A strategic partnership aims to show how AI and robotics can help companies make clothes in the United States, piloting a Made in the U.S.A. program that starts with climate-smart cotton in Texas and ends with threadless garments in California.

This supply chain consists of three U.S. companies that have individually innovated traditional processes in their respective fields: Avalo, a plant biotech startup; Laguna Fabrics, a textile manufacturer; and CreateMe Technologies, an AI robotics company.

Together, they form an initiative called Seed to System, which essentially connects the otherwise fragmented U.S. sectors of agriculture, textile manufacturing, and garment production.

Cam Myers, founder and CEO of CreateMe, told Sourcing Journal that the partnership was prompted by brands which have been looking to de-risk their supply chains after being affected by Trump’s tariffs.

But de-risking by relying on a local alternative can be a complicated process, especially when the supply chain for U.S. apparel has been depleted in recent decades.

“That supply chain is very fragmented, and it’s obviously been pretty hollowed out in the last 20 to 30 years,” Myers said. “So, we saw an opportunity to be able to present a kind of an end-to-end proposition.”

This starts with cotton from Texas, which has become more resilient to harsh climate conditions thanks to Avalo’s AI, which is trained on the plant genome. It analyzes how to optimize certain traits in crops so they can thrive with fewer resources, like water.

The cotton then goes to Laguna Fabric’s circular knitting mill in Los Angeles, where it is knitted into fabrics and dyed.

This chain finally ends at CreateMe’s robotics assembly platform in Northern California, which produces finished garments with speed and scale thanks to a process that uses a digital printed adhesive to bond pieces of garment together, as opposed to using a thread for sewing.

Myers said they are eyeing a capsule launch in New York during the Climate Week in September. He said they are already fielding interest from several brands ahead of the launch.

“We have several brands that we’re in conversations with that want to have a made in the U.S.A. program—an evergreen program—and so [we’re] providing all the constituent pieces to say, ‘here’s a unified offering’ to help actualize that,” he added.

If successful, this pilot program could help make an argument for domestic manufacturing in apparel, as brands continue to navigate a global market that has been reshaped by Trump’s trade policies, including his tariffs and his recent decision not to renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Tricia Carey, Avalo’s chief commercial officer, said in a statement that they are excited to work with fellow innovators that are “using AI to deliver the same climate-smart efficiency to the rest of the supply chain.”

“Building a better apparel system requires practical infrastructure, and this partnership demonstrates how knitting, dyeing and manufacturing can work together in a more transparent and responsive way,” said David Roshan, president of Laguna Fabrics.

The Seed to System model, however, is not seeking to replace offshoring. Nevertheless, it can help brands diversify the risks by sourcing locally. “You still will have a lot offshore but maybe don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” said Myers.