Recently, however, something interesting has happened. "After a mass exodus of manufacturing jobs overseas, we stopped losing jobs in 2012 - and local manufacturing began to remain stable," says Bob Bland, founder and CEO of Manufacture New York, an organization that helps fashion start-ups create their products in New York City. "This is the first victory for those of us committed to manufacturing locally."

Part of this shift can be attributed to the clothing start-ups that have started moving back into American factories instead of instinctively going overseas. Bland also believes that these numbers underestimate how much work is being done in the U.S. because many fashion designers and artisans are not being counted by Bureau of Labor Statistics. "The maker movement has happened during the last few years, and not all makers consider themselves industrial manufacturers," Bland says.

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