These Woman-owned Businesses Keep it Made in America

For Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating businesses that are committed to domestic production.

Women’s History Month, which officially began last week, is a time to spotlight how women have contributed to America’s past and present. That includes how they’ve played a role in shaping U.S. industry. According to the Census Bureau, in 2023 women owned 14.2 million American businesses. And here at the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), we’re focused on those businesses that are not only based in the United States but make their products here, too. If you’re looking to support a woman-owned business this month, here are seven that are keeping their production right here in America!

Play Pits

When Chantel Powell’s 6-year-old son Kam began to smell after sports practice, she knew she needed to invest in some deodorant. But none of the kid-friendly stuff on the market were chemical-free. So, she decided to make her own, and Play Pits was born. Play Pits focuses on deodorant made specifically for kids, and each scent is completely natural. There’s also a line designed for adults (with a distinct packaging style) and both lines are USA-made. It’s a great choice for any parents out there, or anyone who wants to smell good without the use of chemicals!

Saturday Swimwear

Emily LaPlume has spent time traveling all around the world. During her travels, she was inspired by the beauty of the world but she also noticed something less beautiful: the horrible impact of fast fashion and over-consumption. So, she taught herself to sew and started Saturday Swimwear, with the goal of offering small-batch swimwear that was thoughtfully and sustainably made domestically. Today, the company is still going strong, selling both plain swimsuits and swimsuits with designs created by artists. Saturday Swimwear is based in Portland, Oregon, and all its swimsuits are made with environmentally sustainable materials by a woman-owned sew studio in Los Angeles. These swimsuits will make you look and feel good!

Lowercase Toys

Brenna Davis started her career as a speech language pathologist. During sessions with her clients, she noticed that parents were often unsure how to best support their children’s progress. She decided to create her own toys for her sessions that were simple and encouraged open-ended play. The toys were a huge hit, helping her clients develop their speech language skills. They worked so well that Brenna decided to start her own company making and selling them. Lowercase Toys sells felt toys made of materials from recycled water bottles. They’re designed to help with development by encouraging kids to explore different ways to play with them. And all the toys are made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin!

Nooworks

Jennifer D’Angelo began her passion for garment creation while she was still in art school in 2005, designing and sewing her own t-shirts in her San Francisco apartment. That passion would eventually take her from a small operation operated in her home to a full business. Now, Nooworks continues to sell women’s clothes with quirky and detailed designs made by independent artists. The clothes are made in Los Angeles from locally sourced fabrics and are designed to fit a wide variety of bodies. Trust us, you’ll get tons of compliments while wearing these outfits!

Okabashi

Okabashi began making eco-friendly shoes in Georgia in 1984. It was founded by Bahman Irvani, a British-Iranian immigrant whose family shoe business was destroyed during the Iranian revolution. Today, his daughter Sara Irvani is continuing the family legacy and is the owner and CEO of the company. Sara has led the company through tough times — during the COVID-19 pandemic, Okabashi donated a pair of shoes to healthcare professionals for every order placed on their website. Now, Okabashi is still going strong, making all its shoes in the USA out of bio-based materials. We love Okabashi here at AAM (check out our podcast episodes with Sara Irvani) and we know you will too!

This Night

When Kate Williamson’s father came across an ad for the last remaining knitting mill in Reading, Pennsylvania, she decided to work with it to develop the perfect sock. Two years later, This Night was born. The company sells socks with exciting colors and patterns inspired by Japan, where Kate studied abroad for a year (Japan is also where This Night gets its name; it was inspired by a 10th-century Japanese poem). The mill where This Night originally made its socks shut down in 2018, but the company is still 100% committed to making its socks in the U.S., and has now shifted production to North Carolina. Plus, for each pair of socks you purchase, This Night will donate $1 to nonprofits supporting kids in Reading and North Carolina! (To learn more, check out AAM’s interview with Kate Williamson here.)

Seek & Swoon

After a summer-long vacation to Europe with her family in 2015, Jala Smith-Huys was inspired by the beautiful places she saw to start her own business. The vision? To find a way to capture the essence of these places in a blanket. Jala sought out a sustainable way to make her blankets, which led her to a mill on the East Coast. Today, Jala’s company Seek & Swoon is based in Oregon, while the blankets themselves are made from recycled, American-made materials in one of the last remaining fabric mills in the country. Each blanket is designed to reflect a different place around the world, with options ranging from Paris to the American Southwest. They’re insanely comfortable, too! Learn more about Seek & Swoon in our interview with Jala Smith-Huys here.

For more women-owned Made in USA companies, check out our directory!

The Alliance for American Manufacturing does not receive a commission from purchases made through the above links, nor was the organization or author paid for favorable coverage.

Labeling Note: This story is intended to highlight companies that support American jobs and that make great products in the United States. We rely on the companies listed to provide accurate information regarding their domestic operations and their products. Each company featured is individually responsible for labeling and advertising their products according to applicable standards, such as the Federal Trade Commission’s “Made in USA” standard or California’s “Made in USA” labeling law. We do not review individual products for compliance or claim that because a company is listed in the guide that their products comply with specific labeling or advertising standards. Our focus is on supporting companies that create American jobs.

For more on the Federal Trade Commission’s standards for “Made in USA” claims and California’s “Made in USA” labeling law, please also read this guest post by Dustin Painter and Kristi Wolff of Kelly Drye & Warren, LLP.