Future of New York’s garment district in doubt as manufacturers driven to Paris, Milan and London – or simply just shut

New York’s garment district might be buzzing in the lead up to fashion week, but more shops are being driven away or closing every year

Remaining manufacturers are shifting their focus from fashion designers to costumes for Broadway, movies, and series for Netflix and Amazon Prime

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A worker at Ferrara Manufacturing in New York’s garment district. Shops in the district employ mostly Asian and Latino migrants. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:00am, 9 Feb 2020Updated: 2:00am, 9 Feb 2020

Sewing machines hum and steam comes off irons as thousands of workers, mostly Asian and Latino migrants, make clothes in the few surviving workshops of New York’s threatened garment district.

In the weeks leading up to New York Fashion Week, the factories are abuzz with activity as they get high-quality garments ready for the catwalk. But for how much longer?

The small neighbourhood, nestled amid skyscrapers close to Times Square, has lost 95 per cent of its workforce since its heyday in the 1950s, when it employed hundreds of thousands of people.

“It was part of the soul, the texture, the heart of New York,” says Robert Parmet, professor of history at the City University of New York.

An eight-foot-tall bronze permanent sculpture called “The Garment Worker”, created by Judith Weller at 555 Seventh Avenue (also known as Fashion Avenue) between 39th and 40th Streets in midtown Manhattan. Photo: AFP

Exorbitant rate increases have forced many manufacturers to move production abroad – not to China but to Paris, Milan and London.

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