US Olympic Outfits

[*Anya*]

Originally Posted by Ciaran

Leaving aside the issues of whether the US team's clothing should be made within the USA and the styles, there's absolutely nothing that is intrinsically superior to clothing (or other goods) manufactured in the USA than any other part of the world.

I've purchased many items of clothing made in lower cost parts of Asia that are of very high quality and, in many instances, much better than most clothing manufactured in the USA (or the UK or continental Europe for that matter).

1. As a citizen of the USA, I stand by my belief that outfits for the USA Olympic team should be made in the USA. Besides the fact that it supports the workers in our/my own country, I feel the employers in our/my country should keep jobs in this country.

2. If you have also had clothing that you bought in the early 80's, in China, that still looks good as new today and that you still are able to wear today-that is outstanding.

My personal experience has been different than yours.

[Hollylane]

Even Ralph Lauren's sketches show all the women in dresses or skirts. WTF? How am I supposed to show pride in my country(the one these athletes are representing), when our athletes are forced into little gender suits with a Ralph Lauren label displaying "made in china"??? Is this my country? Really? Grrrr...

[Okiebug61]

http://www.americansworking.com/clothing.html

[Okiebug61]

I'd like to get back to the original subject please! If anyone wants to argue about who's country or what country makes the best clothes then please start your own thread.

[*Anya*]

**I believe that we are allowed to take the topic in any direction we deem appropriate unless a moderator or admin tells us otherwise**

From Women's Wear Daily

Global Sourcing Spinning Faster
Cotton Incorporated

One of the major factors in the country's stubborn unemployment numbers is the loss of manufacturing jobs — 5.6 million in the last decade. All the off-shoring paired with the still-tenuous economy has given momentum to U.S.A.-made product, including apparel.

Government figures show the textile and apparel industries in particular lost more than a million manufacturing jobs in the last decade. More than a quarter-million positions went to China alone, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier, D-CA, says for America to continue to be strong, the country has to invest in it. She's been active in supporting Make It In America (MIIA) legislation, and has hosted an MIIA exhibit for two years at her district's county fair.

"There's no question Corporate America has the right to manufacture wherever it wants,” Speier says. "We're just trying to create incentives and value to manufacturers here in the U.S.," she says in describing the MIIA legislation. "But I think as salaries in China increase, and demands for work safety and transportation costs increase there, many apparel manufacturers will realize there's a value to making their product in the U.S."

More than half of all consumers (55%) say it is "very or somewhat important" that the apparel they buy is made in the U.S., according to the Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey. Consumers age 35-to-70 are significantly more likely to feel that way (66% versus 40%).

Erica Wolf, executive director of Save The Garment Center (STGC), a trade association devoted to promoting New York City's Garment District, says a major step in fulfilling this consumer preference depends on the corporate mindset.

"It has to be a concerted effort by a company," she says. "You have to want to change your business model. You have to see the value of producing something locally and what that does for your community."

That is where the MIIA legislation could help. Among other things, it expands lending and offers tax incentives to small businesses; preventing the outsourcing of U.S. jobs by closing tax loopholes for companies that send jobs overseas.

"I hope there's something behind it," says Warren Brand, co-owner of M&S Schmalberg, a custom fabric flower manufacturer in New York's Garment Center since 1919. "We've been doing this a long time and it's really hard now. There are girls here that are not working or leaving early because we don't have the work. We're paying bills, taxes and hiring union employees. I hope the government changes things, or styles change or something brings us back to where we need to be."

Today, just 3% of apparel in U.S. stores is made in the country, according to the Cotton Incorporated Retail Monitor™ survey. In 1960, American manufacturers produced 95% of all apparel sold here, according to STGC.

Roger Cohen is CEO of Regal Originals, a specialty trim stitching company and Scrub/ink, a hospital scrubs manufacturer. At one time, the company, which Cohen's father-in-law began Regal in 1950, took up two full floors. Today, it takes up only half a floor in the Garment District.

"Save The Garment Center is building awareness about the consequences of not purchasing products made in America and not supporting American workers. In industries like ours, we employ minority groups, and these groups are now hit with tremendously high unemployment — up to 20% percent in some areas. So in this economy, this legislation can only help."

Cohen suggests a campaign demanding manufacturers bring production back to the U.S. "You don't have to bring back 100% today. But bring back 5% this year and five years from now bring back another 15%, and slowly build up the economy with manufacturing."

Regal's Kenny Marvin, salesman, says the industry suffers from the mindset that it's too expensive or there aren't the facilities to produce apparel in the U.S.

"Anything that can be made overseas can be made here. And you have control. If something is going wrong in the cutting room, a domestic production manager can make a decision to cut it or not. If it's in China, and someone isn't really watching it, they're going to cut and sew it — and you're going to own it. Business is suffering because of the economy, but also because of some of the product in stores."

Six out of 10 shoppers agree U.S.-made apparel is higher in quality than clothes imported from other countries, according to the Monitor. And among those who say it is important to buy U.S.-made apparel, 87% say it is because they prefer to support the U.S. economy.

