How to make a shirt

One weekend ago, I went to China's Gaomin to check out a textile factory for fun. It was set up as an MIT event, by an MIT alum who now manages a company of 50,000 people and produces clothing for BOSS, Abercrombie, etc. (funny how even MIT people go into commercial business if they are from this money town called HK!)

We walked through the process of starting with raw cotton (mixture of organic and non organic), turning that into thread (this was a really long process), to making the pattern of the fabric, then weaving, quality controlling, then changing the texture of the fabric, cutting and sewing, to finally the end product of an ironed cotton shirt! Pfew.

It is amazing to see the entire process. And being China, this is done at a scale unimaginable. After the experience, I couldn't imagine how they could possibly sell anything for below $100. It's so much work! Now I would really consider buying more expensive clothing and not expending anything.