When it comes to purchasing goods, there is a hierarchy of consumerism that goes something like this: knowing a product was made in America, good; knowing a product was made in Oregon, better; knowing a product was made right here in Portland, super bananas awesome. This line of thinking drives us to support farmers’ markets and mom-and-pop cafés over corporate giants and impersonal franchises. It’s no different when it comes to clothing. Haven’t we all, at one time or another, looked down at the label on our favorite sweater and thought “Made In... wait, where the heck is that country?” Ideally, we’d all sport duds made right here in Portland in hopes of supporting ethically-minded facilities (paging Kathie Lee Gifford) and boosting the local economy.
In reality, however, it can be extremely difficult for small, independent labels to create their own goods in a cost-effective (read: profitable) manner in Portland. Even if your latest to-die-for dress came from a locally owned boutique, chances are it was not manufactured in town. Portland is renowned for producing top-notch products in the form of beer, coffee, and cuisine. How far away are we from adding clothing to that list?
The answer has nothing to do with a lack of interest or effort on the part of local designers and everything to do with the simple economic model of supply and demand. Since there is such little demand for the equipment, materials, and labor involved in garment production, the prices of these essentials are extremely high and unrealistic for small boutique owners. On the contrary, in a city like Los Angeles, where there are multiple facilities producing fabric and sewing patterns, costs of materials and labor are much cheaper. Production companies in L.A. must be able to compete with similar facilities down the street; in Portland, there is no such competition.
This is not to say that there are no options for clothing production in town or that boutique owners are not trying their best to work within their means. Rather, hopes are high for change, and a few select business are blazing trails. Here’s a rundown of the current state of garment production in Portland from three very different perspectives.
Small Boutique Owner: Sarah Bibb, Folly
Sarah Bibb, owner of NW boutique Folly and designer of her self-titled line, hopes for a day when her designs can be produced entirely in Portland. Currently, Bibb sews some of the items herself in her store and has the rest made at a small production house in L.A. “As the cost of materials such as cotton rise, I have to keep my bottom line with labor costs or else I have to increase my retail prices." Bibb confesses that the logistics of her current method require much more planning to account for travel time, but, in the end, it is worth it to her in order to keep her prices accessible to her customers. To see faster change for businesses her size, Bibb believes it would take a well-established Portland brand such as Nike or Columbia Sportswear to start manufacturing here. “Big companies design here, but they don’t manufacture here. If they did, It would change the landscape and create an industry. The trickle down from the top would make a dramatic change in labor costs and availability of materials."
Local Production Facility: Britt Howard, Portland Garment Factory
One example of local sartorial production in town is Portland Garment Factory. Founded in 2008 by Britt Howard and her business partner, Rosemary Robinson, PGF is revolutionary for providing services beyond just sewing and pattern-making to clients here in Portland and as far away as New York City. Howard describes PGF as one-of-a-kind in its full-service offerings, which include pattern making, grading, cutting, and design consultation. “We are unique in that we are so much more than a cut and sew place,” Howard says of her gang of 12 including herself and Robinson. “We act as a liaison between our clients and the sewers. The vibe of our shop is one where, when clients walk into our space, they want their designs made here, even if it does mean paying extra. People can sense the close-knit atmosphere we have built, and they like that here they know their sewer by name.” Howard owes part of the positive feeling in PGF to the Rose City itself, praising clients here for focusing on sustainability and for making it a priority to support business that value their employees. Howard says keeping prices on par with other cities like Los Angeles and San Fransisco is a crucial part of PGF’s success thus far.
In-House Pioneer: Jennifer Thomas, Jet
Photos: Jet Clothing
Jennifer Thomas, President & Designer of Jet Clothing, recently opened her own production facility in April 2011 as a way to completely control all aspects of the designing process. Aptly referred to as “The Hangar,” the new facility is mere blocks away from Jet’s retail space on N Mississippi Ave and employs five women who handle all of the preshrinking, cutting, and sewing involved in Jet’s garment production. Thomas describes the Hangar as her “absolute dream” as a designer, saying that while Jet items have always been produced locally (a client of PGF), her goal has always been to have total control over all aspects of the product, including the timeline, quantity, and, of course, the design itself. Because all of the clothing is produced close by, Thomas feels that one of the biggest benefits of producing in-house is the ability to be flexible. “We create what we want to and when we want to, which enables us to give the best customer service we can possibly give to people. If a customer comes in and wants a skirt in a size we are out of in the store, it can take only two or three days to have that skirt ready for her.”
