Jake Bronstein, founder of Flint and Tinder, is set out to manufacture a hoodie that will last a lifetime, not like our average clothes these days. Entirely made in the USA.
Jake Bronstein, founder of Flint and Tinder, is set out to manufacture a hoodie that will last a lifetime, not like our average clothes these days. Entirely made in the USA.
Ooh! This is the complete antithesis to today’s throwaway fashion culture. I wonder if it will take off.
Mar 8th, 2013 / 9:15 am
I bet americans will be over the top excited about this, seeing that all the washed out hoodies is the number one reason to why americans are not known for fashionable clothes. :)
Mar 8th, 2013 / 9:54 am
love this idea!
Mar 8th, 2013 / 12:26 pm
Nah, it’s a bad idea. Who wants a hoodie from the 90’s? Think about it. I know people want things well made but you might as well buy a $29 hoodie from Hand M because if you had your old hoodie it would be huge and probably say Korn on it.
Mar 8th, 2013 / 2:50 pm
There’s already a company doing this, American Giant. They’ve proven to be so popular they’re already backordered until late April.
Curious about what differences there are between them (other than one is an extant, shipping product and the other is ‘in the works’)
I ordered an American-made hoodie a couple of months ago from yet another company. Time will tell if it stands up as well as American Giant and F&T guys product.
Regardless, it’s great to see more people making good quality, long lasting products here in the states.
Mar 8th, 2013 / 8:06 pm
Do NOT buy American Giant stuff. Mine finally came and the barbican is way too thin, my hands barely fit in the pockets and the color bled everywhere. FYI: this color bleeding issue wasn’t when I put it in the wash, it was when I got caught in the rain. You have been warned.
Mar 9th, 2013 / 8:41 am
As a pattern maker and technical designer working for an American designer and manufacturer (Karlacolletto.com), I find this incredibly insulting. Many, many clothes are made with quality in mind. I am involved in the manufacture of swimwear – a throw-away area of the industry if there is one, given the conditions swimwear is put through (chlorine, seawater, intense stretch, chemicals in the form of sunscreens, sweat, and sun) and yet we hear from our customers all the time letting us know that they still have and wear suits they bought over 10 years ago (shocking given the vagaries of fashion). Our fabrics are the best available, we stand behind our quality and we work HARD to get fit and function and wearability right. And, because of that, the suits are expensive. Quality and durability cost more money than most people want to shell out for.
“Planned obsolescence” is a term best reserved for mechanical things like cars and washing machines which are built now to not be fixed. If a seam falls apart on a shirt, you can always re-stitch it. There is no such thing as a garment *designed* to fall apart. It’s not as though they are manufactured with crappy quality standards intentionally. Places like H&M do not design with obsolescence OR durability in mind. They design with speed – they wand and need to have high turnover in the stores. Totally different business model.
So please don’t lump all us manufacturers in the same category!
Mar 9th, 2013 / 12:52 pm
Emily: Don’t take it so personally. I think their point is just that while others are outsourcing, off-shorting, and making things with “speed” in mind above all else (as you say H&M is, I might also add price to that list, but I’d rather not debate)… they’re going for long-term usage. And are willing to back it up. It’s a fun idea. Lord knows I’ve been through my fair share of sweatshirts, almost always chucking them when they die on me long before I’d want to.
Mar 9th, 2013 / 7:22 pm
Reading through these comments made me think of Apple. They make it really hard for you to fix a computer or replace parts after you’ve owned it for a few years and need an upgrade or fix.
Obviously they are not designing products that are not meant to last but they make it difficult for you to maintain in the future and charge a butt-load for it. They encourage you to replace, instead of fix which is the opposite of recycling. They do it cause they can, it’s their business model and it works for their consumers; tech hungry user base who doesn’t know much about what’s actually behind the process of the product. Isn’t it the same idea as these clothing manufactures who are being discussed here?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a graphic designer myself and use apple-everything and love it but having a computer savvy boyfriend who likes fidgeting with computers and is incredibly knowledgeable on the topic opens your eyes wider then apple’s marketing team wants you to.
Mar 14th, 2013 / 6:44 pm