Crafted With Pride’s New Edition – Interview With the Authors of MiUSA’s Most Complete Directory

Willy DeConto and Alex Goulet are no stranger to made in USA manufacturing, they wrote the book on it! Their debut, Crafted With Pride 2023, was the most complete directory of domestic apparel and accessory makers I had ever seen, featuring over 700 brands with contact info organized just like an old school Yellow Pages phone book. But just a few weeks ago they did it again.

The new edition of Crafted With Pride is an improvement in every aspect of already impressive original, with nearly double the number of featured makers, models styled with the goods featured in the book, a searchable index, and even a small Made in Canada section.

We were able to talk with Willy and Alex about their process behind the new book, what it features, and why it’s important to connect with and understand the people and processes that make the things we use and enjoy.

Alex Goulet (left) and Willy DeConto (right) at a promotional event for the first edition of the book.


Heddels (David Shuck):  For those unfamiliar with the first edition of the book, what would you describe as its core purpose and what will people get out of owning a copy?

Alex Goulet and Willy DeConto: Crafted With Pride exists as a resource to find locally made apparel, shoes, bags, and accessories from across the United States. We often refer to it as the “yellow pages of Made in USA gear”. Think of it as part discovery/exploration of interesting MiUSA companies, and part functional guide which organizes over 1,400 locally made gear companies by category and geography, as well as highlighting some outstanding products.

It’s also worth mentioning the publication is fully independent and reader-supported—so you won’t find any pay-to-play, advertising, or product placement here.

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Crafted With Pride is available at the Heddels Shop.

What are the differences between the one published in 2023 and this new edition?

Two major differences: size and layout. This new edition features twice as many brands, over 1,400 companies in all—the book is literally twice the thickness and weight as last years.

The second major upgrade is in the layout and usability of the book. We really tried to incorporate feedback received from last years readers towards making this a more functional resource. The glossy color magazine in front works as a buyers guide, highlighting a variety of products and brands across popular categories (athletic, cycling, formal, boots, of course denim for the nerds). We were able to showcase a lot more than 2023 in this manner.

The yellow pages were overhauled to include photos for every brand listed, as well as an index which has a lot of useful lists such as brands by state, private label manufacturers, wholesale blanks, and more. Also really excited to now have a Made in Canada list in the index after huge support and requests from our neighbors to the north on the previous publication.

The number of makers nearly doubled between this edition and the last one, what was the process like in researching/finding them? Did many find you from the first edition?

After publishing the first book, we began compiling brands we missed from a mix of our own discoveries, user submissions and companies reaching out directly. We anticipated having 100-200 more to add but to end up with 700+ additional brands was just jaw-dropping. It was such a significant increase that we were inspired to get to work on a new edition.

This time around we probed deeper into specialty niche products such as bike bags, leather goods and knitwear which helped us uncover most of the new businesses. Many came through online sleuthing via search engines or social media but, as with the previous edition, a bunch were discovered by talking to people in the industry or visiting smaller stores stocking USA made gear. I would estimate we probably spent 2-3 months just on research alone.

Could you single out any brands that were surprising to discover or had characters behind them?

It’s tough to single out brands simply because every person we’ve met behind the scenes of these companies has been fascinating in their own right. We’ve talked to so many characters over the years from old school manufacturing folks with incredible wisdom and knowledge to younger craftspeople with amazing energy and ingenuity.

Picking our favorites would be akin to a mother selecting their favorite child. Instead, we can offer some brands that have been in our thoughts due to recent climate events that you should consider supporting:

  • Road Runner Bags (California) – Outdoor/Bike Bags
  • Watershed (North Carolina) – Dry Bags
  • Opie Way (North Carolina) – Athletic Footwear [factory destroyed by Hurricane Helene, support their GoFundMe]
  • Diamond Brand (North Carolina) – Tents & Bags [business closed after Hurricane Helene]
  • Shining Rock Goods (North Carolina) – Leather Goods
  • Rockgeist (North Carolina) – Bike Bags [reopening in 2025 after Hurricane Helene flooded workshop]
  • Rite of Passage (North Carolina) – Women’s Clothing
  • LightHeart Gear (North Carolina) – Outdoor Apparel
  • Wellema Hat (California) – Vintage-inspired Headwear [lost their shop to the LA fires, support their GoFundMe]

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What are some of the inspirations behind the layout and structure of the book? It feels like the Yellow Pages meets Free & Easy.

