- 18 hours ago
The US was once the biggest denim manufacturer in the world. But after decades of competition from cheaper foreign factories, the country that popularized jeans has lost almost every denim mill. We went inside Mount Vernon Mills, one of the oldest factories left in the US, to find out how it has made it this far. We also toured Crescent Bahuman, a high-tech facility in Pakistan, to see what it takes for American companies to compete with mass producers abroad.
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00This is one of the largest denim mills in the world, churning out 1.4 million pairs of jeans a
00:07month.
00:08Here, thousands of workers do everything from weaving the fabric
00:12to sewing the final pair for big American brands like Levi's.
00:17In fact, more than 90 percent of denim clothing worn in the U.S. today is made abroad.
00:22But it wasn't always this way. In the early 1900s, the U.S. produced over a third of the
00:29world's denim. And jeans were more than just clothing. They were a symbol of America itself.
00:35But now, there's only one major denim mill left here. And it's trying to reinvent itself
00:41by selling Made in America as a premium product.
00:45You're producing a piece of art. And a piece of history.
00:48Oh, there ain't no doubt about it.
00:50But does anyone even care if their clothes are Made in America? I'm going to try to get to the
00:55bottom of it. I think everybody likes the idea of Made in America. But unfortunately, a lot of
01:02people just want their brand at the cheapest price they can get it.
01:06So can American mills actually compete with the massive industries abroad?
01:10And what are they doing to stand out?
01:15Denim was invented in 17th century France. The name denim comes from the French
01:21to neem, which means from neem. To save money, only half the yarn was dyed, with blue yarn woven in
01:27one direction and white going across it, giving denim its signature look.
01:34The fabric was cheap and sturdy and became popular in Europe and the U.S. as heavy-duty workwear.
01:41But denim didn't become jeans until 1873, when Levi Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant, patented a design for
01:48pants with copper rivets. The durable jeans were advertised to workers like farmers and mechanics
01:54and were popular with gold miners and lumberjacks. Celebs like James Dean and Marlon Brando helped make
02:00jeans fashionable. Over time, they became linked with counterculture and rebellion.
02:05By the 1960s, 95 percent of clothing Americans wore was made in the U.S., everything from weaving fabric
02:13to stitching the garments, with women making up most of the workforce. But today, just two percent of
02:20clothing sold in the U.S. is actually made in the U.S. Now, the top three denim fabric producing
02:26countries in the world are China, India and Pakistan.
02:32We visited one of Asia's largest textile manufacturers to see what U.S. factories are up against.
02:39Crescent Mahuman Limited, or CBL, is located in Punjab, in the heart of Pakistan's garment industry.
02:45It produces more than 20 million yards of denim each year, far more than any denim mill in the U
02:51.S.
02:52Churning it out on such a massive scale requires thousands of workers and cutting-edge technology.
02:59But what gives this factory a real edge is that it also turns this denim into jeans,
03:04something U.S. mills rarely do these days. CBL sends their jeans to big brands like Levi's,
03:11Target and American Eagle. One big reason why Garmin Assembly has moved to Asia is lower wages.
03:17A textile factory worker in Pakistan, for example, earns an average of 35,000 rupees per month,
03:24or 127 dollars. That's 20 times less than the U.S.
03:28The industry in Asia is also notorious for poor working conditions. But CBL says it's trying to
03:36raise the bar, even beyond what some U.S. companies offer, by providing on-campus housing,
03:41transportation and vocational training for some of its 8,000 workers.
03:46We have a full training academy on ground. That means that whoever comes in, we train them,
03:52so they will remain employable for life, whether with us or without us.
04:06This is what U.S. mills are up against — highly productive,
04:10one-stop shops that make fabric and the finished product.
04:16Meanwhile, the few denim mills that have survived in the U.S. only make fabric.
04:20Mount Vernon mills is one of them.
04:23Our competition is not really a fabric mill in, let's say, Pakistan. It is the
04:31entire production of a garment in Pakistan. When garment production has migrated,
04:38the fabric production has followed.
