Oh, speaking of the latter well-known apparel brand, news items related to the re-shoring effort from Under Armour and some of its competitors have crossed the transom in recent weeks, bringing more promise for our industry.

In June, the company announced the opening of its UA Lighthouse, a new manufacturing and design center in Baltimore to create a new model for local-for-local manufacturing, using state-of-the-art equipment.

Then this month, adidas announced that it would open a new footwear production site in the Atlanta area in 2017. The state-of-the-art facility, called adidas SPEEDFACTORY, will allow the company to create product more quickly and closer to U.S. consumers. And, not to be outdone, Nike and Apollo Global Management, LLC jointly announced they have entered into a strategic partnership regarding the apparel supply chain in the Americas. This collaboration will increase regional manufacturing capabilities, enable quicker delivery of more customized product to consumers and drive investment in sustainability, the companies said.

All of this made-in-America talk – and action – certainly bodes well for many of you, I’m happy to say. Something tells me this movement will continue to gain steam and affect how, why and where you do business in this oft-maligned but undying industry here for years to come.

Posted August 24, 2016

As the summer winds down, I wanted to unpack the threadbare travel sack and share a few mirthful morsels from the dizzying, sizzling textile road – and maybe share some obligatory opinions, before Wilson footballs (containing Inman Mills’ textile components) are kicked off. …

One thing that seemed to gain steam and underscore the summer was the “made in America” motif as it relates to textile/apparel production, starting with the Southern Textile Association’s/Joint Fiber Buyers’ annual meetings in June. There – speaking of Inman Mills – Bill Bowen, the company’s vice president of Purchasing and chairman of the Joint Fiber Buyers, extolled the virtues of being a part of the U.S. textile industry these days. “It is still truly an exciting time to be in the business,” he told attendees. “Large capital expenditures have been made over the last several years and the U.S. textile industry is on its best footing in many years. I am convinced that the future of our industry is bright.”

Among presenters also leaving an encouraging taste in textile producers’ mouths: John Bassett III, chairman of Vaughn-Bassett Furniture Co., Galax, Va., who discussed how his company learned to compete in a global market while many others were forced to close or move offshore. Not to mention Auggie Tantillo, president & CEO of the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), who strengthened that argument by noting that the industry is making a maximum impact on the U.S. economy, with $76 billion in shipments of textiles, apparel and manufactured fibers occurring last year.

Then in July, one of the largest U.S. textile production plant builds in years occurred. In the N.C. foothills town of Maiden, Carolina Nonwovens, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Spinning Co., put a giant exclamation point on the state of the U.S. textile industry with a grand opening of its new 92,000-square-foot facility. Even though it was nonwovens, which never really suffered the demise its industry brethren did during the downturn, this was big news. The unveiling attracted a number of customers, friends and dignitaries, including N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory. That was a good day for the Carolinas and the industry.

Then there was the Olympics, where a number of U.S. textile companies and operations contributed to the creation of Team USA apparel, supplied by Ralph Lauren.

And during this month’s Dog Days, the STA turned around and put on another fantastic forum that focused on American made, as you’ve been reading on these pages. Representatives of Nester Hosiery, HomTex, Valdese Weavers and Under Armour all had terrific made-in-the-USA stories to tell.

U.S. textile industry's

summertime roar