Wow thanks, yes that’s the idea! Trying to take the spirit of that colorful, poppy, editorial feel that so many Japanese menswear/gear magazines have absolutely mastered, but applying it to brands that very rarely get that sort of treatment because they don’t have the budget or resources. And of course, the text is in English.

So besides giving a helpful overview of each category, the front editorial section is also meant to highlight the brands in a way that just generally gets you excited to get dressed. I guess trying to recreate/communicate that feeling we get seeing how much amazing stuff made nearby is out there. And then once you’re fired up and ready to hunt for gear, the yellow page section is intended to have it all clearly laid out for you to parse through… like the real Yellow Pages.

We also think of our yellow pages section a bit like an iPod—or what we miss about the iPod—which was its ability to keep this expanse of music organized for you in a proper library in your pocket… now with streaming it’s more kept in your head, or just forgotten? Even though we’re pretty familiar with most of the brands in our book, we often pick it up and use it when we’re personally looking for clothes since it’s impossible to store all that info in your head.

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I’m a big fan of the forward where you discuss the benefits of centering workers and having a connection to the things we buy and use. Could you expand a bit on this and how it relates to made in USA as a concept? i.e. buying closer to home gives you a better perspective and connection to the people and conditions in which it was created and vice versa, the people who made it want to make a good product they are identified with in their community. Do you think makers and consumers can have that relationship beyond a border?

At the end of the day, if we’re not focused on the happiness and well-being of human beings then what are we even doing? After decades of watching the outcomes of a completely outsourced economy, you can see how the elevation of profits over people is affecting us all. Few Americans see a bright future ahead as our economy becomes increasingly erratic and complex. Cheap imported goods offer easy profits for businesses and short term satisfaction for consumers but all at the expense of quality jobs, stable communities and the health of our planet.

We believe the revival of the local economy is the first step towards getting people to be more thoughtful of the products they buy and the people who make them. Simply stated, if you buy something directly from another person you’re more likely to treat that person with respect and honor their work. We’d like to see the return of local relationships with craftspeople like cobblers, tailors and fabricators that existed in nearly every town in America in the twentieth century. Craft and manufacturing is essential to the future health of our country so let’s support the companies leading the charge.

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I also enjoyed the new styled sections of the book featuring models wearing offerings from a variety of US makers, some of which are decidedly anti-fashion. Where do you think the line is between style and ideology (if there is one) when it comes to dressing?

The styled model photos was something we really wanted to try this year to give more context to how the clothes could all work together, and to communicate that you really could feasibly be dressed head-to-toe in locally made gear. The shoot was a true friends and family effort between sourcing garments, the talent, the styling, everything. So more than anything those constraints led to the looks, but we did have a rough idea of wanting to hit certain categories to match up with sections of the book; a couple athletic looks, formal, outdoors, etc.

We didn’t set out for anything to be fashion or anti-fashion, we just did our best to present these clothes in an direct and wearable way by using stuff we have and wear on a daily basis, many of the models self-styled themselves and even a couple buddies like Steve of Owner Operator, or Glenn of Glenn’s Denim manufactured their own clothes. I guess in this case the style follows the ideology— being super excited to wear locally made gear that you have a connection to, the joy of getting dressed everyday, and a penchant for functional, classic garments.

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H: What’s next? Are you planning to continue to update and expand the book with new editions annually?

I think we’ll see how this book is received before committing to annual editions but we know we’d like to explore some other niche MiUSA topics in the future. Keep an eye out for more projects forthcoming!


You can find the latest edition of Crafted With Pride for $35 in the Heddels Shop.