.png)
What You Missed in Chicago!
- maggie0374
- Sep 8
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 7
Thank you to everyone who joined us in Chicago for the 2025 SPESA Executive Conference! From the packed agenda to the packed after-party, this may just have been our best event yet. You are all a big part of our success, and we look forward to hosting you again soon!
For those of you who weren't able to attend in person, check out the links below to see what you missed!
2025 Executive Conference Info
Meeting Materials
Event Recap
Thank you to Devin Steele at eTextileCommunications for providing a recap of all of the educational sessions in Chicago!
Presentations
Here are the slides that were shared during the conference.
Presentation by Tiffany Radon, Carhartt
Presentation by Miguel Montero, in2track Solutions
A presentation by Sheng Lu, Ph.D., University of Delaware
Photos
Thank you again to Devin Steele for capturing much of our event! His photos are available here (as well as on his social media accounts).
We had an additional photographer at the first networking reception who wanted to build his experience photographing industry events. His very artsy album is available here.
You can also check out event photos on SPESA's Facebook and Instagram. We will continue to add to these as we collect more photos from attendees. If you have any good ones, please send them to Marie@spesa.org.
Press
Just Style wrote about the event here.
All event press coverage is available here.
Any additional event press will be shared in SPESA’s newsletter (Behind the Seams) here. Subscribe for industry news!
Sponsors
Once again, we want to thank our event sponsors for helping make this and every SPESA event possible. Click the links below to learn more about these incredible SPESA members and partners.
A special thanks to Aptean and Lectra for sponsoring our networking receptions (see below)! It wouldn’t be a SPESA event without an open bar.
We are also incredibly grateful for the support and assistance of the Chicago community while planning this event. We especially want to thank Xochil Herrera Scheer – the Chicago Patternmaker and Nicole Ruiz from the Apparel Industry Board, Inc. (AIBI).
SPESA Business
Mark Hatton Remarks
During the 2025 Executive Conference, the SPESA Board Chair gavel passed from Mark Hatton to Daniella Ambrogi (Congrats Daniella!). Unfortunately, Mark was unable to attend the event in person, but sent some final remarks to close out his Chairmanship, which SPESA President Michael McDonald shared with the attendees in Chicago. You can read Mark's message to attendees here.
Member Emeritus
Please join us in congratulating former SPESA Board member Rolando Bohlemann as the newest SPESA Member Emeritus. Rolando has contributed greatly to both SPESA and the sewn products industry throughout his illustrious career, and continues to do so today by sharing his experience and knowledge with the next generation of sewn product industry leaders.
Photo courtesy of Devin Steele.
SPESA Business Meeting
Thursday's educational sessions were topped off with the SPESA Business Meeting. This annual meeting provides SPESA members an opportunity to receive updates about the association and the industry from SPESA’s staff and leadership; recognize the outstanding accomplishments of our members; and elect SPESA's Board of Directors.
The minutes from the SPESA Business Meeting are available for review here.
A press release covering the Board election results and highlights from the meeting is available here.
What Was Special About 2025?
Focus on Resilience
The overarching theme for this year's event was Forging Forward - Building Resilient, Future-Ready Businesses
We're operating in a time of uncertainty — from fluctuating markets to geopolitical concerns to supply chain disruptions. Yet, despite hurdles on the horizon, the sewn products industry has remained resilient. For the 2025 SPESA Executive Conference, we leaned into that resiliency by providing conference attendees with the tools, insights, and inspiration needed to prevail.
This charge was led by SPESA Board Member Sarah Krasley who gave inspiring remarks on resiliency during the educational sessions on Thursday, and also led our group workshop on Friday. Sarah's fresh perspective on resilience — not as the ability to “bounce back,” but as the skill of adapting, evolving, and transforming in the face of disruption — shaped much of the conference's framework. (Sarah's takeaways here.)
Made in America
While many of the topics we discussed in Chicago have global applications, this particular event had a strong focus on growing and supporting U.S. manufacturing.
Highlights Included:
Renowned designer Maria Pinto, whose work has redefined what it means to blend artistry, innovation, and sustainability in American-made fashion, kicked off our day.
