Origin produces about 15,000 pairs of jeans per month using denim dyed and woven by Mount Vernon Mills, a volume that illustrates how two U.S. suppliers are building a vertically linked domestic denim chain. Both CEOs laid out their playbooks at Sourcing Journal's Fall Summit in New York on Sept. 29.

Origin founder and CEO Peter Roberts and Mount Vernon president and CEO Bill Roberts — no, Bill Rogers — described the commercial case for domestic manufacturing in a session moderated by SJ Denim executive editor Angela Velasquez. Their message: tariffs alone have not delivered new orders, but speed, specialization and flexible operations have kept U.S. mills competitive.

Have tariffs increased demand for U.S. mills?

Not automatically, according to Mount Vernon's Rogers. He said importers pulled goods in ahead of tariff increases, leaving excess inventory sitting in the market and muting any near-term shift to domestic sourcing. Political uncertainty has compounded the effect.

"I will say the commitment window has narrowed, but commitment is still there," Rogers said.

His pitch to brands is a total-cost argument. Comparing first-unit price ignores the value of shorter supply chains and faster response times, he argued, urging buyers to assess costs across the chain.

"Because if you are looking for quick turns, this is the place to make it," Rogers said.

How has Mount Vernon repositioned?

Rogers said the company deliberately moved away from mass production and low cost toward specialty markets, broader product lines and greater flexibility — a pivot he framed as existential.

"I can't get cheap enough. I can't pay somebody 75 cents an hour," he said.

"If we had not made that pivot, we'd be out of business today," Rogers added.

The strategy now includes selvedge denim capacity. In October 2025, Mount Vernon announced a partnership with KaKa Cotton to acquire and relocate 45 historic Draper X3 shuttle looms originally operated at the White Oak plant in Greensboro, N.C., and later run by Vidalia Mills in Louisiana. Installing them at Mount Vernon's existing denim operations in Trion, Ga., gave the project a cost advantage: the supporting infrastructure already existed. Mount Vernon had even dyed yarn for Vidalia before that mill shut down.

Nearshoring is part of the same play. Rogers described one customer whose products had been sourced entirely from Asia; Mount Vernon recreated the fabric domestically and coordinated with partners in Central America and Mexico to build a regional supply chain.

What constraints did the executives flag?

Redundancy, or the lack of it. Roberts said Origin has limited options for sending overflow work to other facilities capable of denim manufacturing at scale. Growing one company does not create a broader network that can absorb demand spikes or disruptions.

"Redundancy is super important," Roberts said.

Rogers agreed that building backup capacity raises costs, but framed it as survival economics: "So did it add some cost? Yes. Does it keep us in business? Absolutely."

Origin's model pairs its own production facilities with a network of American suppliers, and that control still depends on outside fabric mills, knitting plants and tanneries. Roberts emphasized aligning seasonal demand, production requirements and cash flow between manufacturers and brands.

"Those supply chains are so damn important for us," he said.

On policy, Roberts suggested some tariff revenue could be redirected to domestic manufacturers to level the playing field. He noted Origin is funding growth from within. Rogers stressed that production partners elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere remain essential to the model.

What should sourcing teams take from this?

Buyers weighing domestic denim capacity should price speed and shortened lead times into landed-cost comparisons rather than unit price alone, and pressure-test any U.S. supplier against its backup-capacity plan before committing volume.