New York City is the leading fashion industry hub with world-class creative talent, a thriving retail market and best-in-class production companies. The City also offers an array of initiatives to support the fashion industry from design through manufacturing.
Forces were at play as the debate over the future of the Garment District took center stage in Manhattan this week.
1. Creative Talent
It’s no secret that New York City is the fashion capital of the world, home to some of the most influential designers and brands in the world, as well as hosting the biggest fashion events and trade fairs. It’s also where many of the newest fashion trends first take shape, as New Yorkers are always at the forefront of fashion innovation.
NYCEDC believes that the city’s unmatched resources and unique culture of creativity are what make it the premier location for fashion brands to develop and thrive. The city has the most fashion industry showrooms (over 5,000!) than any other city in the world and more fashion designer and fashion retail brand headquarters than anywhere else, providing fashion brands with an unparalleled opportunity to reach consumers and establish their brand identities.
While the NYC fashion scene is flourishing, there are still a number of challenges that need to be overcome in order for the city to remain at the forefront of the industry. For example, it can be difficult for up-and-coming fashion brands to secure funding. One of the ways that NYCEDC is addressing this issue is by creating new and enhanced public-private programs that directly support manufacturers, emerging designers, aspiring designers, and students.
These initiatives include the NYC Fashion Draft, which is similar to a sports draft in that it brings together top fashion graduates for a week of structured interviews with New York City-based companies looking to hire. Other programs that NYCEDC has in place to help the fashion community include the Fashion Future Graduate Showcase and Manufacture NY, a new fashion incubator being constructed in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park that will focus on apparel, textiles, and wearable tech.
2. Retail Space
In a city that prides itself on pushing the limits of industry and commerce, fashion continues to be at the core of NYC’s cultural identity. From the hundreds of fashion businesses that call NYC home, to the famed New York Fashion Week, to the role the sector plays in NYC’s COVID-19 response – in NYC, style is forever.
In addition to hosting the world’s most prestigious fashion designer showrooms, NYC boasts some of the best and most accessible retail space. This is largely due to the city’s high traffic areas, its proximity to some of the country’s top manufacturers and ateliers, and more fashion brand and retailer headquarters than any other city in the nation.
NYC’s retail space attracts both fashion professionals who want to be close to their supply stores and retailers looking for a unique and trendy location for their flagship locations. The flurry of activity that takes place along Fifth Avenue, from the upper 40s to 57th Street and across, is fast-paced and urban, with heavy industry traffic during the work week and a mix of tourists on the weekends. The neighborhood is also popular with fashion students and out-of-city work week commuters, who appreciate its live-work-friendly housing options and proximity to industry showrooms.
The city’s retail space also includes specialty bookstores and record stores, antiques shops, and gourmet food markets, which draw shoppers from around the world. Union Square is a hub of shopping, with the south side of the square anchored by a Whole Foods Market, Burlington clothing store, DSW designer shoe warehouse, and the city’s first Nordstrom Rack in a stunningly restored 1880 cast-iron building. Across the square, you can browse indie boutiques and high-end brands alike, including Club Monaco, Eileen Fisher, Lululemon, Madewell, and Tory Burch.
3. Manufacturing
Despite its fading glamour, fashion manufacturing still thrives in New York. Garment manufacturers, who handle the cutting and sewing of fabric for clothes, still make up 30 percent of New York City’s total apparel production jobs. While a lot of the work is now done abroad, local clothing designers and brands continue to turn to local garment contractors, fabric suppliers and sewing companies to get their jobs done, and more out-of-town buyers still visit the Garment District showrooms to view collections than any other American location.
But there’s a lot at stake for NYC’s garment industry. Some worry that if the garment manufacturing business disappears entirely, it could destroy the city’s claim to being a major fashion capital, rivaling Paris and Milan, along with its two big annual events—Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week—that attract massive crowds of people each year.
Garment industry leaders are taking steps to keep the manufacturing sector alive. The city is aiming to boost the number of sewing and manufacturing jobs, while also reducing its dependence on fossil fuels for powering clothing production, a leading cause of climate change. A new initiative called Manufacture NY, set to open in Sunset Park in Brooklyn, aims to help spread fashion manufacturing outside of Manhattan’s Garment District. The facility will house a research and development center, innovation lab, business accelerator, and programming that will train the local workforce to fill quality fashion manufacturing jobs.
The new hub, which will also include affordable daycare services and shipping and distribution outlets, is funded by the city and financed by the Empire State Development Corp., which has issued a Request for Expressions of Interest to fashion brands and/or garment manufacturers looking to expand their presence in the city; science or technology firms driving apparel or textile R&D; academic programs focusing on the fashion and design fields; mission-driven organizations supporting the fashion industry; and companies along the fashion supply chain or manufacturing logistics sector.
4. Education
Whether you are an established designer or an aspiring one, the city of New York has plenty of options to provide you with the education and tools that you need to succeed in the fashion industry. The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a component of the State University of New York and offers seventeen majors in art, design, and technology that are specific to fashion. It is also home to the Museum at FIT, which houses over 50,000 costumes, fabrics, and accessories that span eighteenth-century to contemporary fashion.
The prestigious school has helped many of its graduates become successful fashion designers and even fashion entrepreneurs. However, it’s not easy to break into this highly competitive industry – you need to have the right training and skills to thrive in it. That’s where Parsons comes in, which is known for educating the next generation of fashion leaders through groundbreaking academic programs that change the way fashion is seen and interpreted.
In an attempt to boost the industry’s appeal, NYC has invested $136 million in the construction of a new Garment Manufacturing Hub at Bush Terminal in Sunset Park. This new building will house affordable, best-in-class industrial facilities for garment manufacturers and related industries. In addition, NYCEDC has launched a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) seeking concepts for an R&D center and innovation laboratory, as well as proposals to provide programming to train garment sector workers and the local workforce to fill quality fashion manufacturing jobs.
The City has also made it easier than ever for entrepreneurs to launch a business. There are several resources available, including a free entrepreneurship course called FastTrac and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, which provides individualized guidance to help you get your business off the ground.
5. Collaboration
A strong collaboration is at the heart of any fashion business. This is a big reason why so many incubators and accelerators have started to focus on the industry. These are programs that encourage fashion designers to work with other businesses in order to develop their ideas and get them to market.
The City is also fostering collaboration through its garment manufacturing initiatives. One of these is the Garment Manufacturing Hub, which will help to connect local designers with local production facilities and provide support for garment manufacturers. The other is the NYC Capsule Collection, which allows fashion designers to produce a small collection of clothing to be sold in select NYC stores.
These initiatives have helped to increase the number of local producers. Moreover, they have allowed fashion designers to better meet the demands of consumers and create more jobs in the industry. This has also boosted the fashion industry’s overall competitiveness and has helped to keep the City at the forefront of global innovation in the field of fashion technology.
Another example of the City’s support for collaboration is the Fashion Tech Lab NYC. Launched in 2014, this accelerator targets women-led early and growth stage companies that have developed innovations at the intersection of fashion and retail. The program is a partnership between the City and Springboard Enterprises, and participants receive mentoring from fashion and retail experts and VC firms.
In addition, the City is launching the Smart Textiles Fabrication Center at Bush Terminal, which will promote the development of smart textiles. This includes developing sustainable alternatives to existing materials and promoting the use of New York State-sourced crops and materials. The initiative will also facilitate the creation of a consortium led by Empire State Development that will include universities, businesses, farmers, and fashion industry leaders.
