College of Textiles Co-Sponsors a Conference in NYC

            The NC State College of Textiles,  Columbia University, and the U.S. Department of Commerce held a conference in New York City on Friday, April 12th.  The topic for the conference was “Shaping a Strategy for Reindustrialization: Prospects for the Fashion Industry.”  Columbia invited to the conference leading retailers such as Liz Claiborne, Nicole Miller, Lafayette 148, and Dress Barn.  While the College of Textiles invited people from the manufacturing side  such as Stewart Little of Unifi, Tom O’Connor of Springs Industries, Bob Coppage of VF Corporation and Mike Fralix of Textile Clothing Technology Corporation. The conference truly represented all spectrums of the industry including, retailers, manufacturers, distributors, union and government leaders.

                The unofficial theme of the conference became, can we increase manufacturing of textiles and apparel in the U.S.?  The answer to this was yes.  There were two clear findings in the conference, one being that fast response is critical to the success of the company coupled with  having close partnerships with customers.

                 Dean Blan Godfrey was the moderator of one of the case studies involving manufacturing.  Nancy Cassill, a professor in the Textile and Apparel Technology and Management Department, also attended the conference.  She added  that pricing and sourcing stategies were discussed.  How much do companies source?  The conclusion there was companies should not out source 100%, but shouldn’t produce 100% of the product in the U.S. either.  A mix is needed in order to survive.  Conferences such as these help bring all companies together that might not normally deal with each other on a daily basis.