How to Profit from Locally Sourced Jeans

There are countless brands of jeans in the market, most of them manufactured all over the world, with components sourced from multiple countries and assembly done in others. If you wear them, chances are, they were made in a sweatshop in China, Mexico or another third world country.

In order to compete in the global economy, factory owners agree to produce goods at the low prices demanded by overseas clients. Factory elites and multinational corporations reap the profits, and shoppers around the world rejoice at the affordable prices. Despite common perceptions, consumers buying higher-priced jeans are not necessarily supporting higher salaries for workers. For example, while you might pay 50 dollars for a pair of jeans, the cost of manufacturing them in a Chinese factory is around five dollars. The total compensation for the labor of the workers who made the jeans? Often no more than one dollar, shared by the 20-25 people involved in making one pair of jeans. The rest of the money goes towards advertising, store rentals and back to the retail corporation and middle men.

Now, there's an alternative with the opposite approach promoted by Raleigh Denim, a North Carolina company whose jeans are 98 percent local. Run by a husband-and-wife team, Raleigh Denim uses nearly all local materials, with everything from thread to denim produced within 200 miles of its workshop. Its distinctive selvage denim, for instance, comes from Cone Mills’ White Oak plant, a 100-year-old local mill that weaves the fabric on the only original shuttle looms still working in the US today. All of Raleigh Denim's design, pattern-making, cutting, sewing, washing and finishing, meanwhile, are carried out by hand in the company's Raleigh workshop. No automated equipment is ever involved; rather, the couple prefers to incorporate traditional construction methods and vintage sewing machines. Every pair of Raleigh Denim jeans is handcrafted and signed by its maker, with unique touches such as an x-ray of the hip joint printed on the inside pocket.

The owners often travel around the North Carolina and Tennessee border looking for old factories and needle towns to pick up such ancient technology. And the result are authentic, though modern, original denim designs which smack of care and intrinsic quality. They also have over the past year quietly built a loyal following among denim lovers and retailers like Barneys and Steven Alan.

There are a lot of denim brands in the world and it's amazing that all of the design, development, pattern making, sourcing and even the construction is done by hand by Victor, Sarah and a small staff from their workshop.