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2025 SPESA Executive Conference To Prioritize Industry Resiliency with Theme: Forging Forward - Building Resilient, Future-Ready Businesses
Registration is open for the 2025 SPESA Executive Conference. This year’s event will take place August 27-29 at the Sofitel Chicago Magnificent Mile.
We're operating in a time of uncertainty — from fluctuating markets to geopolitical concerns to supply chain disruptions. Yet, despite hurdles on the horizon, the sewn products industry has remained resilient. For the 2025 SPESA Executive Conference, we’d like to lean into that resiliency by providing conference attendees with the tools, insights, and inspiration needed to prevail.
Click below for a first look at some of the topics we’ll be covering.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHTS
INDUSTRY NEWS | 7.16.25
ICYMI | Future Proof Your Business with SPESA
SPESA Announcement | July 16, 2025
The SPESA Executive Conference brings together stakeholders from across the sewn products supply chain to discuss the most pressing issues facing our industry. So, naturally, this year's discussion topics focus on building resilient, future-ready businesses. Our goal is to provide conference attendees with the tools, insights, and inspiration needed to prevail during uncertain times.
Click the link below for a look at the agenda topics planned for Chicago!
Tariff Update
News Compilation | July 16, 2025
The U.S. will begin implementing new tariff rates on select countries starting August 1st, with some rates altered from those previously announced in April. A breakdown of what we know so far and a round-up on industry-specific news are available at the link below.
Impact of Sri Lanka’s Cutting-Edge Bonded Fabric Technology
Just Style | July 15, 2025
Sri Lankan clothing manufacturer Brandix has sparked international interest from its new manufacturing method that creates adhesive bonds to assemble fabric products instead of sewing. Through a joint venture called Fusion Apparel (Pvt) Ltd, Brandix has signed a $1.06m agreement with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka to help leverage an overall project investment of $10m for the bonded technology.
MannyAI Launches AI Tool for Garment Costing and BOM Generation
Apparel Resources | July 15, 2025
MannyAI, a fashion tech start-up that uses AI to help clothing brands and suppliers make products on demand, announced the beta launch of Seamstream, a new AI tool that will assist apparel manufacturers in producing Bills of Materials and Operation Breakdowns instantaneously, facilitating a quicker price alignment between factories and brands.
Wilson College of Textiles Names New Director of Milliken TPACC
Specialty Fabrics Review | July 15, 2025
NC State’s Wilson College of Textiles has announced that Bryan Ormond, Ph.D., has been named as the new director of the Milliken Textile Protection and Comfort Center (TPACC).
UK Relaxes Import Rules, Boosting Retailers & Developing Nations
Fibre2Fashion | July 15, 2025
British consumers and businesses are set to benefit from a new package of trade measures unveiled on July 10th, designed to simplify imports from developing countries and support global economic growth. The measures are part of an upgrade to the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which aims to lower prices on everyday goods while promoting trade with some of the world’s poorest nations. They will give UK consumers greater access to competitively priced imports, such as clothing.
Joann Supplier Going Out of Business
Supply Chain Dive | July 14, 2025
Citing Joann’s downfall and U.S. tariffs, Design Group Americas, whose portfolio includes sewing pattern names like McCall’s, Simplicity, Vogue and Butterick, filed for Chapter 11 protection July 10th. The company will put many of its brands up for sale while “winding down its domestically manufactured woven ribbon products business and supporting assets,” per the company’s press release.
Disappearing Electronics: Biodegradable Fiber Electronics Offer Solution to E-Waste and Textile Pollution
Tech Xplore | July 14, 2025
A research team at Seoul National University has developed a fully biodegradable, high-performance conductive fiber that can be seamlessly integrated into wearable electronics and naturally decompose after use.
Asos Seeks Optimized Supply Chain with New Tech Integration
Supply Chain Dive | July 14, 2025
The apparel company is using the Celonis Process Intelligence platform to gain real-time visibility of its distribution, fulfillment, and logistics operations.
Many retailers like Asos are leveraging new technology platforms to gain better visibility into their supply chains. In turn, such companies are using data-informed insights to accommodate and adapt to changing market conditions.
U.S. Apparel Imports From China Fell to a 22-Year Low in May Amid Trade War Escalation
Sourcing Journal | July 11, 2025
Clothing imports from China fell to a 22-year low in May and were down by more than half (52%) from the same period in 2024 amid escalating tariff tensions between Washington and Beijing that have since resulted in a patched-up trade truce.
For the first time in decades, China’s share of apparel imports into the U.S. market dropped below 10 percent. May saw the sourcing superpower account for just 9.9 percent of clothing imports — a precarious plummet from the year-ago period, when China represented 19.9 percent of all apparel brought into the American market.
