-
-
-
-
“All my resources are here. It would only make sense for a designer who’s very hands-on to be in the midst of where it all takes place. This is where the magic happens.”- Jason Wu, designer
-
-
-
-
In a 2010 survey of local designers commissioned by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, nearly 80% of respondents said that the Garment District is either "very important" or "extremely important" to their production. -
-
-
-
“The fight for the genuine in the world’s great cities is also a fight for jobs, workers and creativity.”- Roger Cohen, The New York Times
-
-
“The garment district is an area where zoning laws have protected apparel manufacturing space and so held off the developers who would otherwise have turned clothes factories into condos and created yet another gentrified district bereft of seediness, tawdriness, community and that strange high-low alchemy essential to any great city’s mystery and charge.”
- Roger Cohen, The New York Times
-
-
-
-
-
“I couldn’t have started my business if it wasn’t for the New York City Garment District. If you start out like I did, out of my apartment, I could sell 20 of something. I would go see the buyer at Barneys every month and show her a new dress, and she’d order 50. And I could take it to a factory around the corner.”- Nanette Lepore, designer
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
The cluster of fashion-related businesses in the Garment District creates a district-wide incubator that supports startups and entrepreneurs -- no other fashion capital supports this kind of outsourced infrastructure. -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
The fashion industry is an important economic engine for New York City:
- 9 top fashion companies headquartered here have combined yearly revenue of $31 billion;
- Fashion Week's yearly impact is $733 million;
- 28% of NYC's manufacturing jobs are from the apparel industry
-
-
-
-
-
-
“It’s amazing — all of that stuff is above street levels, and you have no idea what’s going up there until the door accidentally opens. People can walk around there and see the ten scummy fabric stores, and have no idea that ten floors above are people who have jobs are making stuff.”- Shana Tabor, designer
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
What kind of city do you want to live in? Should creative industries matter to NYC?
Join the conversation! Tell us what you think via Twitter and include the tag “#madeinmidtown.”
-
Join Our Mailing List
-
“It takes a lot of people to get something made, even if it’s twelve garments. There are so many people that touch the garment.”
- Shelly Steffee, fashion designer
New York City is planning for the future of the Garment District, the heart of American fashion. This could transform the fashion industry and Midtown Manhattan.
Made in Midtown studies the relationship between the industry and the neighborhood, and asks: Should creative industries matter to New York?
