NYC's Garment District could go extinct with failing economy
Lana Russo
Issue date: 11/11/08 Section: Arts & Society
|
Due to rising rent costs and the failing economy, factories and small businesses in the Garment District are facing extinction, and famous members of the fashion community are doing everything in their power to stop this historic neighborhood from disappearing.
Businesses located in the Garment District manufacture roughly one-third of all clothing sold within the United States. Spanning from 34th to 42nd streets, this mile-wide region houses talented residents known for producing some of the most beautiful fabrics, textile patterns and trims in the world.
Fashion legends from Oscar De La Renta to Calvin Klein have design studios located in this area, and most of the city's high-end couture houses are located here as well.
The Garment District has taken on two identities: one being a capital for fashion production, and another being a setting for fashion inspiration. This area is where popular television show Project Runway is filmed and is also home to the Fashion Walk of Fame, the only permanent landmark dedicated to American fashion.
The walk of fame includes an enormous statue of a needle threading a button on 7th Avenue and 39th Street, which has become a known symbol of the creative culture of New York City.
According to Nanette Lepore, a renowned fashion designer who used her spring 2009 runway show to raise awareness about the financial dangers the Garment District faces, if this neighborhood fades away and its businesses are forced to relocate overseas, "Future generations of designers will no longer have a place to realize their dreams."
Lepore is one of many famous faces helping to shed light on this matter, and during her show at New York Fashion Week, Lepore revealed that her entire runway collection had been designed and sewn in the legendary Garment District.
Lepore believes that, "We're losing 'made in America' because we're losing our factories," and thousands of people agree. Fashion Week is an event which brings in over $500 million annually to New York City and would be impossible to organize and produce without the sewing and textile factories present in the Garment District.
Be the first to comment on this story