Blue jeans, made in U.S.A.

A pair of blue jeans is as iconic as a piece of apple pie. Here’s an interesting feature on the U.S.’s no. 1 producer of denim, Mount Vernon Mills in Georgia.

Most U.S. mills shut down years ago, unable to compete with cheap overseas labor. And in another sign of the global economy, the fabric woven here is rarely sent to American plants to be turned into jeans. Instead, the fabric is shipped mostly to factories in Mexico. The jeans then carry labels that read “Made in Mexico of U.S. fabric.”

Blame NAFTA. Blame outsourcing. Blame corporate greed for the selling out of America’s manufacturing soul.

And a cool tidbit from the story: “A $12 pair of jeans often comes from the same roll of denim as a $150 designer pair.”

This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 2, 2009.