Quality control, customer service, environmental concerns and patriotic desire and duty are among the reasons a number of children's companies are electing to manufacture products domestically.

By Marianne Bhonslay, October 2, 2009

"(Made in the USA) is most definitely a niche, and has potential in the market," says Maia Andersen, owner and designer of Sustainable Kids, a "green," organic cotton-certified children's apparel maker for sizes two through 14. Based in Costa Mesa, CA, the firm manufactures in the U.S. "One of our primary goals is to help promote responsible consumerism, (and) transparency is an important part of our brand. Our brand has high standards and has to be transparent. I can't be up close and hands on to ensure certification (of quality and standards) and fair trade (if producing) in another country."

Co-founder Laura Wallis of Brown Bag Brands LLC, based in Brooklyn, New York and Washington, D.C. says environmental concerns and the increasing American appetite for organic children's clothing constitute the primary reasons for moving manufacturing from Bangalore, India to North Carolina.

"We've seen a heavy increase in business in organics," says Wallis, whose 100 percent organic baby and toddler line House of Mongrel, launched last year. "We're helping revive the textile industry in North Carolina and people want local (USA-made) products. We have a lot more control of the process and more input and we can visit the factory (regularly), she adds, noting she travels from Brooklyn to North Carolina "every few months."

Wallis adds that U.S.-based manufacturing "reduces our carbon footprint. It reduces shipping and the fuel needed for shipping."

The 'Made in the USA' mantra seems particularly prominent with young, small, privately-held, recently launched start-up companies.

"There is a movement in San Francisco that is all about the local community," says Beth Miles, founder, owner and creative director of Ses Petites Mains, which introduced its first collection in Spring 2006 and manufactures apparel in factories about 15 minutes south of San Francisco.

"We work with stores to buy locally or domestically," adds Miles. "I spent my career in women's wear design, and 90 percent of it was off shore. After 9/11, factories (in the U.S.) were shutting down. We're almost at the turning point: if we don't start investing in (domestic manufacturing) we won't have the opportunity to." Ses Petites Mains, which includes clothing for toddlers to girls 14 and currently sells to about 50 specialty stores and direct mail, markets its apparel with hang tags touting "Happy To Be Made In the USA," and "Lovingly Made In San Francisco."

Deborah Hernan, founder of the New York-based Ottilie & Lulu, a skin-care products company for young girls ages seven to 14, arrived in the children's business from a career in advertising packaged goods and marketing, including 10 years with Revlon.

"My manufacturing is in the Tri-State area," says Hernan, who incorporated Ottilie & Lulu in February 2008 and launched its first line this past spring. "I wanted them close, to be able to go out and see and touch and feel and smell (the products) and do it on a regular basis." Hernan created her own formula for the skin and hair care products, she says, adding that "as an entrepreneur I am the creator and marketer and it felt right to me to sit down with someone and have a dialogue and back and forth" as opposed to working with people stationed overseas.

The movement toward and desire for children's products produced in the U.S. has been captured in the book Made Here, Baby!, published this past May by Amacom, a division of the American Management Association. The book highlights 417 companies manufacturing in the U.S., and author Bruce Wolk says the reasons for U.S. production extend beyond supporting local labor.

"Leave out the equation of supporting friends and neighbors," says Wolk, whose business background is in marketing consumer products and who has worked in the pet industry, with food commodities, and in the children's business with Avon Products in New York. "This is following a trend now with many companies small and large."

That trend, Wolk says, demonstrates a renewed commitment to quality in the wake of product recalls plaguing the industry since 2006, the institution of new regulations under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008, and a tangible effort to manufacture in a "green and sustainable" manner.

"Many countries have an atrocious record when it comes to the environment," says Wolk, noting that 98 percent of the companies listed in Made Here, Baby! cited environmental and green policies as reasons for producing domestically. Indeed, GreenEdge Kids founder and president Annie Kaskade cites the pursuit of 'green' products and production as her foremost concern when launching her business.

"The environment was a huge reason for us (manufacturing in the U.S.), says Kaskade, who founded GreenEdge Kids in Solano Beach, CA in 2008 and last month introduced a children's denim line, GreenEdge Denim, with spring shipments expected to commence in November in time for Holiday. "Almost nobody is doing eco denim," Kaskade adds, noting the clothing line is manufactured in Los Angeles.

Child and product safety likewise resonated as "themes" for U.S. manufacturers, author Wolk contends.

"The serious (product) recalls started in 2006, exploded in 2007 and haven't stopped," says Wolk. "The issue of recalls is ongoing. I am on the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) website everyday, and by and large most of the recalls are (international) products, not U.S. made products. Quality of products (depends) on the ability to oversee production. It is virtually impossible to control quality from long distance."

Wolk, as well as the companies manufacturing in the U.S., concede the difficulties of producing a 100 percent U.S. made and sourced product. For example, Hernan of Ottilie & Lulu says four of five products are U.S. made, while one, facial wipes, is made in Israel. Moreover, Hernan adds, sourcing the "componentry" - the bottles and caps that contain the care products - is sourced from Germany and Asia.

Other companies confirm that certain fabrics for specific apparel designs are sourced outside of the U.S. The San Francisco-based Ses Petites Mains sources material from off shore, including from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Andersen of Sustainable Kids sources fabric from abroad although knits it in the U.S., she says.

When GreeenEdge Kids launched its denim line, however, Kaskade was intent on using 100 percent US made and organic certified cotton, and to produce the denim domestically.

"For denim, it is especially important to manufacture in the U.S.," says Kaskade. "Some smaller pieces are even U.S. milled denim. The manufacturing process for denim is not just cutting and sewing, but laundering - the way denim gets its look. There is a fairly chemical intensive, water intensive, and energy intensive (process). It's best done in the U.S. It is virtually impossible to have large waste water discharges in the U.S - it's tracked. When you do that overseas you don't know that much about the processing."

Companies say manufacturing in the U.S. rather than overseas carries higher production costs, ones typically passed on to consumers, even while makers curb margins.

According to Wallis of Brown Bag Brands, the cost of manufacturing increased by 25 percent when moving from India to the U.S., while margins declined about 10 percent. Other manufacturers say U.S.-based production can be two to three times more expensive than overseas, when all facets of manufacturing are calculated. Many products made in the U.S. are considered "higher end," and are often sold though specialty and boutique shops.

"I truly believe if people are given a chance to buy USA-made and eco (environmental friendly) products they will buy them," says GreenEdge's Kaskade. "It's a niche, it's not for everyone, but it's definitely growing."