Demand is soaring for the viral Harris-Walz camouflage hat, made in the USA, unlike the MAGA hats made in China

But “suddenly we saw that tens of thousands of hats were being sold, and we thought that was a lot. And then when Tim Walz wore one of our hats on television the night after he was nominated as vice president, sales went through the roof.”

In order to cope with the avalanche of orders, factory workers toil 60 hours a week, including Saturdays.

The company had to purchase more sewing machines and expand its supply chain to produce more camouflage fabrics.

In less than a month, Unionwear has sold over 100,000 hats; in just one week, the factory sold more Harris hats than it expected to sell during the entire year of Biden's candidacy.

The popularity of the camouflage cap is partly due to Chappell Roan, the hugely popular singer who sells a camouflage cap with the orange inscription “Midwest Princess.”

Memes showing the hat alongside a Harris-Walz cap circulated online—both Walz and the pop star are from the Midwest—and were shared by Roan himself.

Then an official campaign version appeared. “You asked, we answered,” read the Harris campaign’s product summary, which called the $40 headdress “America’s most iconic political hat.”

This was seen as another example of Harris and her camp responding to the social media zeitgeist: earlier this summer, the Democratic presidential candidate had embraced green as the “brat” color and the online codes associated with another pop star, Charli XCX.

The Democratic Party Convention in Chicago, which ended on Thursday, further fueled “Kamalamania” and thus also the demand for merchandise.

And if she wins the election in November, Unionwear expects another sales boost, this time for inauguration gifts, as it did in 2009 when Barack Obama emerged victorious, Cahn said.

“I think merchandise sales reflect the popularity of the candidate and also how connected voters are to the candidate,” he said.

Harris has a connection with voters, Cahn continued – “and they are proud to have her name on their heads.”

Over the course of the week, Democrats in Chicago turned to symbols of American culture, including camouflage clothing, cowboy hats, country music and flags commonly associated with US conservatism.

In the age of globalization and free trade agreements, it is not easy to produce textiles in the United States. Cahn's factory is one of the few that succeeds.

Its customers include the US military, which by law must give preference to domestic products and therefore purchases its uniforms from Unionwear.

The company's textile workers are unionized, and the “Made in USA” label is a core part of their brand – and sought after in campaigns that appeal to union members and advocate for bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States.

“It doesn't make a good impression when the candidate says things like that while selling goods made in Mexico or China,” Cahn said.

Cahn said most of them are made in China and only the embroidery is done in the United States.

Additional reporting from Reuters