UPDATED: Team USA… Made in China.
By: Taft Matney
Seriously. There’s an entire region of our country that was built on textiles. We live in it. Though no longer the dominant industry, textiles are still powerful here in the Southeast. My grandfather was a linthead, and he wasn’t the only one in the Upstate who grew up in a mill village.
Why is it then that Ralph Lauren, the designer and supplier of United States team uniforms for both the opening and closing ceremonies at the upcoming London games, decided to take his manufacturing to China?
CHINA!
Don’t tell me it’s because it’s cheaper to manufacture in China, because it still ain’t cheap. According to ABC News, Team USA’s men’s blazers cost $795 each. Our women’s blazers run $598 each, and to accessorize, ties are $125, belts are $85, and berets (Yes, berets.) are $55.
Using David Lauren’s statement on NBC’s TODAY that Ralph Lauren is outfitting approximately 1000 American athletes (and if we average the cost of men’s and women’s blazers at $691.50 each), we’re sending no less than $956,500 to China on those items alone. That doesn’t include their shirts/blouses, pants/skirts, belts, or shoes.
Why couldn’t that nearly $1,000,000 have stayed here in the US with American companies and American workers? It’s not like we’re unfamiliar with the clothing manufacturing process. Even Ralph Lauren himself knows that. You wanna know how he knows?
Ralph Lauren’s Polo shirts used to be manufactured in right here in South Carolina – specifically Lamar in Darlington County. The shirt I’m wearing as I type this came out of that same plant, but it’s now making a South Carolina brand.
I guess my point is this.
Aside from the fact that you look at the uniforms and think they look like Air France flight attendants instead of American athletes, it’s inexcusable to send our Olympians to Europe with uniforms made in China.
We are the United States. We invented computers. We put a man on the moon, and once upon a time, as the textile leader of the world, we made Ralph Lauren’s shirts in Lamar, SC. There’s no reason our Olympic team shouldn’t have that label in their clothes as they proudly represent our nation.
STORY UPDATE: After our piece was originally posted, ABC News aired a follow-up story featuring American companies challenging Team USA’s uniforms to be manufactured in the United States before the London games. Among the companies highlighted was Greenville, SC’s Loggerhead Apparel. Co-owner Zac Painter told ABC News, “We could have done it faster, we could have done it more sustainably, and the tag in the back would have said, ‘USA’.” The link to the ABC Video is HERE.
PHOTO CREDIT: Ralph Lauren and facebook.com/RalphLauren
