Household names are hard to achieve, but with a push to re-invent the wheel in a cool hip, no-nonsense way, American Apparel has become just that. No color or style unturned, they are America's t-shirt... and legging... and mini dress... you get the idea. Nolcha's Lynn Furge talks to reknowned American Apparel about cost effective manufacturing, production runs and fabric selection...
Lynn Furge: Where in America do you manufacture your goods?
Lynn Furge: Where in America do you manufacture your goods?
American Apparel: All of our apparel product is manufactured here in Los Angeles. We have the single largest apparel manufacturing facility in the U.S. with over 2,000 of the highest earning sewing professionals in the world … manufacturing over 200,000 garments per day.
LF: What key elements are crucial for designers to bear in mind when approaching a manufacturer?
AA: They should understand the capabilities of the manufacturer and also note that the more manufacturing friendly the design is, the more likely they are to receive a fine quality reproduction of the design … on time! Many times, there has to be give and take between manufacturing and design especially in high volume production markets.
LF: How do you keep your cost of production down and reasonable to compete with others like Hanes, Jockey, Mossimo @Target etc?
AA: Production costs are a fallacy sometimes. When you talk about competition with other brands that manufacture off shore, you have to take into account the full costs; logistics, delivery, quality issues, chargeback risks, monitoring systems both electronic and human, etc. We are able to compete due to our verticality. We are able to see the entire process from yarn to finished garment. This allows us to be certain that the design is right on, that the fit is right, that the quality is excellent, that the turn time is unheard of, and that our commitments are viable. I mentioned earlier that we have the highest earning sewing professionals in the world. Our direct costs don’t change by our operators being more successful … even though they are earning more money. The more that they produce, the more that they earn.The high production does lower our fixed and overhead costs (per piece) though. In this case, more production means lower costs. Everybody wins! Our company is successful, and we are competitive, because our operators are successful first.
LF: In terms of production runs, what's the minimum you do?
AA: We work to keep our minimums at dyed lot sizes. In most cases, our dyed lots consist of 600+ pounds of fabric. This fabric lot can translate into 500 to 5000 garments, depending on the fabric and product.
LF: How long should designers allow for production completion?
AA: It depends on where they are producing and how much. A design concept in LA, that needs to be developed, graded, have approved size runs, technical packages created, and then finally manufactured could take as long as six to nine months (or longer) in an offshore setting, especially if they are competing for contracted capacity. On the other hand, with our vertical operation, we have done all this in a week. This would be an exception, but we have pulled it off more than once. Our normal turn from approved concept to delivery would be two to four weeks.
LF: What do designers need to bring, provide when approaching a manufacturer such as yourselves?
AA: The more that a designer can bring to the table the less room for confusion and error. Patterns, a sew by sample, and finished specifications make the transition much easier.
LF: When are your busiest periods?
AA: This year, we have been busy for the entire year. Because our line is fairly broad, we constantly have product to focus on. The beginning of the year we will focus on spring and summer items while mid year we will turn our attention to fall and winter. We work more towards inventory composition than direct order delivery. We produce over 16,000 sku’s in our Los Angeles facility so there is always something to keep us busy.
LF: Are you selective in terms of the types of fabrics you work with?
AA: On the whole, we tend to work with a lot of cotton-based fabrics for our basic T-shirts, sweatshirts, underwear, et cetera. However with our retail-exclusive styles we are able to go outside the norm. Sometimes we have an idea for a garment that requires a certain fabric, and other times we will find a fantastic fabric first and design with that fabric in mind. Over all we are working with very functional fabrics that you can wash and dry. Nothing too high-end, or dry clean only.
LF: Have you had any cases whereby selected fabrics (from designers) have not been able to work with specific designs? If so can you give an example of this?
AA: Black Vinyl! We had purchased a black vinyl fabric that was intended for leggings and a mini skirt, but the fabric did not have enough stretch, so we turned it into a bag which works perfectly.
LF: What type of dyes do you use? How do you decide what colors to make per season?
AA: Reactive Dye. We choose colors based on the product, and since we do not follow the standard seasonal colander that the rest of the industry follows, we are able to choose a few colors and test them, and change them as we see fit.
LF: Do you do any sort of trend tracking?
AA: At American Apparel we lean towards hiring inside of our demographic so in most cases our trend information comes directly from our employees. We also have multiple designers who have their own style that they display in their designs. On top of that we have employees from all of our store’s sending ideas and comments that they may have.
LF: How have you adapted to the change of technologies being introduced, such as CAD?
AA: If you consider PAD SYSTEM a CAD tool, then the answer is yes. We use a software tool called, PAD. PAD assists us in digital patterns for samples and finals patterns for production. We also create technical flats in Illustrator to compose digital line drawings of each style as a blue print for our technical packages.
LF: What would you say are key reasons as to why a designer should source a local manufacturer as opposed to an overseas one such as China?
AA: Visibility and delivery. Unless the designer is ready to travel to the Far East in order to insure that their concept is intact once it begins manufacturing, there will always be that uncertainty as to the fit and quality of the product. Too, capacity issues will affect delivery. In most cases, many companies are competing for the capacity that outsourcing has to offer. Companies with larger volume will normally win the capacity war, while smaller volume companies find it difficult to realize the savings that they believe outsourcing has to offer.
AA: Visibility and delivery. Unless the designer is ready to travel to the Far East in order to insure that their concept is intact once it begins manufacturing, there will always be that uncertainty as to the fit and quality of the product. Too, capacity issues will affect delivery. In most cases, many companies are competing for the capacity that outsourcing has to offer. Companies with larger volume will normally win the capacity war, while smaller volume companies find it difficult to realize the savings that they believe outsourcing has to offer.
On the other hand, there are still smaller contract apparel companies in the U.S. that do great work and stand behind product and delivery. While the upfront costs may be higher than an off shore quote, the full cost may be equal or even less when considering logistics, time, delivery and assurance of quality and design reproduction. The designer can also more insure that their finished product is not the result of the exploitation of a fellow human being.
LF: What environmental principles do you follow?
AA: Do the right thing! We are constantly working to see that our work is not having an adverse effect on the environment. We work to recycle as much as possible, from fabric to paper to plastic. We work to create as much of our own energy as possible through solar regeneration. And, we are exploring other areas in fuel and fuel oils to operate our company and fleet friendlier. At the same time we are expanding our organic product line that features 100% organic cotton tops and bottoms both, natural and dyed. Too, we are exploring other natural fibers to enhance the line even further. www.americanapparel.net
AA: Do the right thing! We are constantly working to see that our work is not having an adverse effect on the environment. We work to recycle as much as possible, from fabric to paper to plastic. We work to create as much of our own energy as possible through solar regeneration. And, we are exploring other areas in fuel and fuel oils to operate our company and fleet friendlier. At the same time we are expanding our organic product line that features 100% organic cotton tops and bottoms both, natural and dyed. Too, we are exploring other natural fibers to enhance the line even further. www.americanapparel.net
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