Garment District

New York still has its Garment District in Manhattan ( a stretch of 7th Avenue is called "Fashion Avenue" --but its glory days and production facilities are gone.

To quote Wikipedia about the decline:

Cheaper overseas labor and production has dramatically affected the New York industry for decades. This change has forced many designers who once manufactured their lines in the city to shift production overseas, which has in turn affected small cutting and sewing rooms as well as zipper, button and supply stores in the Garment District.^[3]

Charles Bagli of the New York Times wrote "Some city officials and industry leaders worry that if manufacturing is wiped out, many of the designers who bring so much luster to New York will leave, along with the city’s claim to be a fashion capital rivaling Paris and Milan. The damage would be undeniable, given that the industry’s two big annual events — Fashion Week in September and February — attract enormous numbers of visitors and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity."^[3]

Although these are difficult times for many industries, including New York's Garment District, there are many organizations working hard to keep this district vital. One such organization is The Fashion Center Business Improvement District (also known as The Fashion Center or the Fashion Center BID). This non-profit organization works hard to sustain and improve upon the vibrancy and vitality of Midtown Manhattan’s Fashion District by promoting the area as a strategic business location for fashion and non-fashion related business alike.^[4]