Footwear Manufacturers Convene in Los Angeles to Game Out ‘Next Wave’ of Made in the USA

The American footwear industry convened in Los Angeles’ Fashion District this week to flesh out a future for the sector’s domestic supply chain.

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A meeting held at the factory of advanced 3D knit footwear producer KX Lab brought together members of the U.S. Footwear Manufacturing Association (USFMA) and a collective of manufacturers, brands and suppliers looking for connection, inspiration and information about how their varied expertise might be leveraged to form a nationwide value chain for shoe production.

If you haven’t heard of USFMA, it’s because the Washington, D.C.-based trade group rebranded several years ago from the Rubber and Plastic Footwear Manufacturers Association—a name that denoted a “narrow focus” that no longer represents the group’s mission, according to executive director Bill McCann.

Now, USFMA is looking to mobilize players across the country—from the storied New England shoe community that once represented the epicenter of U.S. footwear manufacturing to the Carolinas, claimed long ago by the country’s yarn and fiber producers and fabric mills, to L.A., the country’s current fashion production capitol—in order to engage these disparate groups in reclaiming an industry that fled, decades ago, to offshore sourcing locales.

With a swirling maelstrom of issues impacting the flow of global trade, from simmering geopolitical tensions to a seemingly interminable string of transportation logistics snafus, there now exists a new opportunity for onshore manufacturers to make their voices heard and their talents known, the group believes.

“We said, listen, we can’t play just defense—we want to grow this industry, so we are being more proactive in recruiting new members, getting out there and highlighting what’s going on in our industry,” McCann said. “You can see at meetings like this supply chains for new shoes being formed right in front of your eyes.”

Much of the trade group’s membership currently consists of component suppliers, from Mass.-based Vibram USA to Repreve recycled plastic yarnmaker Unifi , Signet Mills, Karl Mayer, Jones & Vining, and rubber injection mold solutions provider Desma. But recently, a contingent of L.A.-based manufacturers, from ComunityMade to Lalaland and KX Lab, have joined the D.C. advocacy body’s ranks. Boston-headquartered New Balance, which has always manufactured a portion of its offering stateside, is the group’s most prominent brand member.

With a coalition forming, McCann said the group can at least learn from each other, if not work together, to make shoes. “There are definitely regional clusters,” he added, but working cross-country to amass and assemble the parts and pieces of a shoe would allow American brands to “tighten up and strengthen their supply chain” in a way that hasn’t been seen in decades, if at all.

The group’s stop in L.A. this week allowed out-of-town members to immerse themselves in the spirit of the city’s footwear scene, which has come to be characterized by innovation and advanced manufacturing.

Garrett Gerson, founder of Malibu-based 3D CAD-CAM software provider Variant 3D showcased the group’s technology, which allows design teams to digitally craft 3D renderings of footwear uppers and quickly convert them into 2D patterns that are brought to life on 3D knitting machines. The process is both a time- and resource-saver, limiting the need for physical product samples. Variant 3D has teamed with KX Lab to scale the production of these designs at its Downtown factory.

The relationship is just one of many that make up the expanding, collaborative web of Fashion District footwear production. “With this community, you really do have a soup-to-nuts supply chain,” McCann said.

“We’re in the process of opening our new facility in New Hampshire , which we are so excited about, but we’re also looking at what the future can be,” Steve Gardner, head of domestic research and development for New Balance , told Sourcing Journal. The heritage footwear firm is deepening its foothold in the U.S. market for manufacturing.

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Gardner said he was taken by the relentlessness of the startup culture and the “willingness to take chances” that he saw from L.A.’s footwear players. “It’s a young energy, a bit of high-tech energy as well,” he said. “Getting educated, learning, coming out here—for me, was eye-opening.”

While New Balance’s Made in the USA line is constructed with 70-percent domestic inputs, Gardner said the firm is looking to bring those final, tough-to-source elements back to the U.S. “We see those capabilities coming online—and we see us working with people to bring those capabilities back. Some of those guys are here today, without question,” he said of the brand’s newfound connections.

“What we want to be able to do is have that local access. It makes more sense that if we’re producing in the USA to get everything from here,” he added. “It just shortens our supply lines, shortens the time, and it also makes it easier working with those suppliers when they’re local.”

Gardner said the future of American footwear manufacturing will likely depend on a symbiosis between a fresh wave of process-focused producers, like those found in L.A., for example, and heritage brands willing to back progress.

“Combining some of the great old school companies that you have in our industry . . . with some of this new energy out here—it’s going to create the next wave of what Made in the USA can be.”

USFMA trade policy director Karlee Popken said the perspectives of the country’s footwear manufacturers have been notably absent from discussions about trade and American industry taking place on The Hill, and the group is keen to engage with lawmakers on issues like de minimis reform and American supply chain resilience.

“Since Covid, there’s a deeper understanding of how important it is to protect the domestic supply chain; just even over the last four years, there has been a major shift on Capitol Hill, and we’re trying to make sure our voices are out there,” she said.

With the rise of e-commerce and waves of de minimis shipments flowing freely into the country daily, Popken said USFMA would like to see a legislative solution that stems the tide in the coming months. The group is also eager to have a say in the development and strengthening of free-trade agreements, especially those impacting the Western Hemisphere like CAFTA-DR and USMCA .

The interest in nearshoring is on the upswing, and it represents a chance at rewards but also new risks. “We want to make sure we are actually creating robust supply chains in the region, that we’re preventing abuses through transshipment, that it’s not just materials coming from China or Vietnam that are getting labels slapped on them” and making their way into the U.S. market, she said.

“I think there’s a real opportunity to build this industry, not just protect it, but grow it, and bring back some of the knowledge and technology we’ve lost over the last 30 years,” she added. “The passion of the folks that are here…is really what drives us to make strides towards better trade policy and better domestic policy.”

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