U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tye spoke with American Giant founder and CEO Bayard Winthrop on Thursday about how his company is developing a made-in-America apparel line. I interviewed him about how he built it. Plus: White House officials shared how they aim to ramp up manufacturing in key sectors.
Mark Gitenstein spent much of his career in policy and politics, including stints on Capitol Hill and as a Washington-based attorney. In recent years, he has been involved in the world of diplomacy and currently lives in Brussels, where he serves as the United States Ambassador to the European Union.
However, Gitenstein grew up in a completely different environment. His father, Seymour, owned a flannel shirt factory in Florala, Alabama. At its peak, the company employed around 1,000 people and produced 24,000 shirts a day. But by 1988, the business was gone, the latest casualty of the apparel industry, which had largely moved overseas.
“For 50 years, my father provided good-paying jobs, built hospitals for his workers, and put 2,000 children through college,” Gitenstein said. “But today, Florara’s population is down by a third. According to the latest census figures, there are now only a few hundred full-time jobs in a town of just 2,000 people.”
As Florala lay dying, Gitenstein recalled having a conversation with her father about the economics behind factory closures and bringing up terms such as “comparative advantage” that she had learned in her introductory economics class in college. Ta. Seymour Gitenstein didn’t buy it.
“His answer was, ‘Mark, that’s BS, that factory was more than just an economic statistic.’ It was a livelihood, it was a social network,” Gitenstein recalled.
But while Gitenstein’s family factory hasn’t returned, another American company now makes flannel shirts: American Giant. The popular apparel brand, known for its famous hoodies and other stylish attire, has built an entire American supply chain to manufacture its products.
And as the United States moves from free trade to a worker-centered approach, American Giant’s success is proof that rebuilding domestic manufacturing is possible.
American Giant CEO Bayward Winthrop joined U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai at the Federation of American Manufacturers offices in Washington on Thursday to talk about why it’s important to make things in America. They then discussed the types of policies needed to build momentum. Gitenstein participated virtually. Heather Boushey, the White House’s chief economist for investment in the United States, participated in a separate panel discussion with Daleep Singh, the White House deputy national security adviser.
Mr. Tye served as an interviewer at the event and asked Mr. Winthrop about his decision to manufacture apparel in the United States at a time when much of that product was going overseas. Winthrop explained that in his previous jobs, he frequently had to cut ties with local manufacturers in pursuit of slim profit margins. And I wanted to see if it was possible to do things differently.
“I was thinking about that a lot. I was thinking a lot, ‘Is that my heritage?’ I’m going to chase 15 cents and destroy relationships with people who have supported me with so much,” Winthrop said.
“I decided I wanted to build an apparel business that I could be proud of,” he continued. “I didn’t know if it was going to be big or small, if it was going to be successful, but I knew this was the business I wanted to run, and American Giant kind of came out of that.”
American Giant was certainly a success. In addition to its popular hoodies, the brand has built an American supply chain to manufacture a growing line of apparel, from T-shirts and pants to jeans and dresses. This wasn’t an overnight effort, Winthrop said, but “company by company, farmer by farmer.”
Building an American-made supply chain requires a lot of relationship building, Winthrop explained. American Giant’s supply chain begins with cotton farmers in North Carolina. The cotton is ginned and sent to a yarn mill where the cotton is converted into yarn, then sent to a knitting facility to be turned into cloth. After that, it goes to dyeing and finishing facilities, cutting and sewing facilities to become the final product.
A major success for the company was the introduction of American-made flannel shirts, something Winthrop had repeatedly said would be impossible. “It was important to me because I felt it symbolized something we had lost, and I wanted to go through with it,” he said.
Another big accomplishment? Introducing T-shirts on sale for $12.98 at Walmart. Winthrop recalled that this product is so important because it shows that affordable, American-made apparel products can be produced at scale for major retailers.
“It requires a commitment of time and volume, and Walmart is committed to that and building lasting goodwill,” he said.
While Winthrop and his company have enjoyed success in the apparel business, the Biden administration is also pushing ahead with industrial policies to grow and strengthen domestic manufacturing in critical sectors through new legislation such as the CHIPS-Science Act and the Suppression of Inflation Act. There is.
Boushey told American Federation of Manufacturers President Scott Paul that a series of events has prompted President Biden to move forward with industrial policies that include supply chain shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The need to address climate change. and the widening gap between rich and poor due to industrial hollowing out.
“The outcome that we’re always looking for, the point of all of this, and the point of our economic policy, is that workers are paid well, families are prosperous, and communities are prosperous,” she said. said. “That’s the ultimate outcome we’re looking for. It comes from having a competitive and viable industry for the important things we need to produce.”
The past few decades have made it clear that the private sector alone is not equipped to address some of the strategic challenges we face today. But the public-private sector approach favored by the Biden administration can be traced back to past successes that trace its roots to Alexander Hamilton, Singh noted.
At the same time, the United States and its allies must continue to address China’s massive industrial overcapacity, which threatens sectors from steel and aluminum to solar power and automobiles. It is now clear that China is using its overcapacity for global influence. “It’s not abstract. You can see it in the numbers,” Singh said.
Singh said preserving and strengthening U.S. manufacturing is critical to national security.
“The more you create something, the more creative and productive you become,” he said.
“We cannot outsource industries like manufacturing overseas and think that equality and prosperity will come to our society.”
Watch the entire program here Or from the video embedded below.
