Index Intro to Apparel Manufacturing Seminar Putting a Little Whiskey in the Green Tea Party [TC]² Activity Member Profile - Cupid Foundations, Inc. Important Dates A Look Ahead

Intro to Apparel Manufacturing
[TC]² - September 18-22
Register Now!

[TC]², in conjunction with North Carolina State University College of Textiles, offers an overview of the entire manufacturing process in this program.  Topics covered include:  textile fundamentals, fiber formation and fabric design, fabric characteristics, material utilization, spreading and cutting theories, and much more.  Key apparel terms and concepts are featured, along with standard terminology for seam and stitch formations. 

To register or for more information, visit http://www.tc2.com/what/seminars.html.

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Putting a Little Whiskey in the Green Tea Party
By Kim Anderson, Ph.D., writer/reporter for [TC]²

At this year’s MAGIC show held in Las Vegas on August 28-31, sixteen U.S. manufacturers showcased their 100% domestically made products at the You Wear US Well booth. There’s no denying it, domestic manufacturers offer major benefits—quick deliveries, small orders and reduced shipping costs to name a few. But more importantly their presence drove home the point—there are opportunities lurking in our own backyard and yes, there is still manufacturing in the U.S.!

Not only was the sixteen manufacturers' presence a breath of fresh air, a seminar entitled Made in U.S.A. delved a little deeper into just how these successful survivors are making it in this incredibly competitive environment.

Marty Bailey, VP of Operations at American Apparel, shared three pieces of advice: be yourself; do what you say you’re going to; and strive for credibility within the company. American Apparel is the ultimate enigma—a successful apparel company manufacturing in the heart of one of the world’s most expensive cities, Los Angeles. American Apparel is proud to be “sweatshop free” and is dedicated to bringing dignity back to the apparel industry. Working in teams, highly motivated and productive employees are the highest earning apparel workers in the world.

Bailey explained that close proximity to their market allows them to take an order on Monday, cut on Tuesday and sew and ship out on Wednesday. American Apparel is about design, quality and understanding their customer. They’re not driven by price, instead they depend on quick turnaround, manufacturing speed and close proximity—cutting on one floor and sewing on another, instead of three countries away.

Fran Davis, President of Twin City Knitting, had three pieces of advice: keep it simple, do it right and make it look good. Twin City’s core products are high tech socks and baseball stirrups. They have felt price pressures but have remained committed to manufacturing in the U.S. by leveraging their strengths—quick response and quick delivery. 

Twin City operates 60-300 needle machines and is adept at dealing with a wide range of yarn dyes and yarn counts. When buying from Twin City you don’t need to worry about the logistics of getting that container of socks from China to the U.S.—they will manufacture and ship one pair of socks. 95% of their orders are shipped the same day they’re received.

Twin City offers a variety of innovative products. Blister-free socks are produced by placing mohair yarns strategically within the sock. The mohair yarns dissipate heat to prevent blisters. Twin City also makes accessories including hats, scarves, and toboggans.

Pamela Ball, Sales Manager, represented Carolina Apparel Group. Carolina Apparel Group is unique in that they have body size circular knitting machines. The machines knit seamless bodices. Bypassing the cut and sew process eliminates waste. In addition, they can knit a variety of constructions including ribs, interlocks and thermals. A multitude of fibers are used, including cotton, wool, nylon and Lycra®. Ball explained that thermal underwear is a seasonal market in which flexibility and quick response are essential.

Joel Anderson, Divisional President for Fox River Mills, explained that the 106-year-old company’s niche is upper-end technical products. He pointed out the many benefits a domestic manufacturer offers; among them are the ability to fulfill seasonal orders quickly, smaller minimums, lower shipping costs, same time zones, quick adoption of trends and good environmental practices.

Fox River manufactures knitted footwear and hand wear for athletic, medical and military applications. Fox River is committed to the environment by recycling, and using renewable materials.

Sarah Friedman, Executive Director of SEAMS, stood in for Jim Garner of Creative Outlet.  Creative Outlet manufactures hospital scrubs, coveralls, beekeeper suits and even Civil War re-enactors’ uniforms.  Friedman quoted Jim Garner as saying “We will try anything in any quantity.”

