The Briefing
Sourcing intelligence from inside the cluster.
Weekly briefings for apparel brand directors. Tariffs, manufacturing operations, the math behind nearshoring, and the patterns we see in our own production calendar. Written from Medellín, for the USA market.
Section 122 Just Crashed. Here's What Every USA Apparel Brand Should Do This Quarter.
On May 7, 2026, the Court of International Trade invalidated Trump's Section 122 emergency tariff. CBP keeps collecting. We walk you through what changed, what didn't, and the four sourcing moves smart brands are making right now.
8 min read · Read →Why USA Swimwear Brands Quietly Moved to Colombia in 2026
Colombia exported $17.6M in swimwear last year and is growing 12% annually. Miami Swim Week 2026 features a record number of Colombian brands. This is the pattern brand directors stopped denying in Q2.
7 min read · Read →The 50-Piece MOQ Lie: How to Read a Manufacturer Quote Before You Wire the Deposit
A manufacturer says 50-piece MOQ. The real number, by the time you finish reading the colorways and size grid, is 1,500. We show you how to spot the trap and what an honest quote looks like.
6 min read · Read →Nearshoring Math: Colombia vs Mexico vs Vietnam in May 2026
Brand directors keep asking for one spreadsheet that compares the three. We built it with current tariff data, lead times, costs, and capacity signals from May 2026. No marketing language — just the math.
9 min read · Read →What MAGIC Vegas Buyers Won't Tell You: 4 Sourcing Decisions They're Making in Q2 2026
We walked the MAGIC Las Vegas floor in February. 1,800 exhibitors, 40+ countries. Four decisions kept coming up in buyer conversations — and they tell you what the rest of the year will look like.
7 min read · Read →