Let me be honest with you: My introduction into American made jeans was purely accidental. I was wandering through some vintage shop in Brooklyn when I came across them. You know the type.
Tip money only. Half of the store you can’t even afford new. But there I was, broke AF from my latest limited hoodie obsession, scavenging through racks of clothing I knew I didn’t need.
Hidden underneath a pile of used band shirts were a pair of starchy raw selvedge jeans. They were about twice my size and had to be from the 90s.
They were stupid expensive (probably more than I spent on groceries that week) but when I unfolded one of the cuffs, a red selvedge peeked out and my sad skinny hoodie ridden soul smiled.
Made in North Carolina proudly stood across the tag. Wait.. People made jeans in America?!?
Were there still denim factories in operation?!? ? ! I tried them on. They were too small.
But… I bought them anyways. Hours were spent camping these babies on. I went months washing them because I was sure they’d fade into some beautiful hybridization ofcolor and wear only deattached from my body when I kicked the bucket.
Even now Emma makes fun of how they stank every time we took the subway home. Appreciate all my MAX friends that had to suffer through that smell too. Wash after wash, wear after wear, they turned into a magical coal burning rainbow of wear patterns and strange stains that only existed because I wore them.
Shirt-dying sweat stain from caffeine overload. Gross ass wallet indent. Random knee patch from when I slid down some brick walls because I was a teenager.
By the time they tragically died (ripped seam while digging for keys in an lift with a client..of course) I was heartbroken. They were my favourites because of some crazy amount of sentimental value I attached to them, and was actually considering paying someplace to dip them in bronze so I could die with them. jeans It was around this time I took my silly hobby of looking at tags and wondering where my clothes were made to the next level. Full blown denim nerd.
Oh man has it been a journey. The state of American denim manufacturing has been on a roller coaster lately. Will it blow up?
Will it be commercially marketed to death? Will it dip once the cool kids move on to their next trendy hobby? Who knows!
It really feels like it could go either direction these days. So buckle up buttercup, time for some history. The announcement of Cone Mills closing their iconic White Oak denim mill came in 2017.
To most denim nerds this wasCone Mills shuttering their White Oak mill was a grim announcement to the denim world. My sneakerhead friends thought I was being stupid crying these dumb jeans took over my twitter. But White Oak was responsible for denim fabrics for just about every major American legacy jean brand.
From Levis to Nudies they weaved the cloth that these companies would turn into jeans. They produced some of the highest quality selvedge denim with a character you simply cannot replicate with new high-speed looms. Denim enthusiasts everywhere (myself definitely included) started hoarding up every last bit of Cone Mills denim we could find.
Every brand with some sort of relationship to Cone Mills started pumping out as much “Made In America” gear as they could before it was too late. CERTIFIED AUTHENTIC AMERICAN DENIM™ was on every brands tumblr circa 2018. Long story short, I took my weird hobby of wondering where my clothes came from and decided to make a career out of it.
Drove across the country in hopes of chance encounters with hidden industrial parks in Los Angeles, inspected converted warehouses in Detroit, dug through abandoned tobacco factories in Kentucky that now serve as museums for vintage sewing machines proudly ticking away like it’s still 1950 something. What I didn’t expect was to find out just how much everything I loved was truly dying. Yes, America will never see head fabric production times again.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a group of stubborn people who refuse to let Americas denim history be forgotten. After meeting with dozens of small brand owners all over the country, I heard almost identical stories as to why they stayed in the states. Texas Jeans has been making jeans in Asheville, North Carolina since 1977.
Currently producing around 2k pairs of jeans a week, they may be the basic brother of denim with hugely underrated straight cuts that’ll fade into your toolshed, but have been proudly making 100% of their jeans in house since they opened their doors. Production manager Dave has been there for over 30 years and recalls when they had the option to branch off overseas multiple times but stayed put. “We could of literally gone overseas many times,” Dave said. “But that’s just not who we are.” Round House Manufacturing in Madison, Oklahoma is another jean company who’s been going strong since 1903. That’ right folks, they’ve been making jeans for over a hundred years.
When you tour their mill, you feel like you stepped back in time. Wooden floors worn from decades of employees walking to their stations, and not a single thing changed about the factory floor they built in 1907. James, the owner told me they had zero intentions of shutting down and leaving because “what would we do?
This town supported us for so long, we never felt the need to leave.” Within an hour of driving from Round House, All American Clothing Co. found a way to make being made in America their whole brand story. So much so, they label every jean by which team in America worked on it during production. Almost to a creep iven level, how made in America focused this brand is.
All of these companies are the veterans. Brands that could long passed America and sell their products but chose to stand their ground for decades. What really excited me was the small batch brands just coming up, eager to prove that “Made In USA” can stand for something in 2024.
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Detroit Denim was the first stop on my tour. Started during the (totally chill) Detroit revival back when it wasn’t cool to care about Detroit, their goal was simple. Figure out a way to produce premium denim in America without sacrificing quality or old school industrial practices.
