Today, the American fashion industry imports the vast majority of its goods, but supply chain upheaval and trade uncertainty are convincing more brands to take another look at U.S. manufacturing.

As speakers explained during Sourcing Journal’s recent webinar, “Reshoring Reality: Turning Turmoil into Domestic Opportunity,” moderated by senior news and features editor Kate Nishimura, there are a number of benefits to moving production back home. For one, shorter lead times allow companies to be more responsive in their buying, ordering goods that are more apt to sell. Being closer to production also provides better oversight into quality and supports collaboration during product development.

“Brands saw during the pandemic how fragile overseas production can be, and onshoring gives them more control, less risk and the ability to diversify where and how their goods are made,” said Betsy Franjola, founder of Hocking Hills Garment Center.

Tariffs may be top of mind, but the speakers don’t see them as a major driver or incentive toward increasing U.S.-based sourcing and manufacturing. While the stated intent of the duties is partly to boost factory jobs, the current tariff plan put forth by the Trump administration would not have been Reshoring Initiative president Harry Moser’s “first choice” to bring more production stateside. He would rather see a more modest 10 to 15 percent tariff instituted on a long-term basis like 10 years so that companies feel confident making investments. As job creation data shows, the threat of tariffs has actually had the opposite effect. “So far, the tariffs have clearly slowed down the rate of reshoring,” said Moser. “Because of all the concerns, the uncertainty, the companies have sort of put the brakes on until they find out what the reality is going to be.”

Still, there are companies forging ahead with U.S. production, such as Hocking Hills Garment Center in Southeast Ohio that opened last fall. Although onshoring has its positives, after decades of predominantly offshoring, it is not a simple task to bring factories back stateside. “Building a new domestic sewing factory from the ground up isn’t easy, especially here in the U.S., where we have allowed so much of our manufacturing capacity and our workforce to erode over the decades,” said Franjola.

Panelists agreed that talent is a top hurdle. Without a readily available labor force of skilled sewists, individuals must be recruited into the field and then trained. One group that could step in are immigrants from countries with more emphasis on sewing skills. Justin Hershoran, senior solutions architect at Aptean, gave the example of a company in Kentucky that is employing refugees from Haiti. “We have a huge resource in the country of immigrants—especially undocumented immigrants—many of whom did sewing in their home country before they came here,” said Moser. “Instead of deporting them, why not set up a system where they can work and make a fair income, and at the end of five years…or 10 years get a citizenship. It would solve two problems at the same time.”

Adding another barrier, the U.S. has historically not been very competitive from a cost perspective. Total costs are roughly 50 percent higher than in China, and 10 to 20 percent greater than other developed nations. But as Moser pointed out, FOB cost isn’t everything. Instead, the Reshoring Initiative suggests what it calls a Total Cost of Ownership model that takes into account other factors including freight, duties, stockout risk and the cost of inventory.

Technology can help on both the training and pricing fronts. By leveraging digitalization, such as automated machines, companies can shorten the learning curve for new operators compared to more manual production equipment like sewing machines. They can also potentially produce more volumes with fewer employees. Technology also makes the work more appealing and engaging—helping to attract new manufacturing talent—and incentivizes productivity. “Labor is going to be more expensive. But there are so many tools out there, from software to machinery, to help reduce that number,” said Hershoran.

With Aptean’s Shop Floor Control (SFC) solution, which digitalizes production operations including scheduling, data collection and more, customers have typically seen roughly 15 percent savings. SFC can also integrate with platforms like product life cycle management (PLM) to connect production with planning and design teams. “It’s mission critical to be able to not just know this information as it happens, in real time, but be able to respond to it,” said Hershoran. “The quicker you can respond, obviously, the quicker you can deal with issues that slow down your production or stop production.”

Hocking Hills Garment Center is in the process of integrating Shop Floor Control in its operations to help track progress on projects while also allowing workers to understand how their contributions fit into the bigger picture. “Integrating tech like Aptean, it’s more than streamlining the operations, it really reinforces our mission, which is building a modern people-centered factory that brings American manufacturing back with purpose and being smart about it,” said Franjola.

Onshoring won’t be a fit for everyone. Per Franjola, it works best for brands seeking out partners to develop “elevated” products that require craftsmanship, those who value sustainability and ethics and labels that frequently launch new collections. Her advice is to “start small. Test a capsule or a single style. See the benefits of working domestically,” she said. “For that white space where flexibility, quality and efficiency meet, I really believe that U.S. manufacturing can be a game changer for brands.”

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