Globally, most economies are still recovering from one of the most devastating economic crises in 75 years; most industries worldwide have been impacted. In the western hemisphere, however, textile and apparel businesses are not new to such economic challenges.
For the past 20+ years, our industry has navigated a titanic shift in customer, supplier and competitor manufacturing strategies. We have seen many move en masse to low-cost manufacturing countries, forcing those who remained in the western hemisphere to completely re-think business models and re-approach the market from a leaner, more innovative direction. We all recognized on some level that redemptive outside assistance was necessary. Cautiously but steadily we turned to one another, realizing that our strength is in unity. If our industry could come together, interlocking our technologies, ideas and visions, we could remain a global player.
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As such, this latest crisis finds textile and apparel in the western hemisphere already equipped to sustain ourselves. Now we are seeing–with cautious optimism–that we can prosper as we move forward.
Innovating in concert
Fifteen years ago, from the ashes of a time when mill behemoths with product categories ranging from home furnishing to automotive, industrial, and apparel end-uses dominated the market, a re-envisioned industry began to emerge.
Small mills with dynamic technology and a micro-market approach became the new frontier of U.S. textile manufacturing. These mills, energized by a burgeoning new technology sector, emerged onto the global stage as the frontier of innovation in textiles.
Each focused on specialization and technology as the way forward, resulting in the U.S. textile industry becoming a must-have on every performance-inclined apparel manufacturer’s matrix. Established companies from Adidas and Under Armour to new dynamic players such as Yoga Smoga and Splits59 now see the western hemisphere as a robust and integral part of their sourcing strategy.
In the American fashion world today, all players from yarn spinners, dye and chemical producers, textile mills, apparel manufacturers, designers, new technology companies, etc., serve as muses for one another. This symbiotic flow of inspiration, this new bonhomie that emerged (out of necessity) between industry sectors, has been the driving force of creativity and, by proxy, the birthplace of new tech-driven trends in fashion, for at least the past 5 years. The evolvement of our industry in concert with the melding of design, technology, art and lifestyle has set the stage for one of the most dynamic trends in American fashion to emerge in decades.
The new staple in every closet
The single leading trend in fashion is meeting consumer demand for apparel that more than looks great; apparel must perform. Activewear is the leading edge of this trend, driving new technology in apparel.
This influence can be seen in virtually every other category (sportswear, swimwear, lifestyle and even intimates). Activewear offers an abundance of products that provide the consumer with freedom of expression and personal interpretation. This new opportunity for expression comes in tandem with technologically superior apparel, providing today’s demanding consumer with clothes that do more.
Today’s key fashion attitude is expressed by an interaction of surprising, incredible design and technology combinations. Hybrids of ready-to-wear, street fashion and activewear have emerged. No longer are athleisure, spectator sportswear, and yoga niche markets; these are homogenized, highly-developed and fashion-rich attractions for consumers of all ages. Brands as diverse as Nike and Marc Jacobs compete directly with Juicy Couture and Lululemon for consumers dollars. The essential link between the trends and markets is activewear –or more aptly, performance wear– which boasts technology and comfort as well as high performance. These capabilities are at the core of new textile innovations being generated by American mills.
Technology and innovation needs to remain in focus throughout every facet of today’s textile and apparel industry, allowing brands to continue to build the unique and diverse product offerings today’s consumers demand. If American mills continue to lead in these categories, we will remain an inescapable priority on every brand’s sourcing grid.
Sustainability
How to remain innovative and robust is as challenging now as our return to relevance was. There are many encouraging signs:
- Continuing low interest rates should spur both household and business spending;
- A recent sharp drop in energy costs; coupled with a growing domestic energy independence;
- Increases in net worth engendered by the Wall Street and housing recoveries;
- Ever improving consumer optimism as unemployment rates continue to fall;
- Significant import slowdowns: See China’s March 2015 numbers;
- Steadily rising overseas manufacturing costs, driven in part by double-digit pay increases;
- Year four of a robust and growing interest in re-shoring apparel and textile sourcing in order to secure a diversified financial commitment matrix;
- Strong in-industry capital investment: Mills continue to spend substantial amounts on new machinery and equipment, improving our productivity and spurring new technology while maintaining focus on the “green” footprint;
- Government Support: The U.S. government continues to rail against unfair practices with the industry, including human rights issues, currency manipulation, illegal trans-shipments and intellectual property rights.
- Government Stimulus: $75 million from the Defense Department with an expected match from the textile and fiber industries was committed to an Institute for Manufacturing Innovation competition.
- Support from Abroad: Ever increasing numbers of foreign textile, yarn and fiber companies are looking to put manufacturing footprints in America (e.g, Nilit of Israel, Keer Group of China, & Shrivallabh Pittie Group, a leading textile manufacturer in India), further strengthening the industry’s ecosystem in the U.S.
Of course, but maybe?
It took a global financial crisis and 15 years of industry-wide reimagining and recreating to mobilize a resurgence in the western hemisphere’s textile and apparel industry. Of course, a heartbeat does not signal that the patient is out of danger. We have only seen a little over three years of this resurgence; stability is not guaranteed. But maybe, the textile and apparel industry has begun moving away from the edge of obsolescence in the U.S. In fact, the changing nature of manufacturing, driven by technological progress and creative destruction, suggests that talk of a resurgence of interest in the U.S. may actually be an understating of opportunity.
Maybe the sun is rising in the west.
– By Jim Andriola, Texollini inc.
Jim has worked in the USA Textile industry for 30 years and has represented Texollini since 2004, bringing with him his extensive experience in development merchandising and sales. In his current role, his major focus is establishing retail and brand relationships with a focus on performance textiles with a technological advantage, integrating Texollini into customers’ supply chains. Jim’s experience prior to joining Texollini includes five years at Guilford mills and fifteen years at Fabrictex—a pioneer in the development of elastomeric fabrics. Jim holds a degree in Business Administration from Arizona State University.
