Textile Insight

58 • Textile Insight ~ July/August 2018 textileinsight.com OUT OF CONTEXT THE CURRENT POLITICAL AND TRADE turmoil is pushing the reshoring of American sewn goods into a new stage. Sourcing managers are scouring the landscape for close to home resources and the call for change is becoming a chorus. It's obvi- ous we need to sew in this country again. Public-Private Partnerships are the leading candidate to define the new school sewing industry. It will take the credibility and tax breaks from public institutions combined with the private sector's technical expertise and outside the box style of thinking to rebuild apparel production in this country. That means a vision of apparel production where the education and training are tailored to support a 21st century manufacturing platform using next generation automation and a reimagined supply chain. Robots will replace people, because that's how these things go, and the folks that remain will be taught to make the machines sew clothing with mouse clicks and keystrokes. The goal will be the creation of a domestic sewing industry that produces inexpensive and environmentally friendly clothing that is com- petitive in a market long held by traditional sewing factories scattered around the world. But, what if no one wants to wear the clothing that the robots make? The first new age assembly plants will undoubtedly start off by making basic apparel by the boatload and once the novelty wears off, the products might be seen simply for what they are, mass produced consumer goods. With the market demanding variety there will be pushback; debates about jobs lost and created, trade war tit-for-tats and an examination of the holistic nature of human work compared to computer code churning out T-shirts 24 hours a day. Small batch, workshop oriented sewing might take off in such an environment. Similar to the history of m i c r o b r e w e d beer, the value imbued through c r a f t s m a n s h i p and individuality is becoming more appreciated in all consumer markets. Future shoppers will crave handcrafted and personalized apparel while they watch droid made clothing duke it out with third world labor at the bottom of the food chain. Currently, small groups of designers and makers survive by relying on local sup- port while leveraging the advantages of the internet and the simplicity of click-and-ship fulfillment. It is easy to imagine these pioneers growing into regional clothing brands that satisfy the market's desire for product with story and a sense of place. Ironically, the growth of small shop sewing means more jobs in the classical sewing arts: stitching, pattern making, marker making, cutting and mechanics. Long gone are the stagnant sewing lines of America's past, first they went to Asia, and now the robots are eyeing succession. Our surviving sew shops are nimble, resourceful, staffed by multi-skilled teams that make their money by selling high value product directly to their customer. The hand-sewn factories of the future will be in a similar mold, and like microbrewing, they will be everywhere. Perhaps the public-private partnerships that want to create jobs in the digital future should think about teaching the basic dis- ciplines that form the analog foundation of making things with needle and thread. The human need is for talented sewing professionals to pass on their knowl- edge and offer a holistic vision of their craft to those that want to take the sum of the parts and build their own version of the old school sewn goods industry. O Disclaimer: Mr. Gray wonders what robots will gossip about while they stitch his undies. His opinions and tighty whities are his own and the Publisher does not share them. Public – Private Sewing by Kurt Gray Who Will Wear What the Robots Sew?

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