Just the memory of acid-washed jeans induces its own particular kind of cringing among most members of Generation X.
For California textile veterans that specialize in producing washes and dyes, the singular look is a sign of how far the industry has come and how the business has swung from good to bad to better.
In the not-so-distant Eighties and early Nineties, laundries in California were humming as denim users from Guess to Calvin Klein seized on the acid-washed look, achieved by adding potassium-soaked stones to washers. The tide turned when a number of laundries headed to Mexico in those early NAFTA days to benefit from cheaper labor and costs, and a few years later, those remaining in the United States were hit hard by the energy crisis that boosted rates by 300 to 400 percent.
The industry’s salvation came in the late Nineties, in the form of a legion of denim-clad knights, from then-new brands like Seven For All Mankind and Yanuk, who heralded the arrival of the premium jeans business. With retail prices hovering between $150 and $200 in the contemporary sector, wash houses turned into serious chemistry labs, developing proprietary concepts for apparel firms.
Resins, incense and even ozone techniques are the latest in wash technologies, and costs have ratcheted up to $50 per garment.
“Back then, there was only acid wash, and now there are a million more chemicals to enhance the garment, which also makes things more competitive,” said Genaro Hernandez, president of APS Laundry and Finishing in Los Angeles, who recently introduced an ozone wash, implemented with an ozone generator that pumps gas into the washer. Hernandez said the effect is a naturally faded-looking garment that appears more vintage than simply old. He said he’s doing test orders of the technique for Guess’ contemporary Marciano line and Karl Kani.
The favorable response is also a relief for Hernandez, who said the year’s elimination of quotas on apparel and textiles, which could lead to an avalanche of cheaper imports from China, was a front-burner concern.
“I was afraid of China and that pushed us to do new things,” he said.
So far, Hernandez said business is on the rise and clients are remaining loyal. Sales at the three-year-old firm are expected to double this year to $4 million, and the company has expanded its 10,000-square-foot facility with the addition of 30,000 square feet housing 60 mannequins used to hand-treat garments.
Related Articles
You May Also Like
Richard Kim, president of International Garment Finish in Long Beach, Calif., also thinks the creative edge in California will help fend off cheaper competition from China.
“We’re ahead of the curve here,” he said. “I’ve visited laundries around the world and by the time they come anywhere close to our designs, we’ve already moved on to the next steps.”
Still, Kim insists there’s room for production improvement. Today’s techniques require more time and energy compared with the past. As an example, company officials said they used to churn out 1,000-piece wash orders within a day in the mid-Nineties, using only two people. Nowadays, such an order would require the involvement of a team of 10.
Kim hopes he can eventually streamline the process with the help of robotics. He employs more than 200 people at his two-building facility. Yet, the staff isn’t enough and his business operates 24/7 to fulfill orders from clients such as Yanuk, Armani Exchange, Paige Premium Denim, Taverniti So Jeans and even Asian firms.
In the last two years, Kim has purchased two machines at $400,000 each. One is a computer-operated laser that can duplicate the capacity of 15 to 20 people and create sandblasted wear-and-tear on jeans or lasered pictures or letters. The other is a spraying machine that can shoot out liquids from potassium to water, taking 30 seconds per garment compared with three minutes. He said he hasn’t laid off employees, nor does he plan to, but that extra technology can help deal with capacity issues, level prices and raise the bar on creativity.
“Our personnel are driving the quality and caliber of the company, and that won’t change. But these machines can take us to the next step,” said Kim, who devotes about 20 percent of sales — around $10 million last year — to research and development of washes, a department he created in 2000.
Those specializing in creating garment-dyed products, from athletic sets to T-shirts, are also riding the tide, especially as the fever for softer clothing heats up.
“The newest thing to hit the market in the last year is making the hand really soft, and if I told you how I did it, I’d have to kill ya,” joked Stuart Teichner, a partner at Almor Dye House, whose clients include Juicy Couture, Hard Tail and C&C California.
Teichner offered that the process involves the use of chemicals and heavy wear-and-tear on the product. The innovation has been a boon to the industry — particularly helping it to weather the challenges of doing business in California, including rising workers’ compensation premiums and health insurance.
The threat of clients going overseas concerns Teichner, but it shouldn’t, according to Dick Cantrell, an owner of Hard Tail, a sportswear line generating in excess of $20 million annually. Cantrell appreciates the ability to work closely with his supply chain to ensure quality control — and to keep the work on U.S. soil.