Merry Christmas Fashionistas!

Wishing all of our dear readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from 39th & Broadway! The photo above is one of many Garment Center building lobbies decked out for the holidays. To see more neighborhood photos, check out last year’s holiday posts and you may just spy your office here.

We hope most of you are enjoying some well deserved time off this week and spending time with family and friends. No doubt some of you are still working trying to meet deadlines. Considering most apparel these days is unfortunately made overseas, that means many of you are facing tight deadlines during the US holiday season and trying to get samples made before the Chinese New Year. We feel for those working overtime and hopefully come February you will get a bit of a break as well!

To bring a little holiday cheer, and maybe a laugh or two we thought we’d address Christmas fashion. Yes, this is the one time of year that grown women feel it appropriate to wear sweaters covered in animals, cartoons, or fictitious fat men. The one time of the year when people seem to have forgotten that green and red do NOT go together! The one time of year when, “jingle bells” and, “floppy red hats” are accepted as accessories. Really? These sad, sad, holiday faux pas are best appreciated in the following clip from MADtv. Enjoy, and happy holidays!

Over the next week or so we will be taking a little break too. But have no fear there will still be plenty of scoop for you. Our forum is open and we hope you take advantage of an opportunity to anonymously chat, vent, question, and give advice. Just click here to check it out. Looking for more insider dish? Check out some of these recent popular posts:

Can Zoning Save the Garment Center?

Apparel Designer versus Technical Designer

Incompetent Salespeople

Gender Gap

Save the Garment Center Rally

Goodbye Recessionista Glamorizers

Nursery School Stilettos?

Do I NEED to go to Fashion School?

The Modern Face of NYC Designers

Designing Divisions

Fatty, Porker, Chubby, Heifer

Winter Wonderland in Bryant Park

Many of us think of Bryant Park as our go-to summertime lunch spot, but it really comes alive during the Holiday Season. So if you have not been over to BP since the weather turned, now is the time to check it out! First up, if you have been an uber Christmas shopping procrastinator, head over to the Holiday Shops in the Park. Since many of us have no time off due to the insane fashion industry schedules, here is a close spot to run over to at lunch and snag some last minute gifts. With over 100 different artisans and designers from around the globe, you can find really unique gifts. Perhaps we are a bit biased, but compared to other area Holiday markets, which seem to have a lot of crap, the BP shops are very quaint and artsy.

Besides shopping, one of our favorite winter activities is alive, well, and FREE at Bryant Park. That’s right, ice skating! They have transformed the lawn into an ice rink and if you bring your own skates it’s free. Don’t worry if you don’t own a pair, they do have a skate rental and offer lessons too. If all that skating makes you hungry there is an enclosed food lounge with views of the ice. For the holiday season the skate pond is open until Midnight, so enjoy! For more info click here.

If you need a little break from shopping and skating don’t forget the delicious gourmet sandwiches from ‘witchcraft or lounge with a spiked hot cider at the Southwest Porch. Read our post about the Porch here for more details. Whatever you are in the mood for Bryant Park is a nice reprieve in the heart of the Garment Center. So put down that techpack, step away from the computer, postpone that fitting, and head next door to Bryant Park this week!

Winter Wonderland in Bryant Park

Many of us think of Bryant Park as our go-to summertime lunch spot, but it really comes alive during the Holiday Season. So if you have not been over to BP since the weather turned, now is the time to check it out! First up, if you have been an uber Christmas shopping procrastinator, head over to the Holiday Shops in the Park. Since many of us have no time off due to the insane fashion industry schedules, here is a close spot to run over to at lunch and snag some last minute gifts. With over 100 different artisans and designers from around the globe, you can find really unique gifts. Perhaps we are a bit biased, but compared to other area Holiday markets, which seem to have a lot of crap, the BP shops are very quaint and artsy.

Besides shopping, one of our favorite winter activities is alive, well, and FREE at Bryant Park. That’s right, ice skating! They have transformed the lawn into an ice rink and if you bring your own skates it’s free. Don’t worry if you don’t own a pair, they do have a skate rental and offer lessons too. If all that skating makes you hungry there is an enclosed food lounge with views of the ice. For the holiday season the skate pond is open until Midnight, so enjoy! For more info click here.

