A Denison woman is about to put her husband's family farm on the label of her own line of jeans.
Jessica Sheppard, founder and chief executive of Sheppard Denim, told KXII on Friday that the brand is built on cotton raised on that farm near Panhandle, the small town outside Amarillo where she grew up. She described Panhandle as a place of about 2,000 people. That land has belonged to her husband's family for seven generations, according to the station.
All cotton, made in the U.S.
Sheppard said the first rule she set for the line was that it be 100% cotton, something she said has become surprisingly rare in an era of fast fashion.
Keeping production in the United States was harder than she expected. "There's not a lot of manufacturing options here," she told the station, adding that she had not realized how much U.S. apparel making had declined. KXII cited a recent study putting the share of imported clothing among garments sold in the U.S. at more than 97%.
She acknowledged that domestic production costs more but said she is sticking with it because she wants a Texas cotton product made in America.
