"Living Flag" Highlights U.S. Consumers' Preference for Cotton and Domestic Apparel

OH SAY CAN YOU SEE NATIONAL PRIDE?

NEW YORK, July 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As part of the July 4th celebration in Oviedo, FL, 812 celebrants took part in forming a living flag.  The event, sponsored by Cotton Incorporated and local CBS Radio MIX 105.1 FM, provided 100% cotton red, white, or blue tee shirts --- proudly made in the U.S.A. by North Carolina-based TSDesigns --- to participants forming the flag.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120706/DC35935)

"All of us at Cotton Incorporated were delighted to be a part of a project that celebrates both the birth of our country, and U.S.-based cotton and textile manufacturing industries," said Berrye Worsham, President and CEO of Cotton Incorporated.  Cotton Incorporated, famous for its "The Fabric Of Our Lives®" advertising campaign, cites its ongoing Lifestyle Monitor ™ survey as an indicator that cotton is the fabric of our lives in the U.S.  According to the survey:

• 83% of consumers agree that cotton and cotton blends are the fibers best suited for today's fashions;
• Nearly six out of 10 consumers (58%) are bothered than brands and retailers may be substituting synthetic fibers for in denim jeans, followed by tee shirts (56%), and sweatshirts/hoodies (53%); and
• 58% of consumers say they would be willing to pay a slightly higher price to keep cotton from being substituted with synthetic fibers in their tee shirts, followed by 57% saying the same for denim jeans, and 50% for sweatshirts/hoodies.

Cotton Incorporated tapped TSDesigns as the provider of tee shirts for the event.  The Burlington, NC-based company is a vertically-integrated organization that sources local cotton for its apparel products, which are then made – and sold -- within the United States.

"Today, less than five percent of apparel sold in the U.S.A. is actually made in the U.S.A.," explains Eric Henry, President of TSDesigns.  "Seeing a U.S. flag made up of citizens wearing our tee shirts, which are made in America, is inspiring for all of us at TSDesigns.  Hopefully the image of it will inspire all Americans to look more locally for their apparel needs," adds Henry.  The impetus may already be there, as the Monitor survey reveals that 60% of respondents feel that clothing made in the U.S.A. is of higher quality than clothing imported from other countries.

Cotton Incorporated, funded by U.S. growers of upland cotton and importers of cotton and cotton textile products, is the research and marketing company representing upland cotton.  The Program is designed and operated to improve the demand for and profitability of cotton.

TS Designs is a screen printing business founded in 1977.  Once catering to the big apparel brands (Nike, Tommy, Polo, GAP, etc.), TS Designs changed its business model and mission after seeing the destructive effects of NAFTA and globalization on its industry.  The sustainable innovator now prints and dyes shirts made of a variety of sustainable fibers and focuses heavily on US manufacturing.

www.cottoninc.com
www.cottonlifestylemonitor.com
www.tsdesigns.com

SOURCE Cotton Incorporated