Duckworth is expanding. Let us explain...
If you don’t know by now, all of our products at Duckworth are made right here in the U.S. of A.
That’s the All-American part.
“Rambouillet” or “Rambouillet Merino” is the breed of sheep we that we raise in Montana. They're a prized breed of sheep known for exceptional wool quality and thriving in harsh climates. They are the backbone of the American Wool industry and make up nearly 50% of the flocks in the western USA.
And ours, raised for generations by our founding family, the Helles of Dillon, MT, are genetically some of the finest in the world.
That's the Rambouillet part.
Now for that last word:
Revival.
At Duckworth, our mission statement is this:
"To Revitalize the American Wool Industry through American Manufacturing."
Let's break that down.
At one point in this country's history, wool wasn't a niche product. It was a necessity. In 1884, more than 51 million sheep grazed American soil- and the mills and factories that processed their fleece were the backbone of communities from New England down the Atlantic seaboard and across the Midwest. From World War I through Korea, wool was deemed a strategic commodity. American soldiers wore it. The government price-supported it. Ranchers were incentivized to raise it well. For a long stretch of this nation's history, wool was woven into the very fabric of American life.
Then came the unraveling.
In the years following World War II, synthetic fibers began taking wool's place. Consumer tastes shifted, office dress codes changed, men bought fewer suits, homes got better insulated. Trade deals opened the floodgates to cheap overseas labor and looser environmental standards, and American mills, one by one, went dark. Textile employment fell from more than 1.5 million workers in the 1970s to roughly 270,000 today. The American sheep flock shrank from that peak of 51 million to nearly 5 million head. By the end of the 1990s, the U.S. wool industry had collapsed to half its former size.
That's where things stand, and that's what we seek to revitalize.
But, we don't want to revitalize it by any means necessary- we want to address the other side of that double edged sword told above.
We're doing it by also revitalizing American textile manufacturing.
So why does it matter? Why should someone who doesn't raise sheep or run a mill give a damn about any of this?
Here's the thing: the collapse of the American wool and textile industries wasn't just an agricultural story or a factory story. It was a community story.
When the mills closed, the towns around them didn't just lose jobs- they lost the economic gravity that held everything else together.
The hardware store.
The diner.
The school.
You can see it in ranching towns like Dillon, Montana, and mill towns scattered across the Carolinas and New England; places that were once the backbone of American industry, now fighting to stay relevant. The decision to make clothing in China instead of Connecticut didn't just pad a corporate margin.
It hollowed out whole zip codes.
And on the other end of it, the average American got a raw deal too; they just didn't know it. They were handed a closet full of 100% synthetic clothing, sourced from who knows where, made by who knows whom, under who knows what conditions.
With each step of production that moves overseas, value is stripped out of the American economy and handed to someone else. The clothes got cheaper. The cost just got harder to see.
Rebuilding this industry puts that value back where it belongs.
Every time knowledge stays here instead of being exported to overseas manufacturers, it comes back as return and value to small communities. It comes back as a skilled job for a millworker in the Carolinas, a fair price for a rancher in Montana, a paycheck that actually stays in the county.
And for the person wearing the garment? They get something they can actually trust. They know where it came from. They know who made it. They know the land it grew on.
That kind of transparency is nearly extinct in the modern clothing industry; and we believe that matters.
Seventy-seven percent of Americans say they're willing to pay more for a product made in the USA. Most of them just can't find one worth buying. That's the gap we're trying to close.
So, back to the Revival. Present-tense.
Our little clothing company has been making a big splash. As it turns out, when you stand for your values and make a quality product, people will flock to support you. We're grateful for that.
But, you’ve probably seen the out-of-stocks and the sporadic inventory. Some of you have waited months or even years for certain products.
That's a problem, but it's also good news: It means our mission is working.
Since the beginning of Duckworth, we've sourced all the wool for our products from our very own ranch in Dillon, Montana- the same one our founders have been stewarding for generations.
Well, the demand for our Helle Standard Duckworth wool has been exceeding our capacity on our ranch in Dillon, MT. To our mission at large that’s a beautiful thing. And it has set the stage for us to take the biggest leap in our company's history.
We're expanding.
We’ve laid the groundwork for years and are expanding our operation to neighboring ranches in Montana and the Rocky Mountain region to close the growing demand gap for the best merino wool on the planet.
Why not just buy more land? Because that's not the mission.
By sharing genetics and trading wisdom with other ranches, our little dream is now a reality. By bringing these folks into the fold, we're economically stimulating more and more ranchers and workers across America.
More ranches.
More jobs.
More wool.
This is our mission statement coming to life.
Montana-Grown is now American-Grown.
Montana Wool is now American Wool.
And it's all thanks to you.
Stay tuned for more on this. We'll be traveling around and documenting our partner ranches going forward- and we cannot wait for their story to become a part of ours.
This is bigger than wool, it’s bigger than us, and it’s credit to each and every one of you who supports Duckworth and our mission to breathe life into what was a dying industry.
As we see other brands slowly drop their commitments to USA-made, we’re doubling down.