If you need a little break from shopping and skating don’t forget the delicious gourmet sandwiches from ‘witchcraft or lounge with a spiked hot cider at the Southwest Porch. Read our post about the Porch here for more details. Whatever you are in the mood for Bryant Park is a nice reprieve in the heart of the Garment Center. So put down that techpack, step away from the computer, postpone that fitting, and head next door to Bryant Park this week!

Nothing Good Happens After Midnight

Flickr image via Christiaan’s view

Remember the old adage our mothers and grandmothers used when we wanted a later curfew, “Nothing good happens after midnight. What do you need to be doing after midnight that can’t be done before?” Well, we believe this pearl of wisdom should also apply to working hours. And ideally midnight should be changed to 6pm. The fact of the matter is, in the fashion industry ridiculously late nights and unbearable working hours are par for the course. We’d like to call bullshit on that practice and see an end to it immediately. What fashion industry executives don’t seem to get is, overworking your design staff does not make your company more profitable. Unlike many jobs, when a designer is overworked and burned out, their creativity is compromised and in turn their exhaustion DIRECTLY effects the product. Creativity on demand after extended hours, leads to forced unoriginal designs, which leads to a fall in profit. It is absurd to work designers the way many companies do; and it’s not surprising that so many brands see their reputations and sales plummeting as a result.

So where does this current rant come from? Well, one of our contributors was recently on an interview at a major apparel company for a design position. The first question she was asked was not, “Can I see your portfolio?” or, “What is your design aesthetic?” but rather, “Can you start tomorrow and work straight through the holidays?” Straight through the holidays; what did that mean exactly? Well exactly that, straight through the holidays including the weekends with only Christmas day and New Years day off. Meaning, yes, she would be working 7 days a week, including Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Before she could even respond the Head Designer asked, “And you don’t mind working late hours do you?” Well, what did he mean by late? With a straight face and a completely unsympathetic the Head Designer answered, “Any where from 10pm to 2 am.” WTF, seriously, is that what this industry has come to? Is that what we all went to college for? Do we all want to spend the holidays with our families, or in a rundown office working on techpacks?

Sadly, this situation is not unique. And it is not simply the 16 hour days that make it so miserable. The working conditions a designer would be immersed in for this 80+ hour work week are completely unacceptable. This particular company, due to recession cutbacks, was not buying any new office furniture, so all new hires were subjected to working these hours while sitting in folding chairs! Not to mention, during this frigid time of the year most of these high-rise Garment Center office buildings shut off their heat at 6pm. Thus forcing designers to be hunched over their computers typing away in scarves and gloves until the wee hours of the morning. Companies are so beholden to the notion that fashion design is such a desirable and competitive field, that execs don’t think twice forcing people to work unreasonable hours in poor conditions.

We tried to think of a job that requires a college education, expects these long hours, and horrible conditions, but couldn’t think of one. Careers in law, finance, or business, require long hours, but they’re provided excellent working conditions i.e. ergonomically correct chairs, stocked kitchens, car service home for late night, and umm heat! Also, they are paid decimal points more to make up for the long hours and loss of a personal life. The only profession that comes close is perhaps a young doctor or resident, they endure long hours, a rough work environment, and low pay. However, at least when they are deliriously exhausted, burned out, and broke, they can justify these conditions at the end of the day because they are saving lives, not just producing another striped polo shirt. And of course they have job security, benefits, and the knowledge that one day they will be paid appropriately!

This rant on the excessive hours in the fashion industry got us thinking about previous post. This article by the lovely Gilda discusses the crazy schedule of a Parson’s student. We received a very interesting comment from an outside observer with a unique perspective on the industry that we’d like to share;

Our daughter is currently in Foundation Year 1 at Parsons and in my opinion the workload is ridiculous. The social time is almost nil and the purpose of going to such a neat school in such a great city is the experience that the combination will give you as you pursue your goals.
You can not have free thought and generate ideas without proper sleep, time to reflect and to relate to your fellow students.
I have two degrees, an HBA (’80) and an MBA (’02)and although I remember some very tough times with workload, I do not remember periods such as what my daughter is going through.
RS

The irony is, as much as we sympathize with these students, if the intent of an education is to prepare you for the reality of the industry, it seems Parson’s has hit the mark. But as we, and this lovely commenter, have pointed out, the results of these fashion industry working condition are of no service to anyone. There is an inherent flaw in the system, which results in the merchandise suffering. So for all you shoppers, next time you walk through the mall and shake your head at all the uninspiring, generic items, ask yourself this: what designs would you come up with, on no sleep, little money, at 1am in the freezing cold? Exactly!

