»OUR

GARMENT

FACTORY«

In this advertisement from March 22, 1927, a customer asks how it is possible for ready-made garments to be less expensive and yet as good as tailor-made ones.
The C&A executive answers by pointing to the scientific organization of labor and production based on English and American models, and by specifically emphasizing the benefits of the cutting-out room and the advantages of the ironing presses coming from the United States.

»OUR
GARMENT FACTORY «

A C&A advertisement from 1917 with the headline “Our Garment Factory” afforded an early glimpse of the modern production of clothing. The cutting-out area is depicted in the foreground, while in the background seamstresses are seen working at long tables.

The 1917 ad “Our Garment Factory” presumably shows the Confectie Fabriek Aug. Niemer in Amsterdam, which C&A had joined in 1916. Later, in 1918, C&A took over the enterprise, and in 1920 started operating it under the name N.C.I. (Nationale Confectie Industrie). The main reason for embarking on in-house production at this particular point in time was most certainly the fact that C&A had previously been purchasing ready-made clothing for the German market, but also for the Dutch one. This clothing was chiefly obtained from manufacturers in Berlin, which at the time was the most important center for off-the-rack clothing in Europe. During the First World War, however, the procurement of goods from Germany had been suspended.

C&A’S
FIRST IN-HOUSE
MANUFACTURING
OPERATION

This factory truck—emblazoned with the company name N.C.I.— was presumably also used to transport fabrics and clothing components and/or finished articles of clothing.

In another series of ads, from 1929—ads in which C&A sought to win over men as customers—the reasons for the good value-for-money ratio at C&A were once again foregrounded and explained.
This ad offers a look inside the coat-making workshops. Ulster coats (heavy, straight-cut, and double-breasted) were produced here. A man, probably a C&A executive, is seen explaining the advantages of the state-of-the-art American ironing presses, with their combination of speed and precision.

ULTRAMODERN
IRONING PRESSES