Braden Kelley, author of Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire and pull marketing strategist, says the tenuous economy has definitely fueled Made in the U.S.A. momentum.

"We've been inundated by goods made in other places long enough to learn that sometimes paying a little bit more for something made in America can actually save us money, help the environment and our fellow American at the same time." Speier cites the economic stat that says if everybody spent $64 on U.S.-made product, 200,000 jobs would be generated.

"I, for one, am going out of my way to buy American-made garments," Speier says. "And it isn't easy to find them. But if consumers demand them, it means jobs. That boosts the economy and raises all of us."

http://www.wwd.com/markets-news/text...-steam-6039040

http://www.americansworking.com/clothingwomens.html

[Okiebug61]

I believe we are one of if not the only country who's Olympic Team is privately funded. So with all the outrage about the uniforms being made in China. Does our government have the right to try to legislate where the uniforms are made. I thought the outrage was very interesting and wonder how many of our representatives where clothes made in China.

[ruby_woo]

I'm not saying this to be snarky, but it's a genuine question- is there really that large of a labour pool of sewers, cutters, patternmakers, etc., in the US these days that would make setting up a garment production facility an easy enough thing to do?

Reason I'm asking-

I head up the recruiting for a company here in Vancouver that designs and produces outdoor clothing and equipment, and roughly 30% (I believe) of our manufacturing is done in Canada. Finding people who have experience working on a production sewing floor, cutting floor, etc., isn't easy. To be blunt, these aren't really jobs that Americans and Canadians are being trained for anymore. The average person working in our factory is a 50-year female Chinese immigrant.

I don't even want to tell you how I feel when I saw the Patternmaking Manager rounding the corner with a personnel requisition form. I frequently have to source patternmakers from the US, and even then there aren't many to choose from.

And there's cost. Our 200+ factory employees mostly make above minimum wage, have health care benefits for their families, we maintain the factory to comply with all safety standards, we have lots of parties, start all employees with 3 weeks vacation, and we just renovated the lunch room and it looks fierce. We're happy to do these things for our employees because we want to be a good company to work for- and we have the awards to prove it. But these things cost money, and in order to maintain a bottom line that our parent company is happy with, our products cost more. And boy do we get complaints about the cost (along with compliments about the quality).

I can completely understand the sentiment behind wanting the US Olympic clothing to be made in the US, and I would hope that they at least tried to source a factory that would be willing to do a special production run for them. However, in my experience as an employer, running a garment factory in Canada isn't an easy thing to do- the labour pool isn't there, and consumers really do complain about the costs, even if the quality is there. And not to brag, but again we do have the awards to prove the quality.

I don't really know where I'm going with this to be honest, other than to offer the perspective of an employer that does manufacture outside of Asia, South America, etc. Sorry, I don't feel comfortable posting the name of the company because if anyone is LinkedIn savvy you could find me a minute lol.

[*Anya*]

Originally Posted by ruby_woo

I'm not saying this to be snarky, but it's a genuine question- is there really that large of a labour pool of sewers, cutters, patternmakers, etc., in the US these days that would make setting up a garment production facility an easy enough thing to do?

I snipped all but the above quote Ruby.

As included in the WWD article I posted below. The jobs were here in the US, with plenty of people to do the work, until they, little by little disappeared overseas. Would there still be folks here to do those same jobs now? We will never know because they are gone now:

"Today, just 3% of apparel in U.S. stores is made in the country, according to the Cotton Incorporated Retail Monitor™ survey. In 1960, American manufacturers produced 95% of all apparel sold here, according to STGC."

[Hollylane]

Way off topic...but...

If we don't start somewhere (companies committed to bringing jobs home, who will train US workers for the garment or other industries currently outsourced, and who receive incentives from our government to make it all a little easier), we are going nowhere.

Succinctly...If no one has a dependable income, and no hope of having security in keeping a job that you trained for and are doing well, how can the economy possibly recover?

[girl_dee]

Originally Posted by ruby_woo

I'm not saying this to be snarky, but it's a genuine question- is there really that large of a labour pool of sewers, cutters, patternmakers, etc., in the US these days that would make setting up a garment production facility an easy enough thing to do?

Reason I'm asking-

I head up the recruiting for a company here in Vancouver that designs and produces outdoor clothing and equipment, and roughly 30% (I believe) of our manufacturing is done in Canada. Finding people who have experience working on a production sewing floor, cutting floor, etc., isn't easy. To be blunt, these aren't really jobs that Americans and Canadians are being trained for anymore. The average person working in our factory is a 50-year female Chinese immigrant.

I don't even want to tell you how I feel when I saw the Patternmaking Manager rounding the corner with a personnel requisition form. I frequently have to source patternmakers from the US, and even then there aren't many to choose from.

And there's cost. Our 200+ factory employees mostly make above minimum wage, have health care benefits for their families, we maintain the factory to comply with all safety standards, we have lots of parties, start all employees with 3 weeks vacation, and we just renovated the lunch room and it looks fierce. We're happy to do these things for our employees because we want to be a good company to work for- and we have the awards to prove it. But these things cost money, and in order to maintain a bottom line that our parent company is happy with, our products cost more. And boy do we get complaints about the cost (along with compliments about the quality).