Happy Halloween Fashionistas

Happy Halloween skanks and hoes! What? Was that rude? Considering the costume options floating around out there, that is apparently what costume manufactures believe the women of America to be. So, when did Halloween become an excuse for grown women (or even teenagers) to run around the streets looking like two dollar hookers? Are US women that lacking in creativity, that all we can come up with is a “sexy” version of a traditional costume? Sexy nurse, sexy witch, sexy cat, even sexy nun, is that really the best we can do? Despite the lines out the door at Ricky’s, we’d like to believe that our readers, being creative fashionistas, have far better costume ideas. We’d love to hear from you. What are you dressing up as this Halloween? Was it a DIY or a store bought? What has been your all time favorite costume?

Recently, we saw that one of our favorite bloggers, Jessica Schroeder from What I Wore has been posting a wonderful series of her past Halloween costumes. You must check them out as they are wonderful examples of what the creative mind can do. From Karl Lagerfeld, to Frida Kahlo, to Little Edie Beale, Jessica has done an outstanding job. Her costumes are also a fantastic inspiration for those of you who need last minute, affordable, ideas that can be made from clothes in your own closet. Whatever you decide to go with we wish you a happy Halloween, from 39^th and Broadway!

Update ** We just realized that the lovely Jennine from The Coveted, has her Halloween series up, that you must check out for a ton of DYI costume ideas. Besides some great looks, she has this hilarious quote regarding the slutification of Halloween costumes, “not that there is anything wrong with being slutty (whatever that means) but looking slutty? That’s where I draw the line.”

Fashionista’s Sex Diary

Flickr image via Johan Larsson

Ever wonder what goes on behind the bedroom doors of your neighbors and coworkers? Well, thanks to New York Magazine, you can find out! For better or worse, NY Mag has all the dirty details on what New Yorkers are doing between the sheets. On their website they post a feature called, “Sex Diaries“. There, a variety of anonymous New Yorkers agree to share, blow by blow (pun intended), their sexual activity over a handful of days. The diarists range in age, ethnic group, income level, and relationship status. They give a fascinating and often X-rated look into their personal lives.

Well, we found one in particular quite entertaining titled, “The Fashion Freelancer on the Prowl.” Here is her description from NY Mag, “Once a week, Daily Intel looks behind doors left slightly ajar. This week, the Fashion Freelancer on the Prowl; 31, female, Park Slope, straight, in an open relationship that probably shouldn’t be open.” Without getting too graphic for our little blog, we’ll say, from random strangers to vibrators this girl gets a lot of action and has a particularly erotic subway ride. To read all the juicy details (and you know you want to) please click here to read her seven day sex diary.

We can’t help but wonder who this girl is, do we know her? Is she a co-worker? Does she read this blog? If the answer to this last question is yes, we would love to hear from you. Also, what fashion company is she working at were she doesn’t have to be to work until 10:00 am?

When you read her diary link, don’t forget to check out some of the 90+ comments left for her, they are as fascinating as the diary itself. After one commenter posted this “Not to be age-ist, but she’s getting WAY busier than any of the 31-year-olds I know. Girl’s a man-eater.” There was a ton of refuting responses and we couldn’t help but laugh at this one, “Sorry to hit a nerve with the age-ist comment. Bear in mind 30 in Chicago years is 55 in New York ones.” So enjoy this bit of this insider scoop and feel free to let us know, do our readers have as steamy a sex life as this Fashion Freelancer?

When Design Becomes Big Business

For many aspiring fashion designers their dream often includes, starting a small label and watching it flourish. But, how large do you really want your “small” business to become? Many prefer to keep their brands small, tight, and controllable, while others take the, “go big or go home” perspective. And of course, what constitutes a designer being labeled a success? Well, there really is no right answer for what success is in the fashion industry.

Perhaps this is the reason why the recent Marc Ecko news struck a cord with us. Ecko is a large presence in the Garment Center, owning clothing lines like Rocawear, Mossimo, and Joe Boxer. To some Ecko could be deemed more successful than an indie label sold only at local boutiques. At the same time, Ecko is a drop in the bucket compared to giant conglomerates like LVMH and Federated. Ecko sales are estimated to be at around 1.5 billion and has 750 employees in NYC alone. However, Marc began his business small, by selling just t-shirts in the 80’s, which then became the Ecko brand about a decade later. Certainly he followed the, “go big or go home” mentality.