04:41John Sedevi handles the supply chain at Mount Vernon.
04:44We cannot compete. Even if our pricing could somehow be competitive,
04:50we're at a geographic disadvantage in terms of response time.
04:54So the 180-year-old mill is trying to shake things up, starting with its dyeing process.
05:01Their plant in Georgia uses synthetic dye to color the yarn,
05:04because natural indigo is harder to acquire in such large quantities.
05:08But the synthetic version is riskier for the environment. If it leaks or gets dumped,
05:13the dye can pollute local waterways.
05:16So Mount Vernon partners with the town to treat its waste runoff.
05:19And this gives the mill a leg up over textile factories in developing countries
05:24that are a major source of pollution.
05:26I've walked across mills in Asia where literally my shoes turned blue.
05:31I've seen a lot of blue rivers.
05:34The mill has also invested heavily in machinery so it can scale up,
05:38like these looms that weave the blue yarn. One person can operate up to 19 of them.
05:44You show them that you can run these machines and you can get extra machines.
05:48So the more machines you have, the better money you make.
05:52The machines have gotten much faster, too. They turn out fabric at more than triple the rate they
05:57did 30 years ago. And that's got down on the need for more workers.
06:01We probably had close to 2,000 employees when I started working here. And now we've got maybe 600.
06:08But some experienced folks, like Lynn Ledbetter, have held on to their jobs.
06:12Because when machines mess up, she's there to fix those mistakes.
06:18She's an expert at tying a weaver's knot, something a worker might do a hundred times a day,
06:23every time a thread breaks.
06:25And you barely just hold it together with your thumb. And hold it with this thumb.
06:30And then you tie it.
06:32Okay, I'd love to try it.
06:34Okay, here you go.
06:35So that one under there.
06:38And now pull.
06:39Yeah, go ahead.
06:42I knew it was going to do that.
06:45It didn't work.
06:49Many of Lynn's family members have worked here, too.
06:52It's a trend we saw across the mill.
06:54My brother was a supervisor.
06:56My sister's a smash hand.
06:58My mom was training instructor to weed.
07:01So if there was a death in the family, it was practically shut in the mill then.
07:06Yeah.
07:07She even met her husband at this plant 26 years ago.
07:10Well, I tell everybody I'm the plant manager, but she's the boss.
07:13Yeah, that's what it says.
07:16But these days, it's hard for the U.S. textile industry to fill jobs.
07:21The challenge is always there to find people who are willing to work a job that's labor-incentive.
07:26But again, it's a very good, honest job.
07:28You're going to work for your money, but it's a very good job.
07:32When I was growing up, my dad worked seven days a week, and the mill ran seven days a week.
07:37Now we work four days a week, 12-hour shifts, give our employees, you know, three-day weekends,
07:42which helps keep retained employees.
07:45And that's an issue not just in textiles, but across manufacturing.
07:50At the end of 2025, there were nearly half a million manufacturing job openings in the country.
07:56And it seems like not many people want to fill them.
07:59In one survey, 80 percent of Americans said the U.S. would benefit from an increase in factory jobs.
08:06But only about 25 percent said they'd be better off working those jobs themselves.
08:12They say, well, those, you know, people don't want those jobs.
08:16Do you think that's true?
08:18When you pique their interest and the complexity, the workmanship that's required,
08:21you'll get those people involved.
08:24We need people to run the machinery.
08:26We need people to fix the machinery.
08:28We also need people to develop the different types of textile products.
08:33Coming up with new and unique fabrics is one of Mount Vernon's biggest bets,
08:37as it tries to not just survive, but even grow the business.
08:41When I first came to work, we were the king of American denim.
08:45In every major retailer and discount store in the United States with our fabrics.
08:51Now, that's primarily out of Asia.
08:54So what we had to do is focus on niche markets that required a higher degree of
09:00quality and technical expertise.
09:02That includes specialized fabrics, like flame-resistant denim.
09:06The type of FR treatment that we do here is actually a chemical reaction in the fiber
09:12that is not just a topical coating that'll wash off.
