Source: Blog – Alliance for American Manufacturing

American Giant’s Roughneck Pant is made by Excel Manufacturing in El Paso, Texas. Photo by American Giant

Two renowned American clothing manufacturers come together to launch the Roughneck Pant.

American Giant, the popular San Francisco-based clothing manufacturer famed for its simple but durable designs, recently announced a partnership with another Made in America clothing company, Excel Manufacturing, to launch a new product, the Roughneck Pant.

These pants are made with American-made canvas and are described as as easy to wear. The pants look like a jean, but are said to be flexible enough to work in any situation. Most importantly, they represent the combination of talent from two American manufacturers helping to create American jobs and revive the domestic apparel manufacturing industry.

Photo by American Giant

American Giant was founded in 2012 specifically to address the lack of affordable, American-made products in the clothing space. The company started out making hoodies — which famously earned recognition as the greatest hoodies ever made — by using domestic supply chains and technology to reduce prices and bring consumers a new definition of what Made in the USA could look like.

American Giant is a values-driven company that makes products here, rather than engage in unethical manufacturing practices overseas like so many of the corporations that choose to outsource. Similarly, Excel Manufacturing is another company that’s been making clothing in America and prides itself on its integrity.

But Excel Manufacturing has been around a bit longer than American Giant. The company has been in business since 1977, and produces clothing with a focus on products used by the U.S. military, as well as for commercial clients. The company is based out of El Paso, Texas, where it employs over 150 employees and is still owned by the same family as when it was founded more than four decades ago.

So when the two came together to design a product together, you know we got excited.

In a statement to AAM, Excel Manufacturing president Joel Ortega said that “American Giant is a great partner, everyone is really knowledgeable about domestic manufacturing and is really passionate about making [a] great product.”

The Roughneck Pant isn’t just a great product; it’s now American Giant’s bestselling pant. Made with a focus on quality, the Roughneck Pant uses canvas sourced from Mount Vernon Mills of Trion, Ga., which has been manufacturing canvas since 1874.

As the company says about its product: “A bit like the city of El Paso, they’ll stay strong, for many years to come.”

The Roughneck Pant’s quality is definitely its best selling point, but the pants are also comparatively priced at $138. This stands in stark contrast to the business models of so many American clothing manufacturers who choose to outsource production in order to boost profits at the expense of American jobs.

Hopefully, this collaboration between American Giant and Excel Manufacturing is the start of a trend of more clothing manufacturing coming back to the United States. In the 1960s, roughly 95% of all apparel worn in the US was made domestically, but today, that number is down to just 3%.

For companies like Excel Manufacturing, a commitment by apparel companies to manufacture domestically means more business, and allows them to grow further beyond their military clients. And by working with companies like Excel Manufacturing, American Giant is helping to strengthen the domestic textile industry and its related supply chains, all while supporting jobs and the El Paso community.

Hopefully, more companies will soon emulate the models of American Giant and Excel Manufacturing, and ensure that more of the clothes we buy are made better, and Made in America.

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