Ferrara Featured in WSJ: A Case Study in American Craftsmanship

Published on May 24, 2025

In The Wall Street Journal’s recent feature, “How the Classic Navy Blazer Became a Case Study for ‘Made in America’”, reporter Sam Schube takes readers behind the scenes of a rare garment: a fully American-made navy blazer. At the center of the story is a partnership between three companies committed to domestic production—American Trench, American Woolen, and Ferrara Manufacturing—each contributing a piece of a supply chain that has become increasingly hard to maintain in the U.S.

Reviving a Classic, Locally

When American Trench founder Jacob Hurwitz set out to create a traditional navy blazer—cut, sewn, and sourced entirely in the U.S.—he encountered the same challenges many designers face: limited infrastructure, higher costs, and fewer facilities equipped for structured garment production.

Yet staying domestic was a priority. The wool came from sheep raised in Colorado and was woven into a classic hopsack fabric by American Woolen, a historic mill in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. Under the leadership of Jacob Long, the company has focused on rebuilding regional textile capacity—linking American fiber to high-end apparel. Their involvement helped form the foundation of the blazer’s story: a material rooted in American soil and shaped by one of the few mills still operating at this level in the U.S.

A Collaborative Process

The article details Hurwitz’s visit to Ferrara’s Long Island City factory, where he worked closely with the Ferrara team to adjust the fit, refine the pocket construction, and choose materials. The result: a blazer built with half-canvas construction, a technique that allows the garment to drape naturally over time—an approach less common today due to its complexity.

Though Ferrara is known for producing structured garments for clients like Ralph Lauren and the U.S. military, the factory balances scale with a hands-on approach. For Hurwitz, that balance was key.

“The only place where we were able to find the skill set to do that was Ferrara,” he told WSJ.

Modern Tools, Traditional Craft

Ferrara’s approach to production combines time-honored tailoring methods with modern tools. Alongside classic sewing stations, the factory uses 3D printers to fabricate custom sewing tools and advanced machines that ensure fabric patterns align precisely. These investments help increase efficiency without sacrificing the attention to detail that defines well-made tailored garments.

The story isn’t about bringing back large-scale industrialization, but rather about building a viable path forward for specialized, high-quality apparel made in the U.S.

As Gabrielle Ferrara noted in the piece, “You don’t come to America to buy commodity. You come to buy luxury.”

A Shared Vision

This project illustrates what’s possible when designers, mills, and manufacturers are aligned not just in logistics, but in values. The resulting garment is a navy blazer rooted in American history and built through a fully domestic collaboration—challenging the notion that quality must come from overseas.

For Ferrara Manufacturing, it’s another step in the ongoing work of redefining what modern American tailoring can look like: technically refined, transparently produced, and thoughtfully executed.

📖 Read the full article in The Wall Street Journal

How the Classic Navy Blazer Became a Case Study for ‘Made in America’

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