09:17This type of denim is used by oilfield workers and electricians,
09:21and the mill can make a lot more money selling it.
09:24The integrity and quality required in that area is something that people are willing to pay for.
09:31They really don't want to wear cheap, fire-resistant clothing.
09:37The final test comes when lab workers expose the fabric to a flame.
09:42The regular denim sample burns right up, while the flame-resistant sample chars,
09:48and the fire burns out.
09:50Along with going high-tech, the mill is racing to preserve low-tech,
09:54relying on vintage machines and techniques that give it a rare edge in a crowded market.
09:59This loom was cutting-edge technology when it was first invented in the mid-1900s.
10:04It was as big a revolution in our industry as the Model T was for automobiles.
10:11There's no question about it.
10:13Modern looms cut the crosswise threads after each pass, creating fringe at the edge.
10:19On these older looms, the crosswise thread is continuous.
10:23And you can see it doesn't have the fringes out to it.
10:27This unique look is called selvedge denim.
10:30And if you get a real-life selvedge piece of denim,
10:35its price points are higher, the craftsmanship is there,
10:39and you're buying a piece of history.
10:44Garment makers will sew that edge into the side seam of jeans so that when cuffed,
10:48the selvedge pokes out.
10:52This look has become a status symbol, a sign of luxury and craftsmanship.
10:56And people are willing to pay a pretty penny for it.
10:59That's actually a market now that some people are waiting two years just to get fabric.
11:07Levi sells selvedge 501 jeans at nearly double the price of its original version.
11:14And that high margin is why Mount Vernon decided to buy up these old looms,
11:18from another historic mill that shut down.
11:21But they were in rough shape, and the team here is still working to get them up and running.
11:25One person described it as the world's worst IKEA project.
11:30So the company brought in experts.
11:33Hector Tabaras and Jose Lopez are both originally from Colombia.
11:37Each has about 50 years' experience in textiles.
11:40When he comes to the United States, he was already a loom fixer.
11:44I got locked and I got threatened in the United States.
11:47Fixing looms like this is nearly a lost art.
11:50We got our folks learning with them.
11:53They are willing to pass the knowledge, so we're very lucky on that also.
11:58Even with their expertise, it'll probably take a year before all these looms are churning out
12:02selvedge denim. Meanwhile, Japan is already the leading producer of this look.
12:08And foreign factories are never far behind on what's trending.
12:12If we get what I call a hit product, I figure we have at the most a two to three
12:18year run on it
12:19before it's knocked off in Asia.
12:22But does anyone even care if their clothes are made in America?
12:25I'm here in Soho, an iconic shopping destination, and I'm going to try to get to the bottom of it.
12:29When you shop for clothing, do you check the tags inside and see like what country it's made in?
12:34Sometimes I do.
12:36At some point, I kind of stop and I only realize it when I actually kind of have it in
12:40my face.
12:41It's really hard to find U.S. made clothing.
12:43If I am buying something made in the U.S., it means I'm in some way contributing to the growth
12:50of a business that's going to affect the economy. So I kind of would prefer if it's made here,
12:55but if it's not, I'm not going to be angry about it.
12:58I mean, if you're American, you want the people in America to have the jobs and opportunities
13:03and so forth. And it should be Americans in that process if we can.
13:08Is it something that you would like pay a little extra for if you saw it on a tag
13:12that are made in the U.S. or not really?
13:14That's where we get sketchy. I don't know.
13:16I don't think the American consumer would. I don't think they care enough, actually.
13:22Still, Mount Vernon Mills has managed to survive for almost two centuries,
13:26and the team hopes to continue this legacy right here in the American Southeast.
13:31Yes, it's hard work, but it's good, honest work.
13:36Anybody can make a prayer out of it, and it's really fun.
13:42To me, the Made in America tag on a product is a sign of dedication to the American worker.
13:51And no matter where you are, pride in your craft is a sentiment everyone can relate to.
14:05I've been in textile for 38 years.
14:09Ain't it though? Goodness!
Comments