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: