Last week, I received two emails about supply chain issues. One came from Imogene + Willie. They wanted their customers to know that their denim supplier, Cone Mills denim factory, has closed. This came as a surprise, because I'm aware that I have been hearing more about Cone Mills Denim in the last decade than I had before. Imogene + Willie proudly used USA-manufactured Cone Mill denim to make their jeans, as did many other more "conscious" labels. When jeans sewing became a trend, sewists felt quite proud of the fact that they could sew with Cone Mills denim. Cone Mills White Oak plant has produced denim for more than a century in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was the last selvedge denim mill in the United States. They cited decreased demand for their product as buyers seek cheaper denim made overseas as the reason for the closure.
The second supply chain issue that I heard about this week was from Alabama Chanin. They have experienced increased demand for their organic cotton fabric, but have been able to obtain less of it because of the weather conditions experienced by the farmers who supply the organic cotton. Inconsistent temperatures and unpredictable weather on these Texas farms has yielded smaller than usual crops of cotton.
One of the articles linked in Saturday's reads stated that in 2012 alone, Uzbekistan set one million of their citizens, including children, to work harvesting cotton in abusive conditions. We know that it is possible to see what color the textile factories are dyeing by looking at the surrounding water ways. Refugees, including children, are used + abused in the textile industry.
Volatile weather resulting from climate change + a market that settles for cheap materials from unknown sources is at its best disheartening + otherwise disgusting. The positive side of this that there are a few companies educating consumers and connecting the weather, farmers, crops, and garment workers to the clothes on our backs. Supply chains are not just boring technicalities. They are the very products themselves.
Love,
Jane
The second supply chain issue that I heard about this week was from Alabama Chanin. They have experienced increased demand for their organic cotton fabric, but have been able to obtain less of it because of the weather conditions experienced by the farmers who supply the organic cotton. Inconsistent temperatures and unpredictable weather on these Texas farms has yielded smaller than usual crops of cotton.
One of the articles linked in Saturday's reads stated that in 2012 alone, Uzbekistan set one million of their citizens, including children, to work harvesting cotton in abusive conditions. We know that it is possible to see what color the textile factories are dyeing by looking at the surrounding water ways. Refugees, including children, are used + abused in the textile industry.
Volatile weather resulting from climate change + a market that settles for cheap materials from unknown sources is at its best disheartening + otherwise disgusting. The positive side of this that there are a few companies educating consumers and connecting the weather, farmers, crops, and garment workers to the clothes on our backs. Supply chains are not just boring technicalities. They are the very products themselves.
Love,
Jane
