“The French perfected the clean, elegant line and the atelier approach to making clothing. The Italians were masters of the fine handwork needed for leather goods and tailoring. What America excelled at as the apparel business scaled up and industrialized in the early 20th century was mass-produced good-quality, hard-wearing clothes. American workwear and sportswear, like American cars, had a tough, overbuilt quality: the copper button fly on a pair of Levi's, the waxed cotton "tin cloth" that made Filson gear able to withstand wind, rain, and maybe even a blast of dynamite.” FashionHeritageManufacturingMaker Book:American Flannel: How a Band of Entrepreneurs Are Bringing the Art and Business of Making Clothes Back Home Source: American Flannel: How a Band of Entrepreneurs Are Bringing the Art and Business of Making Clothes Back Home