American Giant is a San Francisco–based

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

of sportswear and casual clothing that sells directly to customers through its website. Its goods are all produced in the United States.

History

American Giant was founded in February 2012 by Bayard Winthrop, former head of

Chrome Industries Chrome Industries is a global manufacturer of messenger bags, backpacks, sling bags, travel bags, utility cycling apparel and utility cycling footwear geared specifically for the bike messenger and fixed gear scenes. After establishing a reputat ...

, to address what he saw as a lack of affordably priced, high-quality, American-made products. He believed that by selling direct to the customer, a business could save enough on distribution and marketing to sell products manufactured in America at mainstream prices. American Giant was named one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies by

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

in 2015 and cited for "breathing new life into U.S. apparel manufacturing". The company's products were initially made at a factory in

Brisbane, California Brisbane (pron. ) is a small city in San Mateo County, California, located on the lower slopes of the San Bruno Mountain. The city is on the northeastern edge of San Mateo County, located immediately south of the San Francisco city limits on t ...

. The company decided to base much of its supply chain in North Carolina in part because it is an anti-union “ right to work law” state, and therefore has very low labor rates. The company launched with one product, a hooded sweatshirt. After a

viral video Viral videos are video, videos that become popular through viral phenomenon, a viral process of Internet sharing, primarily through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhon ...

and favorable publicity (a review in ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'' called it "the greatest hoodie ever made"), demand outstripped the factory's capacity, and unable to find other sites that satisfied his standards, Winthrop chose to let orders back up rather than compromise on quality. , the company was manufacturing its clothing in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Middlesex, North Carolina Middlesex is a town in Nash County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. Middlesex is about 25 miles east of Raleigh. The population was 822 at the 2010 census. Geography ...

. American Giant's main initial investor was former

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

CEO and chairman

Donald M. Kendall Donald Mcintosh Kendall (March 16, 1921 – September 19, 2020) was an American businessman and political adviser. He was CEO of Pepsi Cola (which merged with Herman Lay's Frito Lay, Inc. to become PepsiCo in 1965), and CEO of PepsiCo from ...

. Later investors included Emil Capital Partners, a

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

firm. , the company had raised $5.6 million and had begun a round of financing with a target of $12 million. With

Randy Komisar Randy Komisar is an American technology attorney, executive, and author living in Silicon Valley, California. Komisar is the co-founder of Claris, former CEO of Lucas Arts Entertainment, Chief Financial Officer of GO Corp, and the "virtual CEO" o ...

, Winthrop published ''I F*cking Love That Company'' (2014), a book about direct to consumer retail.

Products

American Giant launched with its Classic Full Zip hooded sweatshirt, which was created by Philipe Manoux, a former industrial engineer at

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

. Using cotton grown in North Carolina, it is constructed of heavyweight fleece and features reinforced elbow pads, a double-lined hood, and custom hardware. The product line has since expanded to include other kinds of men's sweatshirts, tee-shirts, and sweatpants, and subsequently women's sportswear and jeans. In 2018, the company began selling yarn-dyed flannel shirts.

References

{{reflist Clothing companies established in 2012 Clothing companies of the United States Clothing manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in San Francisco 2012 establishments in California Manufacturing companies established in 2012