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Why Don't Mid Level or Even High End Brands Make T-Shirts in the USA

post #1 of 14
12/19/11 at 4:46pm
Thread Starter 
If American Apparel and Target can sell made in USA tees for less than $15, why does J Crew, RRL, RL Rugby, Club Monaco, LEC, Gant... have to import them?

Edit- I know shirts made in China aren't complete crap or unwearable. However, with Made in USA being so popular right now I don't see why some companies won't jump at selling a relatively cheap item with a high mark up.
J Crew could easily sell MIU tees for $40.
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post #2 of 14
12/19/11 at 5:22pm
It's harder than you think to make a T-shirt in the US.
If target is selling tees which are "made in usa" for $15 it means they're using Chinese fabrics then it's cut/sewn in the USA. That's not very "made in America" if you ask me.

FYI, there are other tees which are made in the USA but they're far more expensive than AA.
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post #3 of 14
12/19/11 at 5:27pm
AA makes oxfords and the like now, at a less than $70 pricepoint. Then again, AA is a "vertically integrated" manufacturing company, which probably reduces their overhead quite a bit. Notice that gitman, gant, etc still manufacture shirts here in the US, but seem to run around $150-200 on average, and Epaulet and the like meet those pricepoints, so I think there might be something to that price point that makes it worthwhile. To answer your question, I don't know how much it would cost a US label to open up a new factory, whether it be in LA or in rural areas, and how that would affect pricing. My mom used to work at Garan a few decades ago in Adamsville, TN, but I don't know when that factory closed. With rising fuel costs, it may start to become cost competitive again to return this sort of work to the USA, but then everyone would bitch that only mexicans (and koreans) are willing to work those kinds of jobs.
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post #4 of 14
12/19/11 at 6:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by deveandepot1 View Post

If American Apparel and Target can sell made in USA tees for less than $15, why does J Crew, RRL, RL Rugby, Club Monaco, LEC, Gant... have to import them?
Edit- I know shirts made in China aren't complete crap or unwearable. However, with Made in USA being so popular right now I don't see why some companies won't jump at selling a relatively cheap item with a high mark up.
J Crew could easily sell MIU tees for $40.

J Crew couldn't easily sell MIU tees for $40. Why?

1. Their target audience wouldn't pay $40 for a T.
2. It's a mature corporation--there is intense scrutiny on margins. You want to keep costs as low as possible.
3. Switching from your factories in China to the USA to increase costs and prices is a huge change that could only be made by the upper executives.
4. If you're an executive, you just care of making more money--so you're looking at keeping costs low, and not looking to take a huge risk. Why would you?
5. Quality isn't really one of their main selling points--as, well, don't they want you coming back again and again to buy more stuff?
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post #5 of 14
12/19/11 at 6:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbear View Post

J Crew couldn't easily sell MIU tees for $40. Why?
1. Their target audience wouldn't pay $40 for a T.
2. It's a mature corporation--there is intense scrutiny on margins. You want to keep costs as low as possible.
3. Switching from your factories in China to the USA to increase costs and prices is a huge change that could only be made by the upper executives.
4. If you're an executive, you just care of making more money--so you're looking at keeping costs low, and not looking to take a huge risk. Why would you?
5. Quality isn't really one of their main selling points--as, well, don't they want you coming back again and again to buy more stuff?

I agree with everything but your first point. You got that one way off:
http://www.jcrew.com/mens_category/polostees/shortsleevetees.jsp
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post #6 of 14
12/19/11 at 6:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wurm View Post


I agree with everything but your first point. You got that one way off:
http://www.jcrew.com/mens_category/polostees/shortsleevetees.jsp

Most of them are on sale though for $25, so obviously the $38 wasn't really working out for their target audience.
 

 

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post #7 of 14
12/19/11 at 6:36pm
It's because nobody cares where their t-shirts are made.
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post #8 of 14
12/19/11 at 7:47pm

They're trying to lower the cost as much as possible.

