I quickly assembled a business plan and reached out to a few veteran entrepreneurs for some coaching and mentorship. My learning curve was quite steep, as I knew next to nothing about the denim industry. I took a trip out to visit the White Oak Legacy Foundation (W.O.L.F.) for a week-long ‘Denim 101’ class, where I immersed myself in all things blue jeans, learning from experienced denim heads across all the major brands, gaining valuable nuggets of wisdom and a rolodex worth of contacts in the industry.
Utilizing this knowledge, I laid out an aggressive timeline to get to product launch. The biggest challenge would be to identify a supply chain 100% in USA that could support our first production run. I wanted to be authentically American, and for me, that meant everything in the denim jeans, from the fabrics to the hardware to even the labels and tags had to be made in America, by American companies. This quest exposed to me just how bad the denim industry has become.
Many companies advertise “Made in USA”, with fine print caveat of “using imported fabrics”. Some companies claim “Made in USA” if just over 50% of the material value is made in USA. And unfortunately, I found a few companies claim “Made in USA” even when that was not the case. In doing market research, I purchased a pair of jeans from one of those “iconic American” brands; printed on the inside pocket was a nice little story about how iconic their 'American jeans' were… until I read the label that these jeans were made overseas.
For me, “Made in USA” was not just a slogan or selling buzzword, it was who we were as a brand. In order to make this a reality, we’ve worked with our suppliers to validate all production is in USA, and with two of our suppliers, we’ve restarted long-dormant production lines to deliver Made in USA materials for our denim jeans. Many of our suppliers have deep experience in the denim industry, and all of them are passionate about our brand. At Patriot Jean Co, not only are our denim jeans Made in USA, but all of our t-shirts, all of our trucker caps, and anything else we produce - has been and always will be MADE IN USA.
Made in USA means jobs for Americans. It means helping American families and the US economy. For every one manufacturing job in America, 3-5 additional jobs (like electricians, plumbers, teachers, firefighters, policemen, restaurant workers) are also supported. And I know that given a fair shot, the American worker can produce superior products. That means by buying Made in USA, you are not only getting a great product and supporting our small business, you are also helping your fellow patriots in communities across America.