Mixing with hand tweaked processes that most companies forgot about 50 years ago. Every single one of their denim goes through eight different craftsman before even thinking about selling, all from within Detroit itself! Team members being sourced from city wide programs trying to revive manufacturing within the Detroit area. “We’re not trying to compete with $20 trousers.” Founder Eric explained while hand setting one of my jeans with a rivet. “We provide something you simply can’t get anywhere else.” Freenote Cloth based out of Los Angeles prides themselves on reviving old school denim techniques Levi’s stopped producing over 60 years ago.
Things like chain stitched hems, hidden selvedge markers, and secret rowlocking hidden along seams. Freenote doesn’t just make jeans, they’re teaching the next generation how to use their equipment so these techniques will never be lost. “At one point there were hundreds of people that worked on these machines just in Los Angeles,” co-founder Matt said as we toured their collection of Union Specials. “Now we can count on one hand how many people know how to properly operate this equipment.” Hands down my favourite had to be Darkas Denim out of White Bird, Idaho. If you don’t already know where White Bird is…..
LET ME HELP YOU. It’s nestled in the mountains about an hour outside Boise, Idaho. There is no reason to drive through White Bird unless you plan on swinging by Darkas.
That’s how hidden it is. Luckily I actually talked to the owner Daniel before I flew out there. Former Levi’s employee turned world class denim ruler.
Producing less than 500 pairs of jeans a year, Daniel hand crafts every pair himself taking upwards of 11 hours per jean. I was amazed at his story so plainly. “There was cheap land, and no one would bother me in White Bird.” While I could literally write a full article on each brand I visited, there are so many insane textile mills that are popping back up across the country too! Sure we’ll never forget Cone’s beloved White Oak, but little mills are springing back up left and right trying to pick up where they left off.
Vidalia Mills in Louisiana actually bought Cone Mills original looms when they closed and relocated them to their own mill to preserve the history. Maine Mill Works took an abandoned paper mill and turned it into one of the smallest batch denim producers in the game. The point is, we will likely never see textile production at America’s capacity it once was, but what we are seeing is some of the finest denim being produced today right here in America.
Oh yea.. Imma let you guys in on a little secret. American- made jeans will never be cheap.
Like, never. With overseas factories being able to produce a pair of jeans with probably $5 being fed into labour, American labour will start you at around $35- $50 just for a slave to make your jeans. Thats before you even factor in the higher costs of materials, needing to follow enviromental regulations, paying your employees a living wage. – YOU GET IT.
Because of this you’ll see American jeans start at $150, with small batch “artisanal” brands hovering around the $300-400 price tag. To the average American that’s insanity when you can walk into Target and grab a decent pair of jeans for 40 bucks. SO WHY DO IT?
I asked this question to every owner I interviewed. Every.Single.One of them said some variation of the following… American craftsmanship. Being able to control quality at every step of the process means they are able to catch problems as they happen.
Maintaining standards that would be literally impossible to enforce if their stuff was being produced half way across the world. (hint hint yeezy 500) Caring about who makes their clothes. While this one may be obvious with the above reasons, being able to have your goods produced in America means taking care of your employees. From paying actual living wages, to providing a safe work environment, to using sustainable materials when possible.
These brands could cut cost in a LOT of ways by going overseas, but physically being there to oversee production ensures these things will always be enforced. Preservation. Brand new could care less about preserving the last of American craftsmanship.
But every single brand I talked to lived to breathe keeping these mills alive. Even if it was just one person at a time. Roy Slaper hand makes every pair of his jeans in his garage.
BY HIMSELF. “Sure I could make buckets of cash doing something else,” Roy told me on our video call. “But then who’s going to preserve this? Who’s going to show people that American’s can still make things with their hands?” Im sure by now your laughing at me spending this much money on jeans. And honestly, I laugh too.
Not everyone can justify $200+ jeans, and thats perfectly fine! Don’t take this article as me preaching why you should buy American. But here’s the thing.. when you do the math American made jeans will last you significantly longer compared to imports (because they are simply built better) therefore lowering your cost per wear dramatically.
My oldest pair of American made jeans are a pair of Raleigh Denim work trousers I bought eight years ago. They’ve been patched up twice and still see weekend life. With well over 400+ wears, my Raleigh trousers have cost me around .60 cents per wear.
Compare that to the American “europens” I bought last year that already ripped after 25 wears. Hams, paying more upfront can actually be cheaper.. And if your American jeans do autumn apart.
Send them back!
Mine came with a tag I can send back to Raleigh so when my jeans need repairs I can mail them back to be artisanally fixed. Because of this my trousers got tore and instead of throwing them away I sent them back to Vic, who patch airs all their jeans.
He hand patched mine with some legit sick ass kit kit that actually added character. Will American made jeans be the next “thing”? Nah.
For all intentions and purposes these brands do not want to be huge. But can it stick around? Absolutely.
Every brand I visited told me they weren’t just blowing up, but steadily growing with customers who care more about how their clothes are made rather than just buying the cheapest thing. “I doubt we’’ll ever be churning out millions of jeans in America again,” Eric said as we were finishing up my jeans back in Detroit. “But we don’t need to be. We just need enough people that care about what goes into their clothes to keep this going.”. Lets keep America building stuff.