The May trade insights, compiled by University of Delaware professor of fashion and apparel studies Dr. Sheng Lu using U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) data, revealed that tariff rates on fashion products (especially steep duties on China-originating goods) ballooned beyond levels seen in the modern era.
Dr. Sheng Lu will be presenting on the current trade landscape at SPESA’s upcoming Executive Conference in Chicago (August 27-29, 2025).
Read More...
Made in America
NPR Planet Money | July 11, 2025
In need of a good podcast for your morning or evening commute? We highly recommend NPR’s Planet Money, notably this episode that closely examines the garment manufacturing industry in the U.S., specifically industry operations in L.A. The segment includes a history of garment manufacturing in the U.S., the current state of the industry in the U.S., and what organizations like the Garment Worker Center are doing to advocate for the workers who are keeping the garment manufacturing industry operating across the U.S.
An Industry in Decline: How Los Angeles Lost Its Fashion District
Los Angeles Magazine | July 10, 2025
The headline might be a bit hyperbolic, but this piece from Los Angeles Magazine sheds light on the current state of the garment manufacturing industry in L.A., following significant impact from tariffs and recent immigration raids.
64% of Fashion Retailers Blame Incomplete Shipping Info for Delays, Shrink: Survey
Apparel Resources | July 9, 2025
“Fashion retail leaders are sounding the alarm on a silent profit killer: bad shipping data.”Around 64% of 250 fashion retail leaders say inaccurate or incomplete shipping information is a common cause of order delays and inventory shrink, says a new report from Avery Dennison.
Read More...
World Emblem Launches 3D Foam Direct Embroidery
Press Release via Textile World | July 9, 2025
World Emblem announced the launch of 3D Foam Direct Embroidery, a new product that adds a raised puff effect and 3D-texture to headwear.
Texprocess Americas 2025 & SPESA Profile
Revista Téxtil | July 8, 2025
Thank you to our very good friend Frederico Haydu from Revista Téxtil in Brazil for joining us in Atlanta for the 2025 editions of Texprocess Americas and Techtextil North America, and providing us with this thorough coverage of both shows, plus a story on SPESA’s legacy through Dave and Benton Gardner. (For our Portuguese-speaking subscribers.)
Read More...
A Made-in-America Apparel Brand Describes How Walmart Helped It Produce a More Affordable U.S. Flag T-shirt
Business Insider | July 4, 2025
About two years ago, Walmart approached Bayard Winthrop, Founder of American Giant, with a challenge to produce a made-in-U.S. T-shirt at the retail giant's famously low prices. This was part of what is now a $350 billion commitment to invest in sourcing products that support American jobs until 2030.
“If the effort to revive US manufacturing is going to succeed, Bayard said that small and large companies need to work together with sustained, long-term commitments that help the supply chain develop and become more cost-effective.”
Read More...
ILO Launches Knowledge Platform To Advance Decent Work in Supply Chains
Press Release | July 3, 2025
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has released an online platform designed to make its research on decent work in supply chains more accessible, actionable, and impactful. The Decent Work in Supply Chains Evidence Hub is a dynamic digital resource that supports evidence-based policymaking and drives forward the ILO’s mission of promoting fairer, more sustainable supply chains worldwide.
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AATCC Foundation: New Funding Available for Textile Research
Press Release via Textile World | July 3, 2025
The AATCC Foundation Student Research Support Grant Program provides financial assistance for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing textile-related projects. Students may submit proposals now for funding to be awarded January 2026. Priority is given to research related to test method development, evaluation of textile performance in actual use situations, and correlations between these two.
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CLO Virtual Fashion Acquires Swatchbook, Solidifying Leadership in Digital Fabric Solutions
Press Release via eTextileCommunications | July 2, 2025
CLO Virtual Fashion, a global leader in 3D garment design and visualization technologies, announced its acquisition of swatchbook, an innovative digital materials solutions provider based in California. This major move positions CLO as the largest digital fabric database company in the world, enhancing the fabric content and design experience for all users within CLO's comprehensive ecosystem of products and services.
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Textile-to-textile Recyclers Breaking Ground Globally
Sourcing Journal | July 2, 2025
“The foremost innovators in the textile-to-textile recycling space are evolving from start-ups to scale-ups—and many are taking their operations global. Over the course of the past year, pilot projects have begun the metamorphosis to commercial scale, generating new partnerships and backing from industry stalwarts, manufacturing experts, and forward-thinking brands.”
Sourcing Journal provides a good round-up of the latest developments in textile recycling.
