There’s an interesting nugget buried in this recent article about a Baltimore architecture firm winning a job designing a Chinese shopping mall:
The project is part of a burgeoning trend. Chinese developers are building more retail centers as Chinese shoppers, who have more disposable income, clamor for goods from America and Europe, including clothing from retailers such as The Gap, said Malachy Kavanagh, a spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers, a trade organization for the shopping center industry. (bold emphasis mine)
Curious phrase there, “goods from America and Europe.”
The Gap is a quintessential middle-market American brand. No doubt about that. Yet they, like many American retailers, outsource most of their production to places like India and, yes, China. They’re clearly an American company, but are they really selling “American” goods?
When you open up an Apple product one of the first things you see is the phrase “Designed by Apple in California.” It is, as the linked post points out, a smart move. It’s Apple getting straight out in front of the question of origin and letting you know about the homegrown ingenuity that brought you your iPod, iPhone, or Mac. Yet the actual product was, of course, manufactured in China.
Is that a moot point? Is the design and engineering of a product its true heritage while the actual manufacturing simply a matter of efficiency and logistics?
If we’re being honest with ourselves the true answer is “yes…and no.”
If Gap started including “Designed by Gap in New York” on the tags of its Chinese-made or Indian-made shirts and jeans I’d bet a lot of folks would snicker. They’re pretty clearly “American” in name only. (Side note: Gap actually got in trouble recently for playing a little fast and loose with the notion of “Made in the USA.”)
Apple might be different — or perhaps just perceived differently — because their stuff boasts many of the qualities we’d like to associate with a true “American” brand: innovation, quality, durability, etc.
What we run into in both cases is that Apple and Gap are American companies but global brands. They are as “American” as we want — or don’t want — them to be.
I actually like that because it gives us a chance to appreciate truly American brands — companies that do both their design/development work and much or all of their manufacturing right here. American brands making American products.
It’s no slight to Apple or Gap or anybody else. Not unless you want it to be. It’s simply a necessary acknowledgment that the realities of the global economy dictate a nuanced consideration of the nature of what we buy. On the whole that’s a good thing. Ideally we’ll get to the point where folks — here or overseas — with a taste for “American goods” will start digging a little deeper. There’s no shortage of options and the list is growing.
In the meantime, though, it’s hard not to laugh at the idea of someone walking into a Gap in China and buying a pair of Made-in-India (or wherever) jeans to slake a thirst for “American” goods. They may be getting what they want, but they probably don’t know what they’re missing.
(Photo via Flickr user D. Bjorn)
