{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Lay of The Land","title":"#251 Aidan Meany (Found Surface) — Building the Future of American Knitwear Manufacturing","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3853,"description":"Aidan Meany, Founder and CEO of Found Surface. Aidan is building a programmable knitwear factory in Cleveland that is reimagining what American apparel manufacturing can look likeWhat began for him with learning to sew from his grandmother and making clothes as a teenager has evolved into a much larger ambition — rebuilding the whole infrastructure to make apparel at scale here in the United States. Today, Found Surface develops its own yarn relationships from American farms and spinning partners, uses digital flatbed knitting and rapid assembly to make product close to home, and is building toward a future where brands can design, iterate, and produce without the waste, delay, and opacity of the traditional offshore model.In our conversation, Aidan and I explore the through line from his early fascination with clothing and making, to researching the fragmented state of American manufacturing during college, to building Found Surface first as a kind of supply chain connector and eventually into a serious manufacturing operation in Cleveland. We talk about why he believes this city is uniquely suited for the work, the deeper thesis behind vertical integration and domestic production, how digital knitting changes the economics of speed, customization, and minimum order size, and why overproduction — not just outsourcing — sits at the heart of so much of the apparel industry’s dysfunction. We also discuss the partnership between Found Surface, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Cleveland Museum of Art, the company’s broader sustainability philosophy around natural fibers and proximity, the challenge of building an organization where young people can find meaningful work, and Aidan’s belief that Ohio has a real opportunity to help lead the next chapter of American industrial renewal.Aidan is a genuine inspiration and I hope you enjoy our conversation00:00 Inflection Point in Apparel Manufacturing09:48 Found Surface: Origins and Evolution15:20 The Made in America...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/83f-43Wz3A8u4303ZUZ8sIr3iY-45NuHaXW4rZCGBA0/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzE2MTMwLzE2Mjg3/MTAwMjUtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}