 

Sure, they can sell MIU tshirts for $40, but they can also sell MIC tshirts for $40. Now, assuming MIU tshirts cost $10, if MIC tshirts cost $9.99 or below, it will make economic sense to make them in China. Bottom line is, people pay $40 for a t shirt because it's J Crew, not because of where it's made.

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post #9 of 14
2/26/12 at 12:09pm
Thread Starter 
Everlane is now selling Made in USA Tees for $15. Shipping is free today too.

Edit- Here is a referral link if you need one:
https://www.everlane.com/i/kn10a6
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post #10 of 14
2/26/12 at 10:46pm
Probably because it's quite difficult to find people in the US willing to work 12-14 hours a day, 6 days a week, living in a factory dorm, paid minimum or piece wage, sewing t-shirts with a noisy machine that'll poke holes in your fingers if you're not careful. Apart from maybe migrant Mexicans. It's probably Mexicans who are making the t-shirts for AA and Target.

There was a similar thing in the UK, at a chocolate products factory near where I lived. 95% of the employees where migrant Polish. In the end they closed the factory and moved production to Poland. There's a few garment factories in Manchester making low-cost clothing for Primark, etc, just about all Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers though.
Edited by MikeDT - 2/26/12 at 11:51pm
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post #11 of 14
2/26/12 at 10:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by deveandepot1 View Post

Everlane is now selling Made in USA Tees for $15. Shipping is free today too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiya View Post

It's harder than you think to make a T-shirt in the US.
If target is selling tees which are "made in usa" for $15 it means they're using Chinese fabrics then it's cut/sewn in the USA. That's not very "made in America" if you ask me.
FYI, there are other tees which are made in the USA but they're far more expensive than AA.

Since I know they post here, would like to hear their input on this.
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post #12 of 14
2/27/12 at 5:33pm
I'm not about to admitt that I am knowledgable on the manufacturing end of the equation, but I imagine a made in the USA shirt would be very difficult to make at a price allowing for a 40 dollar retail tag. assuming that this article has made its rounds in this thread, I'd say kiya hit the nail on the head; USA probably doesn't have the jersey to make tees (at least for the same price as outsourced fabrics). This could also be why wings & horns basics can cost upwards of 75 Dollars retail. printing adds an extra charge for graphics and so on.

tee's are usually the piece someone buys when they want to shop at a place but can't afford big purchases (hence my undercover tee, ha). j.crew will start alienating people if they sell their crewnecks at 80whatever dollars.

I find this at work a lot; someone wont throw down 300 dollars for a loopwheeled sweatshirt, but they will buy a poorly made blazer for the same price. demographics and all that. it's kind of a niche market; givenchy gets away with 300 dollar rotty tees cause they are H.A.M. but even brands like apc keep a pricepoint around 60 bucks because 100 dollar tees are daunting and wont move
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post #13 of 14
2/27/12 at 5:47pm
Some observations...

1. $40 for an American made T-shirt isn't ridiculous. Naked and Famous has a 10z ringspun tee for $38 this season. I think we can all agree that manufacture costs for Canada are roughly the same as USA.

2. Like someone already said, J crew customers simply don't give a damn where their clothing is made. Walk into a J Crew store and talk to a couple of people. It's not exactly discerning clientele.

3. To be quite honest, I can't say I'm very upset that American made clothing isn't more prevalent with high end brands. About 1/8th of my fabric wardrobe is American made, and the quality isn't really any better than the Chinese stuff. (Engineered Garments is one exception off the top of my head though) Of course, you can argue that it's a moral issue too. I feel better buying American because the end result is a better paid worker and the fact that I'm supporting my own economy. Then again, I'm not really a do gooder or anything, so it's not something I actively think about.
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post #14 of 14
2/27/12 at 6:20pm
It's a tough spot, because high-end shirts are made in Italy or France and they look and feel different. Medium-end shirts is what exactly? I love BoO for the cut, but the shirts they have made in USA are not nearly as nice as the ones MII. If you disagree you're an idiot.

I think brands like JCrew don't bother because only about 10% of the market cares. It's not worth it for them.
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