I can completely understand the sentiment behind wanting the US Olympic clothing to be made in the US, and I would hope that they at least tried to source a factory that would be willing to do a special production run for them. However, in my experience as an employer, running a garment factory in Canada isn't an easy thing to do- the labour pool isn't there, and consumers really do complain about the costs, even if the quality is there. And not to brag, but again we do have the awards to prove the quality.

I don't really know where I'm going with this to be honest, other than to offer the perspective of an employer that does manufacture outside of Asia, South America, etc. Sorry, I don't feel comfortable posting the name of the company because if anyone is LinkedIn savvy you could find me a minute lol.

Ruby oh how i get this.

i feel it's rather hypocritical to demand it (MADE IN USA) on such a specific item, only because of what it represents to the rest of the world, when it is not the usual way things are done in the USA. The way the uniforms were originally ordered is just the way things are done in the USA, so i don't get why people were outraged. Will it fool people into feeling that most items in the USA are made by Americans in American factories?

How much did it cost to toss the Uniforms already made (Ralph Lauren no less) and new ones ordered? i bet it's A LOT. Would their have been a complaint had they been made in Switzerland?

[stepfordfemme]

Originally Posted by ruby_woo

Finding people who have experience working on a production sewing floor, cutting floor, etc., isn't easy. To be blunt, these aren't really jobs that Americans and Canadians are being trained for anymore. The average person working in our factory is a 50-year female Chinese immigrant.

Here's a question though, aren't these jobs that would in fact say 20 years ago, train their employees-- without the expectation that these employees come in ready with experience?

I think this is a big shift in the labour market that large companies like to complain about labour pool shortages as a way to outsource and bring in immigrant workers.They don't wish to spend large amounts of money in order to train new workers. In the past companies TRAINED employees in order to keep them, create loyalty and shape the workers that they need. The expectation wasn't that employees came ready suited for the work.

And there's cost. Our 200+ factory employees mostly make above minimum wage, have health care benefits for their families, we maintain the factory to comply with all safety standards, we have lots of parties, start all employees with 3 weeks vacation, and we just renovated the lunch room and it looks fierce.

I think people do want these jobs, but I am also from the generation where young people are applying to what seem to be "entry-level" jobs where they require insane amounts of experience/education for what is "skill-level" work. I can think back to a job that I applied to a few months ago which required a university degree for an admin assistant job!

The burden is now on the employee to fund and pay for their training to even get a job in the first place. I think that this impacting greatly why people would bother to invest a ton of money to get trained to do skill level work. I think that this was a burden that never happened to previous generations. There was a sense of company loyalty, that a company could give you a path for advancement. Don't even get me started on trying to get a company to help you to get trained to benefit them! Whole other thread right there.

I'm not trying to de-rail a thread here & I truly appreciated this post.I have some friends in recruiting and I see their frustrations as well. I believe that supporting local companies that don't outsource will foster better jobs in our communities. Skilled workers are a tenet to a solid economy, so as consumers we need to support companies that do encourage keeping jobs & manufacturing in our own countries.

[Ciaran]

Originally Posted by Okiebug61

Does our government have the right to try to legislate where the uniforms are made.

Legally, yes. Personally, however, I would have thought that there are much more important issues to be legislating on than where Olympic uniforms are made.

Originally Posted by Okiebug61

I thought the outrage was very interesting and wonder how many of our representatives where clothes made in China.

I would be astonished if a single member of your Senate or Congress had not previously worn multiple items of clothing manufactured in Asia.

[*Anya*]

There are many online resources for buying American-made products.

Here are only a few of them:

http://www.howtobuyamerican.com/index.php

http://www.buyamericanmart.com/

http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=13057404

http://www.devvy.com/made_inthe_usa.html

[Ciaran]

Originally Posted by *Anya*

1. As a citizen of the USA, I stand by my belief that outfits for the USA Olympic team should be made in the USA. Besides the fact that it supports the workers in our/my own country, I feel the employers in our/my country should keep jobs in this country.

2. If you have also had clothing that you bought in the early 80's, in China, that still looks good as new today and that you still are able to wear today-that is outstanding.

My personal experience has been different than yours.

No issue with you wanting jobs kept in your own country or supporting workers in your own country. I feel the same way but about my own country, not about the USA.

Rather, my post related to your comment about quality of clothing. I don't have any 1980s clothing from China and, being honest, I don't really want any as it's probably not my fashion. Furthermore, I'd prefer not to retain clothing for 30 years.

However, your post implied that "clothing not made in the USA" was somehow inferior to clothing made in the USA and that's simply not the case.

I buy a lot of clothes and, in my experience, the quality of clothing from China or the Philippines can be exceptionally good whereas the quality of clothing from the USA can be extremely shoddy and vice-versa.

If you want to bury your head in the sand and think USA manufactured clothing is necessarily better than clothing that originates overseas then so be it.