After Gildan Activewear took control of Los Angeles-based American Apparel, the Montreal-based company indicated that it might outsource production for American Apparel products for the first time. Now, that claim has come to fruition.
Fortune reported that, for the first time in its 28-year history, American Apparel items will feature “Made in Honduras” and “Made in Nicaragua” labels this summer.
Based on what Gildan Activewear CEO Glenn Chamandy said in the past, American Apparel items won’t only be made abroad, but they won’t all be made here either.
“We’re going to do a combination of both,” he told Bloomberg in February. “We’re going to continue to support [American Apparel’s] core made-in-USA business, but we’re also going to offer a product where they couldn’t compete before.”
Gildan’s socks are currently the only finished goods the company makes in the U.S. Even still, most of the sewing is done in Central America, Bangladesh or the Caribbean.
American Apparel items not made in the U.S. likely will be part of an American Apparel-branded budget line, separate from the domestically made items.
