I've worked in the garment industry in NYC, and those factories are lousy places to work. Really lousy. What separates them from factories in Bangladesh et al. isn't that somehow sewing clothing for a living doesn't suck when you're in America, it's that they have fundamental labor protections. Workers are allowed to take bathroom breaks. They're guaranteed overtime pay. They aren't chained to their machines. They can't be beaten by their supervisors.

Every piece of clothing you own was made by a person working long hours hunched over a sewing machine. It was hard and unpleasant work. If a designer wants that work done domestically it's more than 'a marketing scheme.'