While there is much discussion in the blogesphere regarding starting a fashion line and the struggles of small indie designers; there is little on what happens after. If a designer/entrepreneur like Marc Ecko makes it big, what’s next? Well, many successful growing companies end up going public, licensing out the majority of their product, or simply getting bought out. There are pros and cons to all these situations. For Ecko, lavish spending styles, management issues, and a poor economy have forced Marc to sell off a majority stake of his company. The Iconix Group has bought a 51% share in the Ecko brand taking control of the company while keeping Marc on as Chief Creative Officer.

So we had to wonder, would this be considered a failure on Marc’s part? We think not. Had he stayed small, just selling his Ecko logo t-shirts, that would have been a failure. Clearly he had more vision then that and brands like Rocawear would never have been developed. Bottom line, Marc Ecko has accomplished more then most designers and fashion entrepreneurs could dream. At 37 with 63 million in cash and 90 million in financing from Iconix, he could retire or start a whole new brand if he wanted. We think he agrees since he told the NY Post, “I’ve had a crazy, wild ride. I’ve done a lot of things that have been naive. I’ll take my lumps for a lot of things that, in retrospect, were a little indulgent. Life happens. I don’t regret any of it.”

I Don’t Eat Shark Fin Soup

Flickr image via lookslikeamy

We received the following excellent insider article from fashion designer and writer, Stacy Lomman. Stacy has much experience working in NYC for various apparel companies and like many of us she has a lot to say about the business of fashion. So please enjoy the following post and stay tuned for part two from Stacy next week.

I refused to eat the shark fin soup. It sounds crazy, but I’m convinced that played a major role in the recent loss of my design job. Over the past fifteen years, I have held some rather difficult jobs and worked with some seriously crazy people. It’s definitely been character building, to say the least. I had been working in my latest role for just over eight months and I walked on egg shells every day because I feared that I could lose my job at any moment. I knew it was coming, the pattern had long been established. I heard from a girl in the production department that the owner fires a designer every six months or so. Apparently, some of them had quit long before that and walked out in tears because they were treated so badly. I was there when the designer from the other division was fired after she had put in eight months. “I can’t work with you,” the owner told her. Hmm, I thought she was a lovely person.

A little while later, with my eighth month rapidly approaching, I was informed that I had to make a trip overseas. I spent twelve excruciating days working in the factories in Hong Kong and China with my boss, and then I returned to New York, tied up the spring line in a nice little package and awaited my fate. I felt excited in a way — like I was about to be released from prison. A couple of weeks ago, I went into the office and discovered that my password on my computer had been changed. Great, now I was forced to march into my boss’s office and practically fire myself! “So, you must know my password doesn’t work, right?” I said. “Yes,” he replied and handed me my expense check that was sitting on his desk. This is so surreal, I thought. “Is there anything you want to say?” I asked him. “I can’t work with you,” he replied. I resisted the temptation to snap, “It’s because I wouldn’t eat the shark fin soup in Shanghai, isn’t it?” Instead, I just marveled and the insanity of the situation and went home and took a run in Central Park. The noose I wore around my neck for almost nine months had been cut.

This story is not uncommon and I’m not writing this article because I’m feeling sorry for myself, but rather to speak up and try to change the way that creative people are treated in this industry. The fashion business has always been challenging, finicky, cutthroat and unorthodox, but these days, more than ever, designers face adversity. We’re totally dispensable. We are being phased out due in part to the economic situation as there are less companies and less jobs, but also because creativity is no longer a priority. Many of my design colleagues have noticed this over the past several years. While senior level positions used to demand ten years of work experience, now the ads for senior designers sometimes request only three to five years of experience. I call them “CopyCAD’s.” It’s standard practice these days for companies to simply buy garments from a store and pass them to a junior level designer to copy and send overseas. Therefore, it’s sufficient to employ an individual who can create a half decent sketch in Illustrator (Computer-Aided Design), measure a sample and pack a Fed Ex. And it’s cheaper than hiring a designer with significant industry experience and knowledge. Price points have become such an important factor with the American consumer that quality has suffered as a result. Manufacturers must source the cheapest labor in order to meet their margins and this means producing offshore. In many cases, the factories have become so powerful that they are the ones paying our salaries and making the decisions. Garment manufacturing has moved almost entirely overseas and has taken along with it, jobs and opportunities for New York designers, technical designers, print artists, patternmakers, etc. The recent HBO documentary, Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags, confirms exactly how much apparel we actually manufacture in the U.S. today. A whopping 5%! That figure has decreased from 50% since 1995. I have witnessed this drastic drop-off over my fifteen year career and I am dealing with the ramifications right now.

