CMFG Beginnings 

The most engaging stories are usually the ones you find behind the story. This is certainly the case with the apparel industry. Whether the story is in the raw materials, the construction, the machines or the creators themselves - there is a lot going on. Not only is there complexity and depth to the garment world, but it is largely kept below the waterline (too often for good reason). In reaction to that, CMFG was borne to create a better story, to celebrate process and product alike.

My name is Andrew Doerksen and I started this company in 2015. Well that sounds more intentional than it was - I sort of fell backwards into it. Up until 2011 I had zero sewing experience, zero business experience and zero interest in fashion. 

My interest was finally piqued in a university social ethics class where I decided to delve into consumer fashion trends. I started learning as much as I could about the garment industry. I quickly understood how riddled with social and ecological abuses it is. I wanted nothing to do with box store brands and decided I needed a new way of clothing myself. I bought a $20 sewing machine off Kijiji and starting thrifting and tailoring a new wardrobe. I had just gotten a barista job and decided I should look a bit more clean cut. That meant upping the inventory of collared shirts in my closet. I gave myself the not-so-simple task of making a few good shirts from scratch. From that point it was one discouraging creation after another. After almost a full year of fixation, I proudly made my first half-decent collared shirt.  

By this point I was completely obsessed with apparel construction and started thinking entrepreneurial thoughts. I visited a few of my favourite small-time owner-operator brands in NY and SF. I spent time picking their brains and learning the ones and twos of garment production. Filled with inspiration and new know-how, I bought five industrial sewing machines at once and set up shop making collared shirts in Winnipeg's historic garment district.

In April of 2015, the first CMFG shirt was sold.