In the wake of the Great Recession, many Americans began fetishising what they perceived to be the glory days of American life. For hipsters, the allure was a time compressed turn of the century, when mustaches and speakeasies reigned supreme. For Tea Party folks, it was when Jesus rode down from heaven and endowed our Founding Fathers with the Constitution, conveniently overlooking slavery, women’s suffrage and Equal Protection as important issues to address. For others, a revived interest in U.S. manufacturing began to take hold. 2009 saw unemployment rise over 10%. Suddenly, the success and growth of 1950s became an ideal to strive toward.
American manufacturing has been disappearing for many years. Since the 1970s, the U.S. has recorded consistent trade deficits, largely resulting from imports of oil and consumer goods. Nowhere is this more evident than the clothing label. According to the AAFA, 97% of all apparel and 98% of all shoes sold in the United States is manufactured overseas. That’s in stark contrast to the 1980s when 70% was still made domestically, and the 1960s when it was as high as 95%.
Why should we care? Americans today spend less than 3.5% of their annual household budget on an average of 70 pieces of clothing per person. Compare that to 1960, when we spent 10% of our budget on fewer than 25 pieces per person. Spending less money on more goods means additional disposable income to purchase even more products and continue to stimulate the economy. Add that to the increased availability of labor in developing countries and everybody wins. Except, of course, American labor. If skilled jobs with fair wages don’t exist, people have less unbridled income to spend. Successful companies that don’t rely on the shared success of American workers contribute to the middle class wage stagnation we’ve seen over the past few decades.
Remember when Polo Ralph Lauren was blasted for its Olympic uniforms that were made in China back in 2012? Never mind the garish corporate logo blazoned across the chest (let’s be honest, suffocating advertising IS pretty American), we would not stand for such an affront to our values. We were riled up about something and something was going to happen.
Which brings us to the American heritage trend, part of the larger preference for Made in the USA in recent years. As politicians began bloviating about returning American manufacturing, companies who never left began advertising these ideals. Companies like Allen Edmonds, Alden, Filson, Orion Leather, Tanner Goods, LL Bean (for their Bean Boots and Maine Hunting Boots), Bill’s Khakis, 3sixteen and Sterlingwear Boston are just some brands that provide high quality, American-made clothing and accessories. The truth is that you will have to pay more, on average, for American made products from these brands. The craftsmanship, longevity and loyalty to American labor, however, is worth the price.
Many other brands, sometimes the culprits of the mass jobs exodus, began seizing on the trend by bringing segments of manufacturing back to the U.S. Levi Strauss is an easy target for criticism. Once an iconic American workwear brand, Levi’s long ago moved production to the developing world. The 501s, Levi’s oft-emulated, straight leg jeans, are produced in a number of poor countries. Inconsistent sizing and shoddy production resulting from its wide scale manufacture has made this industry standard much maligned in the denim community. Yet, that never stopped the brand from touting its history as traditionally American. Invoking images of the American worker while simultaneously moving thousands of jobs overseas is deceptive and cheap.
Today, some of the most authentically American denim is manufactured in Japan, the birthplace of the Americana revival. Japanese companies broke into the industry by creating reproductions of the original 501, made from raw selvedge denim on shuttle looms. Innovation soon took over and today there’s a wide assortment of brands creating signature styles in a niche section of the market. Startup American brands, unsatisfied with the poor selection of the Levi’s of the world, have also begun offering their own wares. In the interest of fairness, an offshoot of the main company, Levi’s Vintage Clothing has produced American-made products for some time. With market pressure, Levi’s also recently unveiled a Made in the USA line as part of their core business.
Another company, Shinola, arose out of our desire to embrace anything authentically American. Founded in 2011, the Detroit-based brand promised domestic manufacturing jobs for the poster child locale of labor contraction. They did indeed create jobs in Detroit, which is commendable on any scale. But you have to dig deeper to see beyond the marketing hype. Shinola’s watches, billed as Built in Detroit, are made from Ronda Swiss Quartz movements, built domestically. A movement, the core element of what makes a watch run, contains the most moving parts. Furthermore, Switzerland has less stringent standards for country of origin distinctions, requiring only a percentage of the components to be Swiss. The movements in question largely source these from China. So while the watches are assembled in the United States, a long supply chain reveals only a fraction of the total production is done at home.
The investigative wizards at Forbes, ever bastions of the American worker, featured an article about Shinola that lobbed softball questions allowing them to broadcast their “American-made” marketing angle without answering for the superficiality of their intentions. What makes a watch unique is the proprietary design of all the neat components that make it run. What Shinola created was a Fossil watch where a few pieces were screwed together by American hands and the end product was marked up to $600 a unit.
Taking shots at cynicism is fun, but at least Levi Strauss and Shinola have real American manufacturing jobs. Apple, on the other hand, uses the Taiwanese manufacturing network Foxconn to produce all its mobile products. Apple’s infamous “Designed in California” label is probably one of the most embarrassing plays by an “American” company to capitalize on nationalistic tendencies. I’m sure the creative minds at the two former companies didn’t travel to China to develop their next denim jacket or wallet designs. It can only be supreme arrogance that compels a company to exploit cheap labor in dreadful conditions, then turn around and try to have its cake, too.
Of course, people don’t want to pay a couple thousand dollars for an iPhone. Or $200 for jeans or $3000 for a truly American-made watch. We accept a degree of ignorance because it’s convenient to our minds and budgets.
Not all foreign labor is inherently substandard, obviously. Developed countries in Europe, Canada and Japan all manufacture fine products (and crappy ones too). Sometimes a certain country is just known for producing something you can’t get at home. Even in developing nations, there are superb products being manufactured every day. Sam Hober creates wonderful, custom made ties in Thailand. I’ve had clothes made to exacting standards that I know came from China.
Some countries have the infrastructure in place to accommodate certain orders. Allen Edmonds, which I mentioned earlier, sources their boat shoes from the Dominican Republic. So does Sperry. You can choose to purchase from Quoddy, which manufactures in Maine and charges $300/unit, but not many people will do that for a summer shoe.
Free trade has elevated the standards of living for many developing countries. Human decency should not be measured merely by how many Americans we put to work. Globalization is about creating dignity and providing a means of self sustenance. However, we should ask ourselves if our reasons for abandoning a certain industry is for the practically prohibitive cost of manufacture or just because we hunger to consume in such excess that cheap goods become necessity. Can the average person survive with fewer, higher quality items or would social devastation ensue?
Buying cheaply and in great quantity favors corporate bottom lines over customer satisfaction. Quality materials, fair wages and skilled craftsmanship will usually equate to longevity, especially in more complex products. A $50 pair of shoes will rarely outlast a $300 pair. Our disposable culture is built on a concept of disposable people. Every cost cutting measure is accompanied by a human cost. For the United States, it’s one fewer job in the economy. For foreign laborers, it’s a guarantee that wages and conditions will never reach the minimum Western standard. If they did, there would be no incentive to outsource at all.
The 1950s does not hold the answers for cultural nirvana. Segregation and racism were rampant and McCarthyism dominated our deepest paranoias. American authenticity is also not the image of a cowboy smoking a cigarette under a sunset in the old west. It’s the imagination and innovation conceived by our people and our contribution to our world. When we fail to look ahead, fail to realize that prosperity can not be achieved without a strong middle class, fail to understand that abusing our resources generates temporary profits and lasting consequences, we are at our weakest.