I had an interview the other day. The creative director carefully scrutinized my portfolio and spoke without making eye contact. He complimented my sketching, admired the photos of my samples and praised my choice of fabrics and color. I was feeling confident when he said, “This is great, I’m just going to take this in the back to show the owner.” A couple of minutes later he returned and blurted, “She said we’ll call you, she came in late this morning and is really stressed out.” He shuffled me away so fast it seemed like he was scared for his life. Quite possibly they copied a few pages of my portfolio (which happens all the time) or perhaps the owner did, in fact, send him away like a scared little boy. When I relayed the story to my friend and former colleague, she was not surprised. She had actually worked at that very company a year ago and told me to consider myself lucky things didn’t go any further. “The owner will make you cry,” she said. “Everybody cried. It didn’t matter how tough a person was, she managed to make them crack eventually. That was her thing, she got off on it.” My friend told me about the day she finally broke down and walked out (therefore, forfeiting her right to unemployment). “The owner gathered the entire staff to watch and took all my sketches and stacked them into a neat pile and dumped them into the trash can. She said they were garbage and that’s where they belonged.” It sounds shocking, but I know that designers, artists, technical designers, patternmakers, sewers, etc. have to deal with this kind of behavior all the time. We are all talented, educated, hardworking people who deserve more respect. Hopefully, one day, when and if the garment manufacturing finds its way back to New York, there will be better opportunities for all of us. Meanwhile, I’m searching WWD and StyleCareers on a daily basis; I’m networking, reconnecting and keeping my skills sharp. I’ve pretty much given up on head hunters. Occasionally, one will contact me but it’s usually for a design job overseas. “I cannot live in Asia,” I always say. “I don’t eat shark fin soup.”

Cost of Living – Apparel Crisis

Recently, a friend received a “Remember When” booklet on her birthday. For those that don’t know, they are fun little pamphlets from the year you were born. They’re filled with news, photos, advertisements and other hilarious events form your particular birth year. Well, this one contained a rather amusing, yet slightly depressing, cost of living chart as pictured above. As you can see, a new house was almost 50k in 1977, while today a new home averages 280K, big difference there. Gasoline, which as we all know, has thankfully come down a bit, was $0.65 per/gal back then vs. around $2.68 per/gal today. Food is huge shocker, the cost has unbelievably sky rocketed for groceries, especially in the last few years. Eggs are now six times more expensive then in 1977 and that’s not counting organic pricing. Insanely, bread had gone up to $2.79 per/loaf a whopping 800% increase!

One thing we noticed missing from this chart was, apparel. Where are the clothing prices? Now you would think, with the cost of living rising across the board, including average income, apparel would increase too. Right? Well further into this booklet we found this little gem, a 1977 ad for K-Mart bathing suits, check it out…

Classic photo right? And the price $8.96, not bad right? We were curious though, with mass marketers vying for the lowest price-points, and consumers wanting more for less from retailers, how does a 1977 K-Mart bikini compare to today’s prices? Take a look at the below screen-shot, taken this week from K-Mart’s website.

Well, these images pretty much say it all don’t they? Thirty two years later and prices have not just failed to rise but have actually decreased! The apparel industry is hemorrhaging jobs, suffering bankruptcies left and right, retailers are struggling to stay in the black, and this is a large part of the reason why. Everything else in the world has gone up in price except clothing, it is amazing apparel companies can even stay in business. We thought Walmart’s agenda to, “Make shirts cost less then a loaf of bread” was upsetting, but these pictures really bring the point home.

Our Mannequins, Ourselves

Recently, we came across an interesting report at breitbart.com regarding mannequins. Basically, they interviewed one of the worlds leading producers of mannequins and found that race still plays a prominent role in sales. Worldwide Black mannequins just don’t sell. Other ethnically diverse mannequins don’t fare well either. The one exception seems to be, in the United States, where Black and Asian models are doing decent business. We can’t say, we are exactly surprised by this. At the same time, it’s like, come on people it’s 2009 already!

