In the US, “made in the USA” means “home-grown.” Outside the US – say, in Canada or Hong Kong or England – it can mean many different things: “made in yet another foreign country,” “made by evil imperialists,” “made by cool innovators,” “made in a country that reduces corporate costs by denying health insurance to those most in need,” “made by people who know how to do things right,” “made in a country with a decent minimum wage.”

I’m not saying that all of these connotations are right or appropriate, or suggesting that they are all equally distributed among the target clientèle, just that from a branding/marketing perspective you have much less control over the meaning of “American” once it crosses the border.

Kathleen may decide that her blouses are going to serve as ambassadors for her country, adding the connotation “makers of damn fine blouses” to the already very long list of connotations for “American.” Which is very cool, and I can’t and won’t argue.

Just noting that it’s a decision to be made thoughtfully. EOM

But then again, I’m an American. So my view is biased. I guess it means so much to me to believe that US production can work well, that I hope the other political connotations will be forgiven.

As a Canadian with dual (American) citizenship, my concern is that it sounds political.

Now I know that for Kathleen, it is: she is making the statement that American manufacturers can be successful. She wants to make that point, and it’s an important one. I also know that in these troubled times, many Americans will be pleased to see the name of their country associated with something as simple and pleasing as a well-cut, locally-made blouse.

But outside the US, specifically in these troubled times, “American” can have connotations of things that we’d rather not think about, and that may discourage potential customers.

This may not be an issue: many of the deep pockets that will pay $250 for a blouse to wear to work are found in the US. But it might be: with the projected economic downturn in the US, the blouse might actually be sold at a lower price point as an export because of lower exchange rates, and Kathleen will not want to alienate the export market.

What about “Kathleen’s Blouse”? Also simple, and makes an alternative political point about women in manufacturing.

Some pitfalls we’ve encountered have been mostly industry related, with very little push back or returns when we sell direct to customers. Tradeshows, showrooms and industry magazines can all make you lose focus on the original product and target customer. They are used to dealing with large financially sound companies selling “30 piece collections” rather than being item driven. We have broadened our offerings beyond just pants for this reason, but my most profitable, highest quality, most distinct and needed item is the pant.

Most people don’t know the expense of adding an additional cut or color to the line which can cost as much as $5K and up if you are producing small lots manufactured in the U.S. This is for patterns, grading, cutting all sizes, fabric minimums, plus unsold inventory AND screw-ups (and you will be amazed at the creative ways in which production can get screwed up).

Our tailored pant is comprised of 49 individual pieces because I didn’t want to just throw spandex at the fit issue. But with a very detailed tailored garment (and Kathleen I’m sure you can understand this) it took 12 tries to get the fit right and 3 production runs to work out all the kinks and production mishaps (although I’m sure there are unlimited ways to still mess up one of the 49 pieces along the way).

Would we like to do a full line and design more options? You bet. But financially, the best option for a start up is to focus on a few key items to build a quality reputation then expand (like Ralph Lauren who only started with a tie, or Kenneth Cole and shoes – expansion takes time). Or become a couture shop and work on a variety of custom made pieces at a custom made price.

I greatly value and seek out customer and industry feedback, but I can’t let it drive my financial timeline or we wouldn’t be around next season. You can see the survey we used to get customer feedback at http://www.eileenkelley.com/survey.html

I’m with you. When we finally got to choose the type of dye to use, we settled on fiber reactive for our organic cotton. It’s easy to get sucked in by “natural” without stopping to think it through fully. The other thing to consider is that fiber reactive dyes will hold their color longer and not bleed on your customers

V