New York City officials have partnered with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) to build a new garment district in Brooklyn.
Known as the Fashion Manufacturing Initiative, the program has awarded $1.8 million in grants to help companies move from the historic midtown Manhattan garment district, which has shrunk 97% since 1950, to Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, where they can take advantage of the large industrial buildings, affordable rents, and easy access to transit lines and parking.
The grants have also gone towards the modernization of the companies’ manufacturing processes, including paying for technologies like 3-D printers to create accessories, pattern-making and fabric-cutting software that reduces waste, and equipment that combines cutting, embroidering and stitching into one step.
The Initiative is accompanied by a city-financed marketing and advertising campaign — “Made in New York” — which has expanded its promotion of locally-made film, television, and technology products to include NYC-made apparel as well.
You can read more about NYC’s new garment district at The New York Times.