Oddly, it is not only the White customers keeping diverse mannequins down, but minority groups as well. It seems Asian businesses and countries prefer to purchase the White, European looking, mannequins too. Racism aside, the most disturbing bit of information was this quote, “We only sell headless, limbless, bodies to Saudi customers.” We suppose it’s the all too common images of Middle Eastern women being oppressed and victimized that makes this quote so disconcerting. On the other hand, perhaps they, like many high-end fashion brands, prefer the streamlined look of headless mannequins, so the focus stays on the garment not the mannequin.

For those of us who work in the design and manufacturing side of fashion, mannequins are rarely thought about. They belong to retailers, which are on the complete opposite end of the fashion spectrum from us. What we do have are tailor dummies or body forms, usually headless, and without hands and feet. Unlike mannequins, they are made of fabric and stuffed so that garments can be pinned and fit to them. Our body form’s race is never considered, they are all a dull cream color, which is the natural shade of their cheap unbleached cotton.

When discussing the retail mannequin’s size, a mannequin producer stated, “As for body shapes, every time we try different sizes, it fails. It’s not relevant.” We find this quote quite telling, because for us, size and shape are everything. Often retailers will supply designers and manufactures with body forms or fit models that represent the shape of their customer. Based on extensive market research they will mimic the customer’s actual size from rounder shoulders, or shorter height, or even love handles if applicable. Certain mass-marketers that have a higher population of Black and Hispanic female customers, use a dummy that is slightly shorter, heavier and with a more curvaceous behind. However, in their store the shopper sees tall, slim, white mannequins with flat torsos, large busts, and barely-there hips and bottoms. Basically, the image they present to the public is of a life size Barbie doll. So what kind of message are retailers sending, when they spend thousands of dollars on mannequins, that they know does’t represent their customers either in shape, size, or color?

Please Fire Lindsay Lohan

Really, did anyone think this was a good idea? It’s like a bad nightmare; Ungaro the high fashion brand hires Lindsay Lohan as their designer. Was anybody really surprised when Ungaro’s Paris fashion show became a disaster of epic proportions? What did they expect from a girl who runs around town in ripped tights, grungy tank tops, bad roots, and no panties? Or more to the point, what would any luxury brand be thinking hiring someone with no design experience, marketing maybe? But really, even then, is the drugged out, rapidly ageing, wacktress who you want as the face of your brand? Not shockingly the Ungaro Paris show was panned by critics and considered a total bomb. To see the collection click here.

LiLo has told People Magazine that the Paris catastrophe is not her fault. She said that she was still learning (um, duh) and that she was not given enough time to create a full collection (maybe less time at the clubs stalking your girlfriend and more time working). As for the horrendously tacky nipple tassels, LiLo claims she knew nothing about them until the models were on the runway. Hum, (obvious question) if you really are the designer didn’t you make those nipple tassels, order them, approve them , give them to the models, and see them backstage as you were preparing “your” show? The most upsetting part of this story to us is that Ungaro is keeping her on to design next season’s collection!

How disturbing, when a D-list hot mess of a celebrity gets a fashion dream job, meanwhile hundreds of talented designers go unemployed. In the midst of an economic recession why would any brand give a proven disaster a second chance? So what do you think? Should they fire LiLo? Has Ungaro’s marketing move sullied their name?

Save The Garment Center Rally

To all our lovely readers, specifically those that are in the neighborhood this week, we need your help! This Wednesday, October 21^st at noon there will be a rally to help Save the Garment Center. So please, come and show your support for our neighborhood and meet at the corner of 39^th St and 7^th Ave, aka by the needle and button.

Nanette Lepore has worked with the Save The Garment Center Initiative to host this rally. Hopefully, this event will remind the New York City politicians why the Garment Center is such an integral part of the city. This rally is a bold reminder of fashion’s importance, especially considering the apparel industry is the second largest employer in all of NYC. As Nanette said, “The fashion district is facing extinction, and small factories are being lost to developers. Without it, young designers cannot get their start in New York City…. I don’t think the local government understands how it works. I’ve been trying to get a meeting with Bloomberg for a year…the mayor would rather have Chi-Chi’s and the Olive Garden in the area. I think he wants to ignore us so he can get his agenda passed through, but on October 21st, he’s going to have to pay attention.”

