FOR A LONG TIME, WORKWEAR DIDN'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN ITSELF. IT WAS BUILT TO DO A JOB, THEN IT EARNED ITS PLACE OVER TIME.
WHERE
IT
BEGINS
Why we make our Earth Works collection in the USA
Fabrics were chosen for a reason. Pockets had a purpose. Construction mattered because the clothing was expected to be worn, used, washed, repaired, and worn again. A lot has changed since Universal Overall began in 1924, but the goal is still the same.
It’s not only about how something looks when it is new. It is more about what happens after it leaves the factory. How it breaks in, moves, holds up, and becomes part of someone’s daily rhythm until it feels less like something they bought and more like something they’ve lived with for a long time. When we began building the Earth Works collection, we wanted to stay close to that idea and be part of the process.
Making it in the United States gave us a way to be closer to the work. It meant working with people we came to know, learning from the factory floor, and keeping it nearby to question, adjust, and improve as it comes together.
Some decisions simply can't be made from a distance. A stitch, a pocket, a fabric weight, a fit issue, a patch placement, a small change in construction—these are not always solved on paper or a screen. They are worked through by people standing around the same table, holding the same garment, trying to make it better before it moves on.
The Earth Works collection is made in Los Angeles with Sho Kato and his team of craftsmen. Kato, General Manager of Universal Overall, is a second-generation clothing manufacturer shaped by both Japanese and American ways of making. You see that combination in the details. A respect for order, consistency, and process, balanced with the flexibility needed to build Earth Works here and have the immediacy to keep improving it based on what we learn from the people wearing it.
WHAT YOU SEE IN A FINISHED PIECE IS ONLY PART OF THE STORY. BEFORE A WORK SHIRT, CARPENTER PANT, POCKET T, WORK JEAN, OR UTILITY OVERALL IS READY TO WEAR, THERE ARE MANY HANDS INVOLVED.
Patterns are checked. Fabric is cut. Machines and needles are set. Seams are sewn and finished. Details are reviewed by people who understand that a small decision can change the way a garment works for years.
That is what Made in USA means to us. It is a way of staying connected to the people behind the work and the way it's made. Because where something is made matters—and knowing who is making it matters even more.
We see clothing with a long view. Not as something disposable, or seasonal, or made to be replaced as soon as the next thing comes along. We think about reliability. Making pieces meant to stay with someone for a long time and maybe even be passed on.
That is the hope behind our Earth Works collection. To make a focused offering, built by people who know what they are doing, and made well enough to earn its place over time.
The story begins in the factory, but it does not end there. It continues in the years that follow, through the work, wear, and lives of the people who use it.
