SIC 2322 Men's and Boys' Underwear and Nightwear
SIC 2322
This category includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing men's and boys' underwear and nightwear from purchased woven or knit fabrics. Knitting mills primarily engaged in manufacturing underwear and nightwear are classified in SIC 2254: Knit Underwear and Nightwear Mills; and those manufacturing men's and boys' robes are classified in SIC 2384: Robes and Dressing Gowns.
315211
Men's and Boys' Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors
315221
Men's and Boys' Cut and Sew Underwear and Nightwear Manufacturing
With respect to consumer tastes and demands, little has changed in this industry over the last few decades. In a 2005 survey of 20,000 respondents, commissioned by freshpair.com, the majority of male consumers still preferred briefs over boxer shorts—32 percent to 25 percent, respectively—with a minor 4 percent preferring the newcomer "thong."
But what had changed over the years was a particularly important force shaping the U.S. nightwear and underwear industry: economic globalization. As foreign competitors' share of the domestic market expanded throughout the first part of the decade, U.S. firms adapted by basing an increasing share of their own production outside of the United States. The passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) continued to bolster these trends into the twenty-first century. The ATC served as a 10-year transition period that ended trade quotas in January 2005. The apparel industry in general suffered a decline during the mid-2000s, as World Trade Organization (WTO) countries began this phasing out of quotas on clothing and textiles. This was in furtherance of the original agreement between member countries that created the organization itself. Though all quotas were eliminated China and the United States came to a three-year agreement in November 2005 to limit the deluge of their apparel imports into the United States, enacted per a WTO safeguard. Under these weak economic circumstances, middle and lower tier firms found it difficult to keep pace with larger rivals. In addition, some industry observers expected the gap related to productivity and unit cost differentials to widen, placing the continued existence of the less competitive firms in serious jeopardy.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 21 establishments operated in the men's and boys' cut and sew underwear and nightwear manufacturing category for part or all of 2004. In this category, industry-wide employment totaled approximately 1,272 workers receiving a payroll of nearly $37 million. Companies tended to be small-to-medium in size with nearly 48 percent employing less than 100 workers while only 10 percent have greater than 500 employees. The Annual Survey of Manufactures reported that the larger category of men's and boys' cut and sew apparel manufacturing industry (also including manufacturing of men's and boys' cut and sew: suit, coat, and overcoat; shirt (except work shirt); trouser, slack, and jean; work clothing; and other outerwear) was valued at $6.96 billion in 2005, a decrease from the 2004 total of about $8.01 billion. Additionally, a total of 33,632 employees worked in production in 2005 (of 42,677 employees), putting in nearly 64 million hours to earn wages of more than $619 million. The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics showed significant losses (140,000 workers) in expected employment for the cut and sew apparel manufacturing industry as a whole by 2014 after enormous losses (484,000 workers) were experienced from 1994 to 2004; a minimal decrease of 2.9 average annual rate of change is anticipated in output between 2004 to 2014.
Dun & Bradstreet reported in 2006 that the industry's estimated 64 establishments posted annual sales of nearly $2.1 billion with about 4,644 employees. New York led with more than $1.8 billion in sales with Tennessee a distant second with nearly $117 million in sales. Comprised of three different specialties, the primary segment was men's and boys' underwear, made from purchased materials (nearly $2.02 billion in sales).
At the turn of the twentieth century, underwear was designed with one purpose in mind—as apparel to be worn underneath more stylistic outer garments for the simple purpose of protecting the wearer against seasonal elements. During severe weather, a man could choose from several different styles and weights of either one- or two-piece long-sleeved and long-legged knitted wool underwear. For the summer months, the wearer changed to underwear that was lighter and cooler, though it was also designed in a long-sleeved and long-legged style. A popular two-piece outfit was made of French knitted balbriggan. It...
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