We met up with Josh York, the owner of Soft Goods in Paris last year over a beer to chat about his factory, the goods he is producing and how, and this ended up in our first Made in USA collaboration collection launching this season.
It is a fantastic story about following your passion, working as hard as hell to achieve your goals and being a very nice person whilst doing so, so we were delighted when Josh agreed to answer some of our questions.
How did Soft Goods come to be, and what's the brand about?
I've been making t-shirts since I was 12 years old. My mom would help me make iron ons that I would sell out of my locker in school. In college, playing drums in a band, I bought a screen press to print my own merch. That led to teaching myself to sew while managing production at Abercrombie and Fitch out of college. In my one year there I ordered 6 million pairs of boys underwear and was not fulfilled in the job. I eventually left to be closer to family back in Detroit, and I wanted to be part of the revival of my hometown. Detroit had fallen so far and was starting to come back with a really great group of people creating businesses and doing amazing things. I wanted to be part of that. I loved sewing and making clothes, and figured I could hire other Detroiters that were in need of work to help me, so I bought 3 used sewing machines and the Soft Goods factory was born. I started by making one t-shirt a day until I perfected it — that shirt is the Classic Tee (21 tee) today, with a few improvements since.
What role do you play within the team?
I've worn literally all of the hats at the company, but my core focus now is being the face of the brand, setting product direction, and working to find great people to work with, both to work as part of the team and externally. My philosophy is that if you get good people in a room, great product is bound to follow. We have an incredible team of designers and garment craftsmen, and great partners around the globe (like Orzel) who share the same values as us and can help tell the story and represent the product out in the world.
What's the most difficult thing about owning and operating your own factory?
It's a very difficult industry that we're in, and while other brands our size likely have much less overhead, we have to carry all of it. We have a 6,000sq ft factory with a 15 person staff. We don't just send designs to a factory somewhere else and pay for it when the goods are complete - we have to figure out every detail ourselves, coordinate every single aspect of the product, buy the correct machines, keep them maintained, and train staff to use each of them to make a top notch garment. So many more layers to our business that can be very costly and time consuming.
On the flip side, what's the best thing?
With all of those "Challenges" listed above, I wouldn't trade it for a thing. It truly is a special thing to be able to develop a product with the team one day, and be in full production weeks or sometimes even days later. We have a very tight knit group of people on our team and it's super fun when everyone is dialed in and rocking together on a new product. We have so much control over our process and it's in our hands to push ourselves to be as good as we can be. We also have a lot of flexibility to be lean in other ways - we make a bulk lot of hoodies for the season, but only garment dye them as we need them and can read and react to stay in stock with winning colors. We don't have MOQ's a lot of the time, we just make what we want or what we need. Despite the challenges, we definitely also have a big advantage in a fast-changing industry.
Who or what inspires what you do?
The world around me, especially being from the Midwest rather than a typical fashion capital like New York or London. There's beauty in the tension between Detroit's manufacturing history, the surrounding nature, sports, and fashion. I'm also inspired by living tactically, clothing isn't just for looking good in a city, it's for real life: playing in the yard with my three kids, working on my wife's family farm, playing hockey. My life in this part of the world demands functionality, and that shows in the clothing we build.
Favorite item from the collaboration collection so far?
The Classic Tee — I wear it most year-round, standalone or layered. It's comfortable, fits great, and wears in so incredibly well. I still wear some of my first samples from nine years ago that have only gotten more character with age.
What item should be in the next collection that wasn't in this one?
A long-sleeve version of the Classic Tee (credit to Grant) —very similar to the heavyweight long sleeve, but lighter weight and more of an everyday spring piece.
What are you listening to, reading, and watching?
- Listening: Pop punk roots — The Story So Far, Four Year Strong, The Wonder Years
- Reading: Solito, about a ten-year-old boy's journey walking from El Salvador to America
- Watching: Not much these days since having a third kid, but catching NFL now that football season's back
Photos by Lyndon French and Grant Agnew
