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Fabric from Connecticut wool mill for new US Army uniform
11 Jul '19
2 min read
Pic: American woolen Inc
High-quality fabrics for the US Army's recently announced classic uniform will be supplied by American Woolen Company Inc., which is among a handful of wool manufacturers left in the country that aim to revive a once-prominent industry. While the initial cost will be higher, the uniforms will last much longer and be more durable than camo-style fatigues.
The classic-looking military uniforms are reminiscent of those worn by soldiers and officers over a half-century ago.
American Woolen and North Carolina-based Burlington Textiles are the two companies that have won the contracts to supply the fabrics for the new military uniforms.
The company based in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, is also providing high-quality fabrics to fashion manufacturers like Timberland, The North Face and J. Crew.
Chief executive officer Jacob Harrison Long believes craftsmanship is coming back to America, according to US media reports.
American Woolen gets many of its fabrics from domestic sources across the country. Its alpaca wool comes from New England, with other wool coming from the West and Southwest, including Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho and Utah.
The 19th-century wool mill was originally home to Warren Mills since 1853 and operated until the late 1980s. Then an Italian textile company ran it until it closed the mill in 2013 and laid off the remaining roughly 80 employees.
Long bought the mill in 2013 and said it is one of three wool mills still in the country. Around the turn of the 20th century, he said, there were 300 wool mills nationwide.
The tentative rollout for the uniforms could come as early as spring 2020. (DS)
The classic-looking military uniforms are reminiscent of those worn by soldiers and officers over a half-century ago.
American Woolen and North Carolina-based Burlington Textiles are the two companies that have won the contracts to supply the fabrics for the new military uniforms.
The company based in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, is also providing high-quality fabrics to fashion manufacturers like Timberland, The North Face and J. Crew.
Chief executive officer Jacob Harrison Long believes craftsmanship is coming back to America, according to US media reports.
American Woolen gets many of its fabrics from domestic sources across the country. Its alpaca wool comes from New England, with other wool coming from the West and Southwest, including Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho and Utah.
The 19th-century wool mill was originally home to Warren Mills since 1853 and operated until the late 1980s. Then an Italian textile company ran it until it closed the mill in 2013 and laid off the remaining roughly 80 employees.
Long bought the mill in 2013 and said it is one of three wool mills still in the country. Around the turn of the 20th century, he said, there were 300 wool mills nationwide.
The tentative rollout for the uniforms could come as early as spring 2020. (DS)
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