Thomas admits that what she is doing is still very uncommon in Portland and attributes her success with the Hangar to her crew of adept seamstresses. “Not many designers have the resources to pull this off. Many are independent and do not have a team like we do at Jet, a team which has taken years to assemble.”
The jobs created by PGF and the Hangar have been personal triumphs for the women behind these businesses. “I met a lady who had been looking for work for eight months when she came to me,” says Thomas. “She aced a sewing sample test and was immediately hired. I could not believe that such a highly skilled sewer could be out of work, but that is another hurdle we face in increasing this type of in-house production—the amount of blue collar workers in need of employment is enormous, and there are very few jobs for them.”
Bibb, Thomas, and Howard are all optimistic about Portland’s future when it comes to garment production. Citizens here are generally more conscious about knowing where products come from, making it easier to promote locally made items. As long as we remain committed to supporting independent designers like Bibb, and the work of innovators like PGF and Jet, the demand for locally made items will increase, making this type of production more attainable for businesses of all sizes. The more you shop, the more you know. Don’t hesitate to ask questions at your favorite boutique. Find out what brands are being produced in town and support them in whatever way possible.
Designers and boutique owners: What are the issues/solutions from your perspective?
Consumers: Do you have a favorite (locally made!) clothing brand?
Mine is finding sewers with a coverstitch. Since most of what I make are knits. I'll always be made local, so it's worth the sometimes challenges.
Sewers with a coverstitch? Does that mean you're having trouble finding a production facility that has sewing machines with a specialized setting? Or are you having difficulty finding seamstresses with a specialized skill? Or do you mean something else entirely?
-sewing novice
My mother-in-law has designed children's outerwear for 20 years and has found ways to continue to have her signature piece -- The Bubble Suit -- manufactured in Portland.
Oh Goodness - Newport Kidsport! We have been carrying their goods at Milagros almost since day one.
Here is the thing on this whole business, as we have struggled through this recession, overall consumer spending has remained significant, in fact it has increased in many cases.
So why hasn’t the strength of consumer spending resulted in a positive change in overall economic picture: we aren’t making things!
Want to blame globalization? Go ahead. It’s a great way to sit on your hands and stay in the stands while the parade of opportunity passes on by.
Our unwillingness to invest in or redefine our manufacturing sector, to concede rather than compete, has been a choice not a mandate. And it didn’t happen overnight. Our complicity as consumers, business owners, investors, and policy makers is a path of a million small steps over the past thirty years.
It didn't happen overnight so it won't change overnight but we CAN turn this around and the mandate to make the change can happen at a local grassroots level. It is demanding local products, demanding investment in local business development, and broadening the pool of investment in small business.
Peace.
This is an area of economic development in Portland that gets WAY too little attention. With our strong designer culture/infrastructure we should be expanding opportunities for garment manufacturing and the wider range of jobs that expansion represents.
The majority of local designers we feature at Milagros - e.g. Minnie and Lola, Flipside Hats, Pixi Stix and Jax, Mama Runs With Scissors, Chick Pea Bags - manufacture their wares in Portland (fyi - we are completely committed to socially and environmentally responsible products). But we only have so much shelf space...
Moving beyond the indie and start-up designers, as a community and as consumers we should encourage the many large garment companies that place their HQ in Portland to also MAKE in Portland - e.g. Nike, Columbia, Ice Breaker, Keen, Shower Pass... just to name a few.
Bottom-line, there is a myriad of job creation opportunity here that can build from serving our local needs and leveraging this local demand to serve regional, national and even global markets.
It's hard to find both! I mainly make knits. I need people with a serger- who know how to adjust tensions, use the correct thread weight, and have a coverstitch or access to one.
I did a guest post on this blog about knits:
http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2010/07/knits-in-nutshell-with-alyson-clair.html
95% of apparel is made overseas. If you asked the large companies named to do so there is not the skilled work force, ANY mills that make the fabric, or machines in the USA. Plus the cost difference made in usa vs. made overseas is insane.
Hey there Alyson, I have a line of sustainable fashion knitwear, Make It Good.
