Skip to main content
October 28, 2021
Updated:
Original:

What Happened at Today's "Save The Garment Center" Rally?

A motley crew of people from all walks of fashion life attended a rally today to support NYC’s ever-shrinking Garment Center. MC’ed by artist Robert Savage, otherwise known as Mr. Nanette Lepore, the rally’s speakers included politicians, designers, students, union workers, and factory owners. In the lively and supportive audience, I spotted fashion students sporting bedazzled signs and seamstresses with years of hard-earned callouses on their hands. Anna Sui was roaming among the crowd, too. Congressman Tim Ryan started off the rally with some inspirational quotes about America. Then Jerry Nadler, a congressman from New York, said that when he attended a rally to save the Garment Center back in 1985, there were about 500,000 garment industry jobs in NYC; today there are only about 100,000. Rather sobering statistics, to say the least. Scott Stringer, the Manhattan Borough President, was up next and made the excellent point, “You can’t have Fashion Week in New York unless you have the designers here. It’s like having the Academy Awards in a place where they don’t make movies.”
Author:

A motley crew of people from all walks of fashion life attended a rally today to support NYC’s ever-shrinking

Two students, Charlie and Amanda, from Parsons and FIT respectively, spoke about the amazing experience they’re having in NYC because of the proximity of their schools to the Garment Center.

A punked-out Malia Mills reminisced about building her business in NYC and the amount of talented labor here. Then finally Nanette Lepore, the organizer, took the stage.

Nanette, looking very chic in a leopard dress and perfect golden highlights, warned everyone that she had a tendency towards ranting about this cause. She asked that legislation be put into place to provide tax and other incentives to keep garment production here in NYC.

Recommended Articles

It was certainly inspirational. For more information, check out the Save The Garment Center website.

Related Stories

Business

Six Ways to Save New York's Garment Center

Just two weeks ago, Nanette Lepore held another rally to save the garment district. For decades, the garment district has been shrinking and struggling to survive as production goes overseas. Today brings word that Bloomberg might just save it. The Mayor's office rolled out six new initiatives to grow the city's fashion industry and ensure its place as a fashion capital. “New York City is the fashion capital of the world, and the factors that drive that success-–the creativity and expertise of our talented workforce–-present us with competitive advantages we want to capitalize on,” said Mayor Bloomberg in a release. “Industry leaders like Diane von Furstenberg, Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren and others helped us develop these seven initiatives to nurture the next generation of fashion talent in New York City and to help make it easier for fashion entrepreneurs to make turn their ideas into reality.” For the past year, FashionNYC2020, a city-funded initiative chaired by LF CEO Richard Darling, Diane von Furstenberg, Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren, Theory CEO Andrew Rosen, and Gilt Groupe CEO Kevin Ryan, examined the challenges facing the $55 billion industry. With the help of fancy consulting firm Bain & Company, the New York City Economic Development Corporation conducted surveys and interviews with more than 500 industry professionals to determine the best strategies to develop and keep new talent in NYC. Unsurprisingly, FashionNYC2020 "identified New York City’s fashion industry as a potential area of growth over the next decade." As per the release, here are the six strategies the city has come up with to grow the fashion industry in NYC:

Apr 9, 2014
Business

Saving the Garment District

On Monday night at 9 pm (EST), HBO will debut the documentary Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags that takes a look at the history of New York's Garment

Apr 8, 2014
Style

Why Nanette Lepore Is Not Leaving Lincoln Center Anytime Soon

Plus, the designer talks about her work with Mayor Bill de Blasio on keeping manufacturing in New York. Oh, and there were the pretty clothes in her fall 2014 collection to speak of, too.

Apr 11, 2014
Business

The CFDA is Moving Their Offices Downtown--Does This Mean They're Abandoning the Garment District?

Fashion week dates aren't the only thing the CFDA has decided to move this year. The Council of Fashion Designers of America, whose offices have been located on Broadway & 39th for over 15 years, have outgrown their Garment District digs and recently signed a lease on a new space about 38 blocks downtown (we're neighbors!). The CFDA, in addition to supporting American designers, have been dedicated to the preservation of the Garment District and established programs like the CFDA Fashion Incubator (low-rent studio spaces for emerging designers in the Garment District) and a study called "Made in Midtown." So, not surprisingly, their decision to move out has been met with some disapproval from designers who see it as a snub to them and the district they, too, would like to preserve.

Apr 10, 2014