The demand never left. The production very nearly did. For the first time in years, there is concrete reason to believe the slide can be reversed.
A clear-eyed tally of where things actually stand: a twenty-two billion dollar appetite, a supply chain hollowed out at the middle, and ninety historic shuttle looms restored and weaving again in Georgia.
Read the Report →The White Oak shuttle looms, nearly lost overseas, restored and running again in Trion, Georgia. The first American industrial selvedge in years.
The demand-side answer to the cost problem. Crowdfund the orders first, produce the exact run, cut the markup, and made-in-USA finally pencils out.
Made to measure in Brooklyn on vintage Singer and Union Special machines. Every component chosen, the craft made personal. The model offshoring can’t touch.
From Kojima, the heart of Japan’s denim country. A case study in what Japan preserved while America let its own craft slip away. A teacher for the rebuild to learn from.
The rivet was an American invention, patented in 1871. Today the buttons and rivets are nearly all imported. We go looking for who still makes one here.
Their denim is woven domestically at Mount Vernon in Georgia, then cut and sewn in their own North Carolina factories, at volume and at a working person’s price. The rebuild as a real business, not a craft niche.
The revival of making things well is one shared project.
Japan preserved the craft America discarded. Britain kept its mills alive. We celebrate all of it, and we learn from everyone.