Should DTC Brands Open Their Own Factories?

Buck Mason started as the brand with the “perfect tee.” Now if they fall short, they have no one to blame but themselves.

Last December, the brand, which started online in 2013 and now has over 20 stores in the US, acquired a closed knitting mill in Pennsylvania. Today, it makes its most popular T-shirts there.

The decision to get into manufacturing was largely about quality control, said co-founder and chief executive Erik Allen Ford. Buck…