Jim Lovejoy, Director of Industry Programs at [TC]², presented a case study that illustrated how a retailer can achieve higher service levels, sales, gross margin dollars and GMROI through quick response, shorter lead times and flexible order quantities. 

Exhibiting companies in the You Wear US Well booth included:  A.S. Tees; Angel Hosiery Company; Carolina Apparel Group, Inc.; Granite Knitwear dba Cal Cru Co.; Earls Apparel GUNG HO; J.I.G. Enterprises Inc., dba Creative Outlet; Kentucky Derby  Hosiery; Knit Rite; Twin City Knitting; Ultimate Sports, Inc. dba Right-Guard; Vinci Clothiers; W. Y. Shugart & Sons, Inc.; Wells Hosiery and Apparel, and Wrights Hosiery.

The U.S. manufacturers' presence at MAGIC drove home the numerous benefits of manufacturing domestically and piqued the interest of many attendees. More importantly, everyone that visited the You Wear US Well booth knows—we are still successfully manufacturing in the U.S. 

For more information on these domestic companies, visit www.seams.org.

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[TC]² Activity
Fast Fashion a Hit at MAGIC

An enthusiastic audience greeted Ken Watson, of UK’s Industry Forum, and Jim Lovejoy, [TC[², at MAGIC in their continuing series of Fast Fashion seminars. After Lovejoy’s introduction highlighting the differences between traditional product development and fast fashion, some of the fast fashion technologies were presented. Ken Watson covered the history of Inditex and how Zara grew from a manufacturer with one store in Spain to a formidable global retailer using fast fashion practices. In the Zara business model there are 8 key strands that are key to Zara’s success. Two of the important strands are logistics and merchandising philosophy. Watson contrasted and compared how other retailers such as TopShop, Next, Prada and American Apparel are competing for the consumer who likes fresh fast fashion.

[TC]² had a booth called an “Infopod” in the Sourcing Zone Resource Center at MAGIC where companies could get information on sourcing, sizing, 3D product development, lean manufacturing and Fast Fashion.

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Member Profile

Cupid Foundations, Inc., a New York Corporation with its financial center and showroom at 475 Park Ave. South, New York, was founded in 1942. The Operations Headquarters is located in Blackwell, OK. It is an intimate apparel manufacturer specifically focused on control shapewear garments. The company designs its shapewear with superior quality and provides excellent value to multiple retail channels and the consumer who shops them.

Cupid operates sewing plants in Mexico and Nicaragua, all utilizing cross-trained, stand-up team sewing concepts. Garments are shipped direct to the customer with 98% on time delivery. The company’s 4 Sigma goal is 99.4% on time delivery. A design department is located in Bethlehem, PA.

Garments are designed with seam construction that provides superior shaping, with varying levels of control characteristics. Cupid Foundations manufactures over 600 styles, and owns the Cupid, TC Fine Shapewear, and Naomi & Nicole Brands, as well as licenses the Miraclesuit shapewear brand. These are distributed domestically and in Canada primarily to wholesale customers. TC Fine Shapewear can be found at Nordstoms and Dillards.

The Miraclesuit and Naomi & Nicole brands can be found at divisions of Federated Department Stores, The May Department Stores, Carsons, and other fine stores. The Cupid brand is the leading shapewear brand in the mass channel with Wal*Mart being its largest customer.

The company’s strategy is to further grow the shapewear category by developing unique products that combine both function and comfort to allow the consumer to solve her shaping needs – no matter where she shops.

For more product information, visit www.cupidfoundations.com.

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Important Dates

September

October

November

For detailed information about industry events, visit www.techexchange.com

Thanks to the techexchange site sponsors
Apparel Magazine, Gerber Technology, Intentia, Lectra, Methods Workshop and Reach Technologies.

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A Look Ahead in the Newsletter


Material World
SEAMS Fall Meeting
Apparel Tech Conference

View previous editions of this newsletter

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