Book Review: American Flannel (Reviving American-Made Clothing)

"American Flannel" by Steven Kurutz is a thoroughly researched portrayal of the efforts to revive American-made clothing manufacturing. He looks at long-standing companies like Woolrich (founded in 1830) as well as newer companies that emerged around The Great Recession of 2009, when many consumers were fed up with low quality imported goods and turned their attention to American heritage and heritage-inspired brands for a handful of years. 

Kurutz chronicles Bayard Winthrop’s (of American Giant founded in 2011) and Gina Locklear’s (of Zkano Organic Socks founded in 2009) struggles to survive against countless odds through the pandemic to current day.

ARTIFACT was also founded during The Great Recession and we have been producing products in America since our inception in 2010. American Flannel mirrors our struggles to the letter. Gina Locklear uses the word “vulnerable” to describe her business. I think it aptly and succinctly describes any business domestically manufacturing in America.

Kurutz is successful in taking a deeper dive into the cultural and economic significance of American industry and humanizing its struggles. He also doesn’t sugar coat or even address the broader feasibility of large-scale resurgence in American manufacturing.

As a reader with 14+ years of daily experience with domestic manufacturing, I would say the book reads like my diary and an autopsy report for the industry.