Pivoting from Screen Printing to Cut-and-Sew | Soft Goods Detroit

What does it take to start an American-made garment factory? We talk with Soft Goods Detroit about their ambitious plan to bring high-end, American-made blanks to the market. "We're pushing American-made, custom apparel from the ground up, cut-and-sewn, printed, embroidered, the full spectrum," co-founder Josh York tells us.

What began as a plan to give every homeless person in Detroit a beanie has blossomed into a retail and wholesale business. Based in Detroit, Josh has built a team of hard-working locals. "There are cool things you can do with a print shop. You can train people these skills. You can really make an impact. So I thought: why not do it here in Detroit?"

From working as a production manager at Abercrombie and Fitch to learning to sew his own t-shirts, Josh York has put in the work and learned that the garment industry is a far-reaching machine. "I got perspective by making one t-shirt a day, seeing how hard it is and how long it takes. Millions of people do that every single day," he said.

"There's a customer that wants that really premium American-made garment, and that's the problem we're trying to solve now," Josh explains. But when it takes 20+ minutes just to make a hoodie, there are few people willing to pay the cost. But Josh is certain there's a viable market, and we agree.

Contents:

00:00 Buying an automatic folding machine
03:39 Intro
04:57 Getting into cut-and-sew
06:00 Starting with charity
07:07 Employing the homeless
08:48 About cut-and-sew
11:11 7 million pairs of underwear?
12:40 Scaling
15:00 Navigating the industry
16:11 How COVID changed business
17:50 What's next
19:50 Turnaround
21:00 How long it takes to make a hoodie
23:01 Finance and risk
24:50 Marketing blanks
26:50 Sample kits
30:28 Retail to wholesale
32:19 Sales
36:00 Selling at the mall
38:35 Niches
40:16 Sourcing fabrics