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MAnagement MAnagement Summary Summary

The goal of this report is to provide an in depth analysis of the brands supply chain with a focus on lead times, production methods and costs. In this research, the aim is to analyse if the current sourcing plan of America Today translates the company's vision, mission and core values. Additionally, the theme of purpose economy is going to be investigated in terms of how it is relevant to the brand. The brands collection and sourcing strategy is very influenced by American college lifestyle. In fact brand’s representatives frequently visit American college campuses in order to gain insights and find inspiration from local trends in order to reflect them in their collection. America Today doesn't have a life cycle plan for its garments. The remaining possibility to customers in case they decide to stop wearing a garment are limited: gift it, NEEDS TO BE FILLED IN donate it to a charity, or throw it away. There's a lot of examples in the industry such as Patagonia, that offer more possibilities for life cycles of garments (Worn Wear - Better Than New, 2020). Garments could be refurbished through a repair shop in store through simple adjustments to the piece such as patches. That would both repair holes in a garment but as well make it more personal and give it more of the American lifestyle vibe.

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The collection is composed of a wide variety of materials. Due to their American heritage there is a focus on denims, sweathershirt materials and flannels. Even considering the darker nature of the season, the brand still decided to keep a very colour diverse collection, with the addition of bright colors as well. Additionally, they opted for very clean design with little use of their logo and just some prints.

The garments that are analysed in the report are chosen between different product groups and different materials. One thing they have in common is that they are iconic pieces of the brand. After researching it was clear that these garments are part of the NOOS group, never out of stock (KADALIKKATTIL SAJEEVAN, 2020). These garments are characterized by always being brought back every season and they are highly stocked in store. It is also predicted that the brand uses safety stock for these garments (Safety stock, 2020). Safety stock ensures that stock never drops below a certain amount. This way the brand can control stock levels no matter how much the levels of demand fluctuate.

From the analysis of the costs and margins of the company it can be said that there is room for improvement. The research showed us that presumably America Today has a margin of 60% on their clothes which is higher than the average of the competitors. Although the brand is very present locally with a high number of stores and therefore a lot of costs, the margins could be decreased in order to implement higher quality garments. By higher quality it is meant not only the quality of the fabric itself, but also the sustainability. Sustainable fabrics are known to be more expensive, although the report shows how this choice would only bring benefits to the brand and their image. NEEDS TO BE FILLED IN On the bright side, America Today kept their promises made during the pandemic and managed to pay all the outstanding orders from suppliers, which honors the brand. The brand also kept working on their image with the adaption of snack corners in stores. On the other hand, the newly added “2020 are you kidding me“ collection is quite contradictory to what they stand for. Part of the collection were t-shirts stating “fuck 2020” which is definetely out of touch, even considering the young target audience. As mentioned before America Today currently does not have any life extension strategies for their garments and the approach to sustainability is questionable due to the large use of different fabrics. In conclusion, it can be said that the brand approach only has surface value and does not actually link to the purpose economy as the brand does not follow through on what they say they stand for and believe in.

Textiles related advice More sustainable fabrics & limited use of trimmings i.e. use of recycled cotton for jeans & no mixing of fabrics

Would you consider yourself environmentally aware? Results of research survey (see p. 28) When it comes to recycling America Today’s garments one of the main problems at the moment is that the brand mixes excessive amounts of trimmings and different fibers within its materials. In the pair of jeans, whose production process was detailly examined (see p.30 Sourcing Plan Report) three fibers are mixed in one fabric. Additional trimmings like eyelets, the zip and buttons make the recycling process even harder because sorting textiles into different fibers and material types by hand is labor intensive, slow and requires a skilled workforce. (Abigail Beall, 2020)

83% Organic cotton 15% Polyester 2% Elastane

No excessive blend of fibers Using overstock fabrics and recy- Limited use of trimwithin one material cled materials from items costu- mings mers bring in (see p.11) Pro Con - Makes the brand seem more - The use of new fabrics would alter productienvironmentally aware which adds value to their on which could mean potentially changing products and brand identity. production partners which will be time - Limited use of trimmings makes their products consuming and expensive process. easier to recycle. - Recycled cotton is more expensive - Recycled cotton could be used from dead-stock from previous collections.12 - Higher Price

The recycled denim which we examined as part of our textiles research (see p. 32) is a perfect example of how an alternative fabric choice could look like. Not only does it match AT style, but it only uses one fiber, that being recycled cotton. As a tool to answer the question if recycled cotton is better than ordinary cotton, we adduced the report by the MIT Sloan School of Management (C. Li-Carrillo, W. Porter Orr, P. Ford, B. Nadella, 2016) which investigates the benefits of using recycled cotton for the brand Gap as opposed to non-recycled as the latter option causes both environmental and social issues. The mentioned report distinguishes three issues with the implementation of recycled cotton within the brand that being; Additional Logistical Requirements, Strategic Relationships with Cut/Sew, Mill, and Recycling Vendors & Consumer Behavior Towards Recycled Cotton. The report concludes that despite in the short term this will cause issues including “costs to rise, reduce profit margins, and add organizational complexity.” that in the long term “recycled cotton could provide a new source for cotton fabric, enhance brand reputation, and minimize downside risk associated with fast-fashion trends in the current marketplace.”

Updated jeans 100% recycled cotton

Through the relaxed fit and the scrunched up denim waistband there is no need of metal trimmings. Current jeans 83% Organic cotton 15% Polyester 2% Elastane