And The Cotton Is High

No, we’re not quoting a line from that great aria in the landmark 1935 George Gershwin musical, Porgy & Bess. We’re not talking about how tall the plants are before the bolls are harvested, either. No mam … we’re talking about the price of the fluffy white fibers.

A major segment of the promotional marketing business is apparel, and along with jackets, caps, scarves, golf shirts and sweatpants hangs that mainstay of promotional garments — the venerable cotton t-shirt.

As an ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute)  Distributor, T&T Advertising (division of T&T Designs) has just received notification from 2 major national suppliers of blank apparel to the promotional and decorating industry of 7-10% price increases. These increases are coming from most of the major mills (Anvil, Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, Gildan, Jerzeez) and will take place immediately. Given the uniformity of these increases, I think it’s safe to say that the impact will be felt throughout the garment industry in turn.

Several posts at the blog, The Cotton Boll Conspiracy, provide information and figures on the state of domestic and international cotton production, if you’re interested in why this is happening.