Posted October 9, 2019

BELMONT, N.C. – OK, I’ve been covering Southern Textile Association (STA) meetings and other textile conferences for more than 20 years, and, honestly, they never get old. Not even with speakers I’ve seen and heard ad infinitum.

Why is that, you ask?

Well, because of the energy, the ebullience, the earnestness I see in all of the speakers, and the engagement and enthusiasm witnessed in the audience’s eyes.

How could one ever get bored hearing about some of the exciting things happening in our industry, whether it’s 1999 or 2019? It’s all intriguing, provocative and simply amazing, especially these days as the once-pronounced-dead textile industry has stepped up its game to metamorphose into an amazing, awe-inspiring manufacturing sector that’s been given – no, not given, but forcibly stripped away the life-support tubes – to EARN a new lease on life and emerge as a beautiful, innovative, sustainably driven butterfly that’s set to reach new heights.

All of that textile majesty manifested itself at the STA’s most recent event, its 15th annual Summer Marketing Forum at the Textile Technology Center at Gaston College-Kimbrell Campus here.

But before I get into that, I must note that the amiable man who has waved his magic wand  (i.e. mic) at this event and helped raise it to great heights was given his propers during the event. Jim Booterbaugh, president & CEO of National Spinning Co., was presented a silver microphone trophy for having served as master of ceremonies of this forum since its inception in 2004.

“Boot,” as he is known among close industry brethren, simply knows how to make a program fun, be it welcoming attendees, introducing speakers or telling one of his laugh-out-loud stories – like the backwoods bagpiper in Kentucky joke he told at this event that drew enough howls to make a wolf whimper.

Of all the awards I’ve seen presented over the years, this one was one of the most apropos. Go, "Boot," ye of Hokie matriculation.

As far as the program, appropriately themed “BACK TO THE FUTURE: U.S. Textile & Apparel Industry Rising Through Sustainability, Innovation, Reinvention,” attendees turned out to hop in the DeLorean time machine to see where they’ve been as an industry and where they are and get a glimpse into their future with about 100 of their closest friends in the industry.

Here, they heard Cheryl Smyre, director of Business Development Advanced Materials at Parkdale, Gastonia, N.C., discuss CiClO™, a textile technology created through a joint venture between Parkdale and Intrinsic Textiles Group. That’s Parkdale, y’all – a yarn spinner that has jumped way beyond its traditional commodity boundaries headfirst into the new world of sustainability and purpose.

CiClO is a patent-pending textile technology that reduces synthetic microfiber pollution caused by washing, and minimizes plastic accumulation in landfills due to discarding. By partnering with brands, Parkdale and Intrinsic offer a biomimetic approach and sustainable solutions for them to easily integrate into their supply chain.

Ciclo is an easy-to-implement, upstream solution for microfiber pollution and unrecycled synthetic textiles. And microbes consume the polyester, Smyre said. Incredible and wow and what? Yep.

How cool. Parkdale and Intrinsic have tackled an important issue full throttle and are doing exceptional things to solve this problem. And they say our industry isn’t relevant, important and on the cutting edge, huh?

And attendees heard Jason Wilkins, managing partner at Innovaknits, LLC, an incubator company at the Manufacturing Solutions Center (MSC) in Conover, N.C., discuss the flatbed knitting capabilities of his made-in-the-USA-focused company.

Wilkins explained that, after having worked in the industry for years, he and his partner were “tired of making money for other people.” They saw flatbed knitting as being a much larger potential market than they were involved with at the time. So they connected with the MSC and moved from Florida to North Carolina to start the company in 2015 to become a state-of-the-art entity involved in design, development, consulting, support, training and contract manufacturing.

Now, they have 17 Stoll knitting machines, various training and R&D machines and multiple programmers and have established relationships with major brands across multiple industries, Wilkins reported. Oh, and they have trained more than 60 professionals on flat-knitting software. No, naysayers, U.S. textiles/apparel isn’t and never was dead.

And the audience also was treated to presentations from representatives of two brands, Hickey Freeman Co. and Haggar Clothing Co. John M. Martynec, executive vice president at Hickey Freeman Co., presented "Reinventing Tailored Clothing in America."

“Our off-the-rack business has changed quite a bit,” Martynec said. “Where we used to produce 80 percent off the rack and 20 percent custom, those numbers are now reversed.”

Hickey Freeman, founded in 1899, has more than 300 employees producing over 60 million suits in Rochester, N.Y., he said. The company has more than 200 different product models in 400 different fabrics and orders in production at any given time.

And as workplaces are getting more casual, the company is adapting, he said.

“When you own manufacturing, you own marketability,” Martynec said. “We’re trying to transform the company from what was traditionally a menswear company into something totally different. The key is selling and marketing and know-how. Tailored clothing is tailored clothing, but it’s changing.”

For the company, that means branching out to also offer clothing for women, some of it out of the business attire realm into something a little more eclectic, he said.

Hickey Freeman can compete on a number of fronts, he added, from providing American fashion and made-in-America on a global basis, using quick response to immediate needs, offering changing demand, providing small order runs with a full range of features, constructions and materials (i.e. mass customization) and making traditional constructed clothing with raw materials provided by premium vendors from around the world.

Meanwhile, Tony Anzovino, chief sourcing & merchandising officer, Haggar Clothing Co., Dallas, and president of the Americas Apparel Producers Network (AAPN), opened a wider aperture to present "Retail's Apocalypse or a New Dawn?" He gave an overview of the ominous news we’re all hearing about brick-and-mortar, noting that big chains have shuttered doors, small chains are following and excessive inventory is being liquidated through off-price and e-commerce channels, and malls across the country are closing. He pointed out that there is too much retail space, as the U.S. is overstored compared to other countries.

“However,” he said, “an August 13 study released by research firm IHL shows that five retail stores are opening for every one that closes,” he said.

U.S. physical retail isn’t dead yet, he reported, as ecommerce represents only 10.7 percent of total retail sales. He added that Moody’s Investors Service predicts U.S. retail sales to grow 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent this year.

“Last year, about 10,000 more stores opened than closed,” according to the IHL Group, he said. “Unmanned stores – already becoming mainstream in China – are heading for the U.S.”

One thing that’s working today is the fact that young consumers are increasingly seeking experiences over products, Anzovino said. Plus a number of other factors come into play, he added, including: shorter development lead times, fabric innovation and marketing, pre-designed and engineered products, faster replenishment cycle times that reduce inventory, 3D design, price and more.

Not to mention a few trends that really are more than just buzzwords, he said: Disruption, sustainability, automation, wearable tech, verticality, reshoring, nearsoring, fast fashion, speed to market and mass customization.

Attendees also heard from speakers on timely topics to their interests – trade and the economy. Sara Beatty, senior vice president, NCTO and secretary of the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), presented a textile trade policy update; and Dr. Roger Tutterow, professor of Economics & Director Econometric Center Dept. of Economics, Finance and Quantitative Analysis, Michael J. Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University, offered a positive economic update.

Oh, and networking? An outstanding reception at the new TechWorks Gaston innovation hub took place the night before the meeting, connecting representatives from the supply chain.

Rock on, y'all.