Many smaller designers like Trina Turk, Anna Sui, Erin Fetherston, Reem Acra, and more are participating. However, Nanette is calling out larger brands like Ralph Lauren and Donna Karen to get on board as well. For the fashion industry to remain successful and all our jobs to remain secure, an organized support group such as the Fashion Caucus we mentioned here would be invaluable. Gaining political backing would help sustain the future of the industry, as well as, assist in the efforts to Save the Garment Center.

So please, everyone take an early lunch on Wednesday and stop by the needle and button, at least for a few minutes, and show your support for our industry and our neighborhood. See you there!

For those of you not in NYC, you can help as well by signing the petition to Save the Garment Center here. Also if you missed the HBO movie last night on the Garment District make sure to catch it on demand shortly. Here’s a clip for your viewing pleasure;

Garment Center Support

Thank you to everybody who came to the Save the Garment Center Rally on Wednesday. It was a huge success with over 750 supporters showing up and letting their voices be heard. Among the many supporters were designers Yeohlee Teng, Michael Kors, Elie Tahari, Diane von Furstenberg, and, of course, the event organizer Nanette Lepore. Many people shared moving stories on what the Garment Center has meant to them and their businesses. One key point Nanette made, “If there is one thing that we should have clearly learned this year.…We cannot base New York City’s entire economy on two industries: Wall Street and real estate. Those industries are important — those people wear clothes…But we need a diversified economy in New York City, so when there is a Wall Street setback it doesn’t become a massive problem in our city.”

Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson gave a strong speech, making it clear that unlike his competitor, Mayor Bloomberg, he believes in the Garment Center and the Made in NYC label. He promised, “As mayor, I’ll work with manufacturers, the fashion industry, and labor unions to arrange for up to one million square feet of dedicated garment manufacturing space in nonprofit buildings.” The labor unions showed up as well, with many cutters and sewers from the Workers United group proudly holding their Sew NY signs.

Check out the photos below, some of you may catch a glimpse of yourselves or co-workers, others can see first hand the faces behind your clothing labels. Enjoy, and thanks for your support!

Blackface a Crime of Fashion?

Fashion photographer Steven Klein has done it again. These are some photos from his latest fashion spread in French Vogue. So what do you think; is this offensive or fashion forward?

**For those of you who made it to the Save the Garment Center rally today, thank you and we will have photos up tomorrow!**

Nursery School Stilettos?

The fashion industry has caused plenty of pain (which we’ve written about extensively) for women from the pressure to be thin, to painfully tight jeans, to frumpy plus size options, to inequality in the apparel workplace. Now it seems the fashion business has targeted young girls. No, we are not talking body image issues for once but actual physical pain. For example, the pain that comes from squishing your foot into a hot new pair of heels despite the inevitable blisters and lower back pain that will ensue. These are things that a child should never have to feel let alone a toddler. Unfortunately, as you can see from the photo above, the country’s’ most fashionable and famous 3 year old, Suri Cruz, is setting a new trend, high heels. For us, wearing heels may add a much needed few inches, but toddlers are supposed to be vertically challenged. For us, a pair of sexy stilettos will arch our backs accentuating our chests and our lovely behinds, but what exactly is a 3 year old accentuating?

Several years ago, one of our writers was designing for an intimates company who among other categories manufactured girls underwear. When the company requested the designers create a small line of thongs for girls 4 to 6X the design staff vehemently opposed the concept. Thongs for little girls, holy inappropriate, right? Well, apparently not! Because a few seasons later, after begrudgingly creating a line, buyers from stores across the country began placing orders. Our writer soon found out, thongs were not the beginning of the sexualization of young girls, but rather a reaction to it. You see, the retailers were requesting low-rise thongs because the children already had a wardrobe of tight fitting low-rise jeans. Apparently, droves of mothers were now looking for compatible under garments that would show no pantie lines and sit low, on the not yet developed hips, of their young children.

High heels, thongs, low-rise jeans, what’s next for our little girls? Being a woman is painful enough, why would we willfully push our children into it? Oh yeah, as if there is not enough wrong with that photo, rumor is that 3 year old is sporting $1,100 custom made Louboutins.