Julie Rader, Director of Sourcing at Walmart, and Bayard Winthrop, CEO of American Giant, discussed the heavy-hitters' collaboration and what it signals for the future of American-made apparel manufacturing.
Liam Howlett from Western Welder Outfitters shared his experience using the Cavela AI platform to simplify and scale the U.S. workwear brand's sourcing operations. (Cavela takeaways here.)
Mitch Gambert, CEO of Gambert Manufacturing, a fourth-generation, family-owned shirtmaker, dove into the New Jersey company's efforts to integrate circular principles directly into the production and ownership cycle.
Robert McMillan, Founder and CEO of Dearborn Denim & Apparel, shared the story behind his Chicago-based, made-to-order brand, including its strategic production shift during the Covid-19 pandemic
Practical Applications
The educational sessions also touched on topics relevant to all current (and future) business leaders.
Tiffany Radon from Carhartt shared guidance on how organizations can leverage data-driven tools like metrics and workload calculators to balance demands, foster productivity, and promote sustainable growth.
Miguel Montero gave attendees a deeper understanding of what truly drives a smooth leadership transition, why succession efforts often fail, and the strategic questions every leader should be asking now to ensure their business not only survives the handoff, but grows from it.
AND MORE!
With 13 sessions and 22 speakers, this event may have set a new record for the number of topics and speakers packed into a single day. We touched on tariffs, automation, efficiency, workforce development, and so much more!
Check out the session recap here to learn more.
Photos courtesy of Devin Steele.
Women Take the Lead
We are thrilled to share that half of the attendees (and almost half of the speakers) at this year's conference were women — something that the non-fashion side of our industry doesn't achieve often.
While anyone and everyone is welcome at SPESA events, we have made a concerted effort over the past few years to reach out to new attendees and different demographics to bring more diverse expertise and voices into the discussions at our conferences. The only way to learn is to open yourself up to new experiences.
(A couple other statistics for you: 32 of our attendees were newcomers to SPESA, and about 1/3 of the attendees were local to Illinois or the Midwest. The event also skewed much younger than usual, and included more attendees with a focus on fashion design.)
Networking in (Chicago) Style
The 2025 SPESA Executive Conference kicked off with a networking reception inside the Maria Pinto Boutique off Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Attendees mingled and got to know one another among Maria's beautiful new fall collection.
Photos courtesy of Devin Steele.
On Thursday, we ventured out for dinner at one of Chicago's best new restaurants, AMBAR. We first picked it because it reminded us of our newest SPESA team member, and then we were hooked once we tasted the food! Did you know Chicago has the largest Serbian community in the United States? Well, now you do! Their food is delicious and gave us another opportunity to try out something new with our attendees.
Those still able to move after dinner, headed to the unofficial SPESA after-party at the Howl at the Moon dueling piano bar. A very loud, very fun evening that may become a SPESA tradition yet.
Stimulating Simulations
To close out this year's conference, we tried something brand new (sensing a theme?). Conference attendees were invited to participate in a game simulation focused on building resilience in the industry. The team activity encouraged participants to work together to address some of the challenges facing our industry.
Attendees were grouped into teams and tasked with creating a U.S. sewn product brand that they pitched to investors at the end of a 90-minute workshop session. Attendees were assigned different industry roles and the groups were hit with a variety of challenges (supply change, climate, geopolitical, etc.) and opportunities (government contracts, viral products, automation, etc.) that they had to address to ensure the viability of their company. Ultimately, we asked the teams to come to a conclusion of what they think the future of manufacturing will look like and how we get there.
The main goal was to provide attendees an opportunity to step out of the classroom, network in a creative way, and take what they learned during the conference discussions and put it to use and thought right away.
Overall, attendees provided positive feedback on the activity and said they would be interested in doing it again. SPESA is working on how to best use the lessons learned and data collected from this experiment to create resources for the sewn products industry.
A press release on the simulation is available here.
See You Again Soon!
Our next event will be the 2026 SPESA Advancements in Manufacturing Technologies Conference in Columbus, Ohio, in the Spring. The 2026 SPESA Executive Conference will be held in San Antonio, Texas, in the Fall.
Keep an eye on the SPESA website for updates!