Words with (Fashion) Friends: Jen Guarino
Original Story CFDA, April 14, 2021
Jen Guarino is a manufacturing veteran. She has over 30 years in the industry, including leading manufacturing at Shinola before getting ISAIC (Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center), where is she President and CEO, launched. She talked to us about Detroit as an emerging hub for fashion and how ISAIC is taking a new approach to the future of work and skills development.
Tell us about ISAIC.
ISAIC, Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center, is a national institute for the sewn trades that was developed by a group of industry stakeholders who saw an opportunity to change the way the industry operates. We’re focused on putting people first by training in a way that prepares individuals for the advancements in our industry. For example, we train on traditional industrial sewing, but we also invest in long-term career paths with upskilling, so our students and team members are ready for where apparel manufacturing is going. And that future is part of ISAIC as well as we test for innovation on behalf of industry.
You have been in manufacturing for over 30 years; how is what ISAIC is doing different?
Over the years, I have repeatedly seen people’s work devalued. There needs to be an adjustment in how we value the work being done. We’re approaching this head on by showing that investing in people making apparel domestically is more than a philanthropic endeavor. It’s a smart business decision. There’s a lot of buzz around sustainability, but we believe that if you make a thousand really good decisions, and your product is still produced by people who don’t have sustainable lives, then it’s not sustainable. We want to ensure that issue is addressed first and foremost.
Another difference is that we’re a usage case facility. We have a learning factory where we can focus on advancing the industry through the testing of new technologies. There’s been an underinvestment in this industry domestically for decades and it’s time to reinvest. As an institute we are doing just that.
Why do you think Detroit is an appealing location for designers to consider manufacturing?
ISAIC, along with business and civic leaders, are positioning Detroit to be the Silicon Valley of apparel manufacturing. If you’re working in Los Angeles or New York City, you are working within systems that are deeply established, which can present challenges if you are a designer with different ideas and/or needs. We are looking at new ways of doing things. Detroit has long been known for its innovation and has been doing it for decades, just not in this sector. So, if you are a new designer or manufacturer we want your ideas and creativity to have a place to incubate and we believe Detroit is that place. We believe we can build the next generation of the industry here and that design can be at the very core of that. Plus, it’s affordable. You can come here and afford to start your business.
What is your advice for designers looking to make sustainable choices?
It’s really important to be focused on sustainability, but it’s also important to not operate from a place of shame. This industry has been broken for a long time and has done a lot of damage to people and places, so the simplest and most important thing we can all do is to make better decisions every day. At ISAIC, we refer to it as Progressive Good ™. Challenge yourself to ask, “am I making the best decisions I can today given my current situation?” If you have limited resources or are not sure what the best decisions are, find your toolkit. Learn what sustainability means in different areas, such as in textiles, in transportation, in processes. There are so many places to make improvements, that if everyone made one better choice every day, the accumulated progressive good would be huge! So, I would say you don’t have to be perfect to be better.
How is ISAIC helping emerging designers?
It’s not often that designers feel like they’re in a safe environment where it’s ok not to know everything and where making mistakes is not too costly. It’s no secret that this has contributed to big gaps between design and seeing a product through the factory floor in a way that the designer envisioned. At ISAIC, we are helping them understand how to design with manufacturing in mind, in a way that doesn’t curtail or limit creativity but also doesn’t handicap them because they didn’t think about the process. We’re providing them a safe space to see how their work plays out. To ensure all the pieces – all the stage gates as we say – that need to run smoothly are in place to see a successful design go to market. This approach can help make them a much more effective designer.
What inspires you about the industry today?
I’m incredibly inspired by the collaboration I see. I think about this often when I am in meetings with people who historically would have been considered competitors. Instead of territorialism, I see collective work on things like innovation, ensuring we have DEI, and challenging each other to do better. I’ve never seen it in all my years in the industry. The conversations that are happening are so healthy and they’re not selfish. What it’s proving is that there’s plenty of room for everybody to benefit. I am also incredibly inspired by young people who want to be in this industry – and not just on the design side, but on the textile, manufacturing, supply chain sides. I look on our factory floor and see the average age is 29 versus over 50 in most factories. That means we’re seeing a real industry shift in a healthy way. I don’t think any of it is a fad, but a movement that will become the new standard.