Shoe Candy

We have some delicious little treats for our readers today. Some of you may be fasting now for the Yom Kippur holiday, with food out of the question, we thought we’d provide some scrumptious shoe candy for you to feast upon. Considering the number of offices and local businesses closed in the area Monday, we hope that many of you are enjoying a restful day off. So, take a look at the photos below and let us know what you think. Would you wear any of these? Are they innovative or just silly?

Thirsting for more? Join in on our forum and share your fashionable thoughts today.

No, it isn’t a Halloween costume these creepy feet are designed by Comme Des Garcons. Pedicures not required!

These winged wedges have been the talk of the town over fashion week. Thanks to Vivienne Westwood!

Jealous of your kid and their light-up shoes? Well, thanks to Jimmy Choo you can enjoy the adult only version whose heels light-up when you walk!

Atalanta Weller took platforms to an all new sky-high level. Wearable or not, they’d certainly add inches to your frame.

Can these even be called shoes? Seen at the Aminaka Wilmont show. These heel only contraptions certainly aren’t made for the NYC sidewalks

Do I NEED to go to Fashion School?

image via flickr cjJohn

Having happily become a source of all things fashion industry related, we are constantly bombarded with inquiries about working in the business. One of the most common questions we get from young people is, “Do I need to go to college to have a career in fashion? Well, the short answer is, yes.

It’s our unanimous opinion that college is absolutely necessary. Now certainly there are a rare few who succeeded without it, but even for them a degree wouldn’t have hurt. There are many famous designers like Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent, and Donna Karan who never finished school, but one thing to remember is, for them years ago a college diploma was not the prerequisite that it is today. Not to mention they all began by working for other companies and designers, whom today all require a Bachelors degree even for an assistant level position. Regardless of your career path, a college degree is, at the very least, something to fall back on. Should you change your mind in a few years and want to switch careers paths or attend grad school, a degree gives you options. In the US today a college degree is what a high school diploma was 30 years ago. According to the US census bureau, over the course of their life a college grad earns one million dollars more then their high school diploma counterpart! So all fashion industry intricacies aside, we will always recommend higher learning. Additionally, since many of our readers and the majority of fashion industry professionals are women we feel even stronger in pushing education. Women have enough battles for equality in the workplace; a lesser education should not be another.

Now, the second most common question we get is the follow up, “Do I have to go to a fashion school like Parsons, FIT, FIDM to get a job?” To that we would answer, no. However, if you are absolutely certain about a career in fashion and you can afford these often expensive universities, we would recommend them. There are certainly benefits to a well known fashion school that is unparalleled. For example, you will have in-depth training in your field far greater than a “major” at a traditional college. The equipment, from sewing labs to CAD labs are often much more extensive, the resources at your disposal are priceless. And of course, the networking and relationship building from attending these schools, along with the prestigious name on your resume can not be overlooked. That being said choosing a school is a very personal choice and there are many cases were a traditional Bachelors degree is actually better than a fashion school. Receiving a well rounded education is always a sure bet and at age 17 or 18 this may be a smarter move, leaving more options open to you in the long run. Additionally, it depends what you want to do in fashion. If you want to be the next CEO of the Gap or be VP of Sales and Marketing for Macy’s a traditional four year University plus an MBA program is your best bet. Even for those in the more creative fields a University with a strong fashion major and perhaps an art minor will certainly be respected. Keep in mind that in the fashion industry people have a wide variety of backgrounds and especially here in NYC your future co-workers will come from schools all over the country as well as the world.

Finally, we would just like to give our personal opinion as most of us have hired people (usually in design) before. First, when an ad is put out we receive hundred of applicants, as fashion design is a very coveted and competitive field. We are busy and certainly don’t have the time to interview or examine everyone’s portfolio. So step one for an entry level position, if your resume does not contain a college education and classes or major in fashion it goes out with the garbage. Second, we don’t really care about GPA’s or school awards, we’d rather see strong skills (pattern making, foreign languages, CAD, etc) and an innovative portfolio. Third, we’d like to see a portfolio that goes beyond just a few sketches, show us you have more abilities than any random joe with a fashion sense who can draw. Lastly, while the fashion industry may be known for its diva behavior, recent grad needs to check the attitude at the door, and be gracious. It is always shocking to us how many newbies forget that last point because even the best degree won’t overcome a bad attitude.