hold tight butt-to-butt registration, so designs that are more loose produce a more successful result.

All-Over Plus For a really impressive all-over printed tee, you may want to design for the All-Over Plus approach. This can be a One Color AOP with a multi-color design printed on top or even a Standard AOP with an additional print added.

The Best of Apparel Articles 13 Why Promotional Clothing is Perfect for Branding Your Business Promotional clothing is a popular branding tool that can be used successfully with any business. Done correctly, this type of clothing will drastically change the way others see your business.

The Benefits of Branding with Promotional Cloth- ing Promotional clothing can be used in a variety of ways, each with distinct benefits. If you use branded clothing as a work uniform in a public store front, the benefits include: - A professional-looking atmosphere - Staff that is instantly recognizable and thus easy to ask for help - Clothing that further expands upon the theme of the business (jerseys give a sporty look to an athletic store, polos lend an air of professionalism to an office supply store, etc)

If you use promotional clothing to identify your employees at a trade show, convention, seminar, or other professional gathering, you can cash in on these benefits: - Other businesses will be able to identify your staff easily. When they present themselves well, others will instantly be impressed with the way your company presents itself. - Visitors to a trade show will be able to recognize your staff even away from the booth. - Branded clothing provides a conversation starter that's centered around your business and gets the word out about your company.

If you give out promotional clothing as a prize for high performance within the company, you'll enjoy a different set of benefits including: - An opportunity for the employee to talk about his or her job when the clothing sparks conversation - A sense of pride for the employee who enjoys wearing the well-designed garment - An incentive for others to step up and strive for these same high quality prizes

How to Brand Your Business with Promotional Clothing

The Best of Apparel Articles 14 When you're choosing promotional clothing for your company, it's important to give these garments a lot of thought. Don't just slap your logo on the back or a t-shirt or the corner of a polo without taking time to consider the options. The clothing needs to be well suited to both the company and the purpose of the shirt.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when you're designing promotional clothing to brand your company.

- Will this shirt be worn daily or occasionally? Company uniforms for daily wear need to be durable and easy to clean. Don't choose something high end that needs to be dry cleaned. - What image do you want your company to present? If you want to appear edgy and trendy, a t-shirt with graffiti-style letting, bright colors, and modern artwork may work very well. When you want to present a more professional image, a simple logo and neutral-colored shirt may be better. - What colors and designs are associated with your company? If your logo features black, yellow, and red, you should not order promotional clothing in purple and green. People won't recognize your shirts as belonging to the company and you'll only confuse the image that you've worked so hard to build.

One great way to use promotional clothing is in the form of an employee uniform. Any company with a public store front should have matching uniforms for employees. If your store has a more eclectic feel, consider offering your employees two or three designs to choose from so the clothing is somewhat personalized, but still easily recognizable.

Matching clothing is also important when your employees are on the road. Participating in a golf tournament, 5K, or other charity event is a great way to give back to the community. Make sure your team has matching t-shirts, polos, or other sports attire so they're recognizable. Five Art Elements to Avoid When Direct-to-Garment Printing Direct to garment printing is great for a lot of reasons, but the big one is the fact that set up is really fast and minimal. There’s no need for separations, burning screens, mixing ink or setting up a press. While it's not as simple as hitting control+P it is much closer to instant gratification.

The Best of Apparel Articles 15 If art is good for screen printing, it is generally good for Direct-to-Garment as well. However, there are some art/design elements that will expose the weaknesses of digital printing.

5. FLATTENED RASTER IMAGES Flattening a raster image creates white pixels where there might not have been anything before. In some cases this must be removed before printing, sometimes leaving jagged edges, misshapen or discolored in the process. It is often very difficult to remove and can effect the image, so leave the file in layers just in case.

4. BOTH FRONT AND BACK PRINTS ON DARK COLORS When it comes to DTG on a dark colored shirt, trouble starts with large print areas on the front and back. A pretreat must be applied to dark colored shirts and then heated in a press. Due to this process, when it comes to printing on the back, there will be a visible ring where the collar is on the other side because of the pretreat concentrated there.

