We are glad to be part of a culture that asks where it’s goods are from and how they’re made. We get a lot of questions about who we buy wholesale from and we’re more than happy to put a smile on your face. We are now purchasing wholesale solely from American Apparel. You may still receive a leftover Tultex brand shirt as we make the transition but here’s our reasoning for the switcharoo:

American Apparel’s wholesale department has manufacturing ethics in sync with the values of Clothe Your Neighbor on two of the most important levels of manufacturing.

Ethical Employment

American Apparel is quick to provide jobs for foreigners coming into our country and helps pay for them to go to school. The average sewer with experience at American Apparel is making about $25,000/yr, or $12 an hour, almost twice the federal minimum. Tearing down barriers between countries/foreigners to adopt a “global neighborhood” is one of our chief purposes as Clothe Your Neighbor. The shirts are more expensive for us to use so it’s not a cost thing. It’s about valuing and prioritizing human dignity and encouraging the systems that manifest that. We feel that American Apparel is one of those systems.

Environmental Initiatives

American Apparel uses “Vertical Integration”- concentrating/limiting it’s manufacturing process in a small circle of buildings in Southern California. This reduces a need to ship materials globally as is part of a common industrial practice. American Apparel examines each part of its production process (solar panels contribute to 15% of the energy needs) and implements ways to reuse (efficient use of scraps), recycle and diminish its ecological footprint on the earth. (Or “tire-print”, as American Apparel has 150 bikes on loan to it’s employees at any given time.)