American Flannel

How a Band of Entrepreneurs Are Bringing the Art and Business of Making Clothes Back Home

By: Steven Kurutz

Narrated by: Shawn K. Jain

“I can confidently say this will be one of my favorite books of 2024.” —Stephen King, bestselling author (and onetime millworker)

“American Flannel is a wonderful book--surprising, entertaining, vivid and personal, but also enlightening on the largest questions of America's economic and social future.” —James Fallows, co-author of Our Towns

The little-engine-that-could story of how a band of scrappy entrepreneurs are reviving the enterprise of manufacturing clothing in the United States.

For decades, clothing manufacture was a pillar of U.S. industry. But beginning in the 1980s, Americans went from wearing 70 percent domestic-made apparel to almost none. Even the very symbol of American freedom and style—blue jeans—got outsourced. With offshoring, the nation lost not only millions of jobs but also crucial expertise and artistry.

Dismayed by shoddy imported “fast fashion”—and unable to stop dreaming of re-creating a favorite shirt from his youth—Bayard Winthrop set out to build a new company, American Giant, that would swim against this trend. New York Times reporter Steven Kurutz, in turn, began to follow Winthrop’s journey. He discovered other trailblazers as well, from the “Sock Queen of Alabama” to a pair of father-son shoemakers and a men’s style blogger who almost single-handedly drove a campaign to make “Made in the USA” cool. Eye-opening and inspiring, American Flannel is the story of how a band of visionaries and makers are building a new supply chain on the skeleton of the old and wedding old-fashioned craftsmanship to cutting-edge technology and design to revive an essential American dream.

Critic reviews

Advance praise for American Flannel:

“An engrossing cross-country tour of business owners who are working to reinvigorate a flagging industry. In [Kurutz’s] excellent telling, the triumphs and setbacks of this crop of industry pioneers will leave a lasting impact while instilling hope for the future.” —Booklist

“Kurutz’s well-crafted story is one of makers defying the odds, as well as lessons in the many harms of throwaway culture.” —Kirkus Reviews

“[An] encouraging report the efforts of entrepreneurs working to bring clothing manufacturing back to the U.S… The profiles humanize the machinations of the clothing market, finding in the entrepreneurs’ plights an all-American tale of resilience and self-sufficiency in the face of steep odds.”—Publishers Weekly

“I was hooked from the very first page. Kurutz's writing is tight, vivid, always on point. The story he tells is as important as it is absorbing. First, it's an uplifting tale of good old American inventiveness and stick-to-it-iveness, the best kind of underdog story. It is also a cautionary tale about what happens when a country becomes so rich and complacent that it forgets how to create as well as buy. I can confidently say this will be one of my favorite books of 2024.” —Stephen King, bestselling author (and onetime millworker)

“American Flannel is a wonderful book--surprising, entertaining, vivid and personal, but also enlightening on the largest questions of America's economic and social future. I envy Steven Kurutz his experience in reporting for this book, and I am grateful that he has shared the results so generously with the rest of us.” —James Fallows, co-author of Our Towns

“Captures the fabric of an essential American experience. Steven Kurutz reminds us that all sustainability and resilience is local, and that we are not just consumers but makers and members of communities.” —William McDonough, author of Cradle to Cradle and The Upcycle

“In this heartbreaking and inspiring book, Kurutz explains what we lost by giving away the clothing industry and how some people are trying to get it back, with the dreams, ingenuity, and hard work that built the nation in the first place.” —Thomas Dyja, author of New York, New York, New York and The Third Coast

Great read, sad story

Really enjoyed the book from start to finish. The tales of bold, forward thinking, ‘never say die’ Americans who struggle, and seemingly succeed everyday.

Great stories of people and places over profit.

Thank you for the read and the knowledge.

Eye opening regarding the state of American manufacturing - not just the textile industry.

Anti conservative political comments through the book. Not needed. The issue is that we have traded our jobs and security for lower prices. Nothing comes without a cost.

True patriotism identified!

I like the details and although not stated, it shows how lazy most Americans are. Saving a dollar is not worth losing another industry. WAKE up, don’t WOKE up. Help your country, not China.
Both political parties are guilty of letting other countries destroy America. Would’ve preferred no swearing, as it was not necessary to tell the story. Real good listen overall.

Solid Topic, Done well.

I was bought in on free trade. It all made rational sense to me. Few Americans want to work at boring jobs tending dangerous, noisy, dirty machines. If other people want that work, let them have it. American manufacturers want long, boring production runs with little risk. Quality is expensive, so that is the first option to drop. If foreign manufacturers can make it better, cheaper & faster, let them.

I'm not so sure any more. Americans don't want crummy jobs and capitalists don't want to take risks and they have no pride in their work.

I don't see a way out. As long as quality is undervalued and the balance sheet governs, we're going down the drain. The best we can do is buy responsibly.

Interesting read

Not exactly sure what I was expecting. Quite a process! It’s a shame that we don’t make more products in the US.