We produce everything in house in our green production facility in SE. We design, cut, screen-print and sew everything ourselves and we are starting to do production for others.
We have a phenomenal facility and specialize in knitwear and have the know-how and equipment to be able to compete with anybody in terms of quality and price.
We have industrial sergers, a cylander bed coverstitch, a flatbed coverstitch specifically for binding, a flatlock machine, a metered elastic coverstitch, a double needle split bar lock stitch, and of course a single needle lock stitch.
Plus having a full, and sophisticated screen printing setup lets us do all kinds of amazing things, from printed tags to printing cut pieces before we sew garments together (this is the foundation of our own line).
In any case, we'd love to have anyone who needs custom manufactured knitwear come visit our shop some time we could see if our capacity and your needs are a good fit!
We're completely dedicated to producing everything ourselves. Theres another upside to local manufacturing as well that wasn't brought up here -- energy footprint.
In traditionally outsourced production, the material for the fabric may be made in India, then shipped to china for sewing, then merchandised in Mexico, for sale in the US and EU. The energy impact of this kind of thing is tremendous and the long chain of mis-communication and production delays are tremendous liabilities for any business owner.
In any case, this is a fantastic conversation that I'm thrilled to see taking place. Thanks for the excellent article!
My father-in-law started in the textile factories in Brooklyn, NY as a teenager and retired from the industry 40+ years later. His career followed US textile manufacturing and ended with his relocation to Shanghai for the last decade of his career.
When my husband and I discussed the idea of opening a locally-manufactured brand with my father-in-law, his response (in Brooklyn-Italian) was "What are you? An f-ing moron?" It breaks down to the fact that capital is transnational while labor is not. In lieu of any incentive from the market or gov't, it's up to we the people to demand local threads. We have a pact in our house that we try really hard to either pay $ to buy a US-manufactured garment or get it second hand. We don't always get it perfect, but it certainly helps in raising personal awareness of such things.
Hey Katrina,
It's totally true, having a solid facility requires a ton of investment and and even more work. But keep in mind that its not without upsides as well. If you're producing locally, you can frequently do smaller runs, or produce quantity more quickly. That saves precious capital up front, and gives you the ability to respond to trends in the market that otherwise you would miss out on.
Plus, not having to produce substantial amounts of product prior to bringing goods to market means that if a piece is a dud, you're less likely to have to get rid of it at, or below cost, or even worse, trash it entirely.
Outsourcing is fraught with problems. From language barriers, to the simple fact that if you're a small company, you're not going to get the attention or focus from a production house with minimums in the thousands.
So even though the labor costs are low in China or elsewhere (but going up fast) the cost of producing a garment improperly, or taking months to deliver can far exceed whatever savings appear on paper.
Also, I must say that in addition to doing much of the production in our shop ourselves, our seamstresses are as good as can be found anywhere, and a mechanic who is better than any I've met. So, I have to disagree that in fact there is a skilled workforce right in Portland (though obviously not enough to produce for Nike but plenty for a thriving local apparel industry).
Actually there are some places that DO produce for Nike in Portland.
avery - do contact me about manufacturing. alyson@alysonclair.com
My biggest problem is finding a place that has a better cut set up than I do, can mark digitally, and give me accurate lead times. I won't deal with places that don't have digital set up, just for time wise on my end.
I work for a local garment manufacturing company called Dennis Uniform. We were featured on John Ratzenberger's Made in America television show. Our garments are high-quality and locally made, but I find many customers are so used to big-box discount store pricing that the price difference is shocking. Bottom line, many people just don't want to pay what it truly costs to make a profitable garment locally.
You are not alone. There are many industries, including mine [framebuilding, bikes/trikes] that face the same challenges due to overseas [esp. Asian] production. As we step up production for Truck Trikes here in Portland, we endeavor to maintain local production whenever possible. As noted, sometimes it isn't possible since we've let our manufacturing infrastructure erode, but I have faith that the changing global dynamics [particularly relative to climate and oil concerns] will shift us back to local economics and render us more resilient as the big game changes. Hard to say if such changes will be gradual, or come in sudden shifts - I think the latter is more likely.
And perhaps.... Portland and Oregon is actually leading the charge back to America?
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/print-edition/2011/06/17/nine-1-one-joins-manufacturing-trend.html