That ‘Made in U.S.A.’ Premium
Margaret Cheatham Williams/The New York Times
American Made: Nanette Lepore:
Nanette Lepore, a fashion designer, is an advocate for clothing that is
manufactured in the United States. Most of her contemporary label, sold
by major retailers, is produced in New York City.
By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
Published: November 30, 2013
The designer Nanette Lepore
is a cheerleader for New York City’s garment district. Most of her
contemporary women’s clothing line, which sells at stores like Saks
Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s, is made locally.
American Made
The Price Barrier
This series examines the challenges associated with manufacturing in the United States.
The Fessler USA factory in Pennsylvania was unable to keep running.
Her
company occupies six floors in a building on West 35th Street and uses,
among other businesses, six nearby sewing factories, a cutting room and
even a maker of fabric flowers in the neighborhood. She organizes “Save
the Fashion District” rallies, writes about the danger of losing local
production and lobbies lawmakers in Washington to support the American
fashion industry.
“If my only option as a young designer was to make my clothing overseas, I could not have started my business,” she said.
Yet
Ms. Lepore says that when she signed a deal with J. C. Penney for a
low-cost clothing line for teenagers — clothing that sells for about
one-tenth the price of her higher-end lines — Penney could not afford
production in New York.
Of the 150 or so
items she now has featured on Penney’s website, none are made in this
country. “That price point can’t be done here,” Ms. Lepore said of
lower-end garments.
As textile and apparel
companies begin shifting more production to the United States, taking
advantage of automation and other cost savings, a hard economic truth is
emerging: Production of cheaper goods, for which consumers are looking
for low prices, is by and large staying overseas, where manufacturers
can find less expensive manufacturing. Even when consumers are
confronted with the human costs of cheap production, like the factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,000 garment workers, garment makers say, they show little inclination to pay more for clothes.
Essentially,
to buy American is to pay a premium — a reality that is acting as a
drag on the nascent manufacturing resurgence in textiles and apparel,
while also forcing United States companies to focus their American-made
efforts on higher-quality goods that fetch higher prices.
Last
year, Dillard’s, the midtier department store, wanted to promote
American-made clothing, according to Fessler USA, an apparel maker in
eastern Pennsylvania. It turned to Fessler to produce tops. Theirs was a
brief relationship. “Almost overnight, they called and said, ‘Made in
America just doesn’t sell better than made in Asia, and you can’t beat
the price,’ ” said Walter Meck, Fessler’s chief executive and principal
owner.
The pattern repeats across
retailers. Brooks Brothers’ American-made cashmere sport coats sell for
$1,395; comparable imported ones go for $1,098. At Lands’ End,
American-made sweatshirts cost $59, while the ones made in Vietnam cost
$25. The label on an Abercrombie & Fitch American-made sweater,
which sells for $150, screams about its American origins. But most of
the sweaters for sale at Abercrombie are the cheaper ones priced at $68
and up, and made abroad.
Eric Schiffer, known as Ricky, and his business partner, Leonard Keff, last year opened Keff NYC,
a knitting operation in New York’s garment district. Business has been
good, with contracts from higher-price retailers like Abercrombie,
Anthropologie and Ralph Lauren. One afternoon earlier this year, Mr.
Schiffer watched as a table full of women knotted loose threads on Ralph
Lauren gloves destined for the American team in the Winter Olympics
next year in Sochi, Russia. (Ralph Lauren chose American manufacturing
only under pressure from consumers and government officials up in arms after it supplied Olympics uniforms made in China for the 2012 Summer Games.)
Though
labor costs about 40 percent more than in China, and retail prices end
up 20 percent higher, Mr. Schiffer says Keff’s clients — and, more
important, their customers — can afford it.
“We
can’t work with the Targets and the J. C. Penneys of the world,” he
said. “It’s not for everyone. It’s really just for the higher-end
companies.”
Paying for Quality, or Not
Americans
spend more than $340 billion a year on clothes and shoes, more than
double what they spend on new cars, according to the American Apparel
and Footwear Association. And they say they want to buy American, even
if it hits them harder in the pocketbook.
Two-thirds
of Americans say they check labels when shopping to see if they are
buying American goods, according to a New York Times poll taken early
this year. Given the example of a $50 garment made overseas, almost half
of respondents — 46 percent — said they would be willing to pay from $5
to $20 more for a similar garment made in the United States.
Previous Articles:
A Wave of Sewing Jobs as Orders Pile Up at U.S. FactoriesU.S. Textile Plants Return, With Floors Largely Empty of People
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Matt Rourke/Associated Press
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Blowback601
Uploaded on Nov 3, 2009
The Garment Industry used to be the
number one employer in New York City. Today, a small core of businesses
remains that are being pushed out by high rents and overseas
competition. They have banded together to petition the city for
policies that would Save the Garment Center.
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