American Flannel
How a Band of Entrepreneurs Are Bringing the Art and Business of Making Clothes Back Home
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American Flannel
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Narrated by:
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Shawn K. Jain
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By:
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Steven Kurutz
About this listen
"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.
©2024 Steven Kurutz (P)2024 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“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
What listeners say about American Flannel
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Clifton R. Brittain
- 01-20-25
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.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Just us
- 04-24-24
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.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- mom knows best
- 05-06-24
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.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Laura Polk
- 04-18-24
Incredible and honest look at the heartbeat of America
This book gave me hope on so many levels that the scrappy, determined America I grew up in is not gone. A 30 year veteran of the Textile industry, I was familiar with the experience the writer spoke of. I just wasn’t aware that anyone knew—or was paying attention to—the fact that there is a remnant of mavericks still trying to bring our goods home and rebuild the communities that were destroyed when they left. Thank you for shining a light. Thank you for an honest account. And thank you for the encouragement.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Don C
- 11-20-24
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.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Buchanan
- 11-13-24
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.
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