SIC 2251 Women's Full-Length and Knee-Length Hosiery, Except Socks

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 2251

This industry category includes establishments primarily engaged in knitting, dyeing, or finishing women's and misses' full-length and knee-length hosiery (except socks), both seamless and full-fashion, and pantyhose. Those establishments primarily engaged in knitting, dyeing, or finishing women's and misses' knee-length socks and anklets can be found in SIC 2252: Hosiery, Not Elsewhere Classified. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing elastic (orthopedic) hosiery are classified in SIC 3842: Orthopedic, Prosthetic, and Surgical Appliances and Supplies.

NAICS CODE(S)

315111

Sheer Hosiery Mills

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 102 establishments were engaged in the production of women's full-length and knee-length hosiery as of 2002. The industry shipped $1 billion worth of goods, spent $556 million on materials, and employed 9,435 people, including 8,302 production workers, with an annual payroll of approximately $200 million. About half of the establishments in this category had at least 20 employees.

More than half of the establishments in this category are located in North Carolina, home to 70 percent of the largest companies producing women's hosiery (except socks). Alabama and California also have relatively large concentrations of businesses in this industry.

Most women's hosiery products are made of textured nylon and produced on small-diameter knitting machines. The processes involved in production of the goods covered by this category include: production of POY (partially oriented yarn) nylon filament by fiber producers; texturizing (or texturing) the nylon filament; knitting the filament nylon into the hosiery product; boarding the hosiery to obtain proper size and shape; and finishing the hosiery products and packaging them. Texturing of the nylon hosiery yarn is covered in SIC 2282: Yarn Texturizing, Throwing, Twisting, and Winding Mills.

The biggest event in the development of hosiery manufacturing was DuPont's invention of nylon, which was introduced to the public in 1938, replacing the baggier cotton or more expensive silk stockings. Finding a commercially palatable name for what was officially polyhexamethyleneadipamide took more than two years. The word "nylon," is a derivative of nylon stockings' widely rumored "no-run" feature.

Sales growth in the women's hosiery industry slowed in early 1990s and remained sluggish throughout the early 2000s...