Bloomberg's Fashion.NYC.2020

With NYFW fast approaching this September, people often take for granted the role New York has played as the center of American fashion. And what many may be unaware of is how rapidly the garment district has disappeared as many designers have their lines manufactured abroad. Made in USA has become virtually obsolete in American fashion. 

Both the federal and local government have taken steps to reverse this, as politicians have come to realize the number of jobs that have been eliminated from the exportation of fashion. As mentioned in a previous post, Obama's administration has launched a major campaign focusing on bringing manufacturing jobs back into the United States, and the fashion industry is a major player in this campaign.  Mayor Bloomberg has also been a champion of supporting the growth and progress of the local industry. On January 11, 2010, Bloomberg and the New York Economic Development Center (NYCEDC) launched Fashion.NYC.2020, a strategic study to examine the challenges facing the fashion industry. After conducting surveys and interviews with more than 500 industry professionals, NYCEDC developed six initiatives to maintain and enhance New York City’s position as the global leader in fashion.

1. Fashion Production Fund: To assist emerging designers with their initial production cycles, the City will establish a fund to help them access capital for production financing and local production resources.

2. Project Pop-up: To maintain New York City’s position as a retail leader, the City will launch “Project Pop-up,” an annual competition to promote new and innovative retail concepts. This competition will recognize and reward emerging, innovative, New York City-based fashion retailers (both offline and online) and fashion-related technology companies. Up to 3 retailers and up to 8 technology companies will be selected for this first-of-its-kind program. Winners receive 1) One month of free retail or showcase space from September 6^th through September 30^th beginning around New York Fashion Week within the Chelsea-based retailer STORY with 100% of sales going to the winning companies; and 2) A tool kit of business services, including PR and marketing support, mentoring from industry leaders, and exposure at key industry events

3. Fashion Draft NYC: Hosted by Parsons, Fashion Draft NYC ensures fashion is in the career decision set for top business-minded students. The initiative consists of a structured “interview week” where selected students have the opportunity to earn full-time, management track positions in the industry.

4. Fashion Campus NYC: Operated by Parsons The New School for Design, Fashion Campus NYC is a free education and networking program to help interested university-level interns jump-start their careers on the business side of NYC's fashion industry. In order to enrich and expand the overall fashion experience for summer fashion interns, the program organizers seminars by industry leaders and networking opportunities.

5. NYC Fashion Fellows: NYC Fashion Fellows is a year-long fellowship program, starting in January 2013, designed for rising stars in fashion management. Fellows will receive executive-level mentoring, networking and community-building opportunities, and continuing education and career advancement workshops with industry professionals and their peers to measurably accelerate their careers. The fashion industry has few programs that highlight the “rising stars” in fashion management.

6. Design Entrepreneurs NYC: An initiative by the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and NYCEDC, Design Entrepreneurs NYC is a free, intensive "mini-MBA" program that equips select fashion designers with the skills they need to successfully run a fashion label, including marketing, operations, and financial management. Design Entrepreneurs NYC will essentially serve as an entrepreneurial “boot camp.”

With such amazing initiatives in place, TFG has no doubt that Bloomberg's program will be very successful in ensuring that New York will remain one of the fashion centers of the world. We encourage our readers to support all designers who manufacture locally. To view a copy of the full report of Fashion.NYC.2020's program, click here.