3. LARGER AREAS OF SOLID WHITE White actually looks great on DTG prints as long as you’re not going for a very large solid bright white area. In most situations white is going to look great, but in those big areas, the transpar- ency of the ink tends to be more apparent. To compensate, more white ink must be applied, so much so in these cases, that the ink sometimes pools up into rubbery lumps. Not cool. So, forget that awesome image of a polar bear drinking milk at a P Diddy style all white rooftop party.

2. BLUES Blues are tricky. The technology just hasn’t tackled the blue conundrum quite yet. Especially when printed on dark colors, large areas of darker blue tend to look grainy and dull. This means purples or greens with a lot of blue in them are affected as well. Blues on the lighter side tend to fair better. So, printing Cookie Monster eating out of an Oreo package and fishing on the lake is going to look terrible. Back to the drawing board.

The Best of Apparel Articles 16 1. TRANSPARENCIES ON DARK COLORS In my professional opinion, this is the Achilles’ heel of DTG. If there are transparencies in your image that would be meant to utilize the shirt color and it is going on a dark shirt, there’s an instant problem. There is a white under base applied to all images going on dark garments. This goes on under all areas, including that which, in the art, are transparent or faded. Therefore, the printed image shows the under base under the transparency instead of the shirt color. For example, a white to black fade on a black shirt ends up going from white to grey or white to white. There are some clever solutions to this problem, but they are very case sensitive and are not guaranteed to work. The Impact of Apparel Manufacturing in America Based on a survey of over 1000 responses conducted by Boston Consulting Group in September 2012, national economics and patriotism are deciding factors for apparel purchases. American job creation and quality standards attributed to American craftsmanship are revealed as the top two reasons consumers are seeking out American made apparel. A lighter carbon footprint is a pro for the American manufacturing camp regarding environmental impact. It seems American apparel manufacturing is a win for the country all around–consumers, entrepreneurs, retailers and factories, so why isn’t American manufacturing of apparel making a bigger comeback?

The economic downturn occurring over the past decade spurred an exodus from domestic manufactur- ing to keep production costs as low as possible. Allen Edmonds—a Wisconsin based shoe-maker— CEO, Paul Grangaard explains, “Domestic labor costs are harder to manage than ever, due to the combination of wages, 401(k) contributions, and ever-increasing healthcare costs.” The move from domestic to foreign manufacturing, or vice versa, is costly, requires careful strategic planning and doesn’t happen overnight. It is understandable that many businesses are hesitant to do so when consumers are just beginning to show a commitment to purchasing American made products. Is the demand for American made products simply a reflection of the current economic climate? Frank Clegg Leatherworks has been in business since 1970, and Frank’s experience justifies the hesitation to return to domestic manufacturing.

The Best of Apparel Articles 17 “I’ve seen this trend come and go three or four times now, but it was the gradual move to making stuff abroad that had me near closing. I have a lot of friends who used to be in the industry too, but most of them are out of business now...Right now people want made in America because of the economy, but marketing is a big element of it also. When the economy is strong, people stop paying so much atten- tion to where the things they buy are made.”

The overall pros and cons may be fairly simple to list out, but determining whether it is really smarter to manufacture in America or abroad is not as cut and dry. Robert Talbott president, Bob Corliss, explains that on the surface it’s less expensive to manufacture in Asia, but it’s more of a management challenge. “You have to commit to a certain number of finished goods well in advance, provide capital up front, and rely on someone with whom you don’t have supply-chain visibility every single day. Is going overseas cheaper from an input perspective of dollars and cents? Yes, but when you look at it from an output point of view, does being made in the U.S. have added pull? I think the answer is yes. Our overall direction is to come back.” It’s worth noting that Robert Talbott outsources certain items to factories in Canada, Europe and Asia. Much of its line is manufactured in its Monterery, CA factory, which is operating under capacity.

While Robert Talbott manufactures Robert Talbott products, entrepreneurs and start up apparel businesses are challenged to find enough American manufacturing capacity to meet the demand for their product, let alone grow a business. There are not a lot of apparel manufacturers left in the United States since the exodus to foreign manufacturing over the past decade and the ones that exist are booked solid. For example, Randolph Ashton, founder of Collared Greens in 2008, has a fixed amount of production time with his polo shirt maker based in South Carolina. “And once we tap that we’re out of luck for the remainder of the year,” states Ashton. For some brands, like Collared Greens, production outside of America is not even an option. American made is part of their mission and is the foundation of the company’s identity. The ability to manufacture in the U.S. can determine the success or failure of a brand.

This lack of production capacity is part of the ripple effect caused by America’s shift to foreign manufac- turing. The steady loss of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. lead workers to acquire other, more market- able skills. Since there was little demand for the apparel industry skill set, the workforce has not replenished. A good example of this is Ike Behar, who has experienced a 20% growth in its custom shirt program, with a Miami factory staffed by aging workers—many nearing retirement. Company president, Alan Behar, explains, “It’s harder and harder to manufacture in the U.S. because of the workforce. The skill set for the needle arts for the next generation doesn’t exist. You need people who know how to

The Best of Apparel Articles 18 function as tailors, seamstresses, to operate sophisticated sewing machines, and to cut by hand.”

One solution to the lack of skilled workers is developing skill specific training programs. H.Freeman, based in Maryland, may be America’s oldest tailored clothing facility dating back to 1885. Representa- tive Ralph Brummet touches on the secret to H.Freeman’s longevity, “We have a strong training program and we’ve set up a school.” However, a training program can be a challenge in itself. Lotuff Leather is a factory that currently has 10 workers able to make 50 leather bags per week—not enough to meet demand. For now, co-owner Joe Lotuff and his partner are cutting all the leather themselves while training apprentices in the craft. The potential for loss is great with inexperience, “...imagine having a neophyte cut 300 feet of beautiful leather and none of it is usable because there’s a flaw on every piece.” Finding the right fit is crucial to delivering the American craftsmanship that has become legendary, “With so many people out of work, when you place an ad you can imagine all the types of applicants you get. We look at 10 people and hire one if we’re lucky, and he may or may not last.”

Speed-to-market flexibility makes another strong case for building up American manufacturing capabil- ity, especially for younger fashion brands and entrepreneurs. Agave Denim founder, Jeff Shafer, talks about the importance of manufacturing in Los Angeles in relation to the fast-moving women’s contem- porary market. “I can see something and technically ship it 60 days from now, so I can respond to trends and consumer preferences and not have to make a nine-month, up front commitment.” He goes on to make another great point, “Also, I know what the value of my dollar is nine months from now, but not in China.”

It seems that real success in American manufacturing can only occur if it is supported culturally inside and among companies and their communities. Brett Schenck of Hart Schaffner Marx (another company that dates to the 1880s and still supports 1300 employees across two Chicago-area factories) says, “Made in America may have become cool and hip these past few years, but for us, it’s always been cool: it’s our entire culture.” Tony Sapienza of J.A. Apparel (New Bedford, Massachusetts) admits that their 530 workers are getting older, but says they have no trouble recruiting younger workers locally. They’ve established a training school in the factory to teach tailoring skills, and thus younger people are coming into the business. Other brands have also requested production at their facility based on increased retailer interest in American made. By accommodating businesses that could be deemed competitors, J.A. Apparel is supporting American manufacturing in a big way. At Southwick, John Martynec relates that there are 15 different languages spoken on his factory floor, and that they teach not only tailoring skills but also English as a second language. “It’s part of our Brooks Brothers culture. It’s about creating good citizens and promoting the American dream.”

The Best of Apparel Articles 19 Success in American manufacturing is a responsibility of the consumer as well. Jason Schott, chief operating officer for Schott NYC (celebrating its 100th year anniversary this year) explains the distinc- tion between the heritage Americana fashion trend and the true concept of made in America, “The Americana trend started with legitimate heritage brands, but lately some have stolen the heritage identity by simply reinventing brands that existed a hundred years ago. It may be heritage-inspired product, but it’s not made in this country.” The distinction is sorting out brands that provide real jobs in real American factories and the ones that are heritage in name only.

Menswear retailing magazine, MR (January 2013 issue) was a great source in writing this article. Also visit MRketplace.com for more on American manufacturing and fashion.

RESOURCES

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO COMPANY APPAREL Branding your uniforms, t-shirts, or promotional apparel with personality can help develop a strong company image that people will remember.

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