My favorite reality show, besides the "Housewives of Atlanta, New York, New Jersey and Beverly Hills" and of course "Dog & Beth", is "Project Runway"! That's probably due to that when I was little I wanted to be a fashion designer. I didn't become one, but I do shred my clothes sometimes to make something out of the ordinary, and I have my own sewing machine. Of course, I've only used it once this year!
While in New York in October of 2012, I was such a lucky duck to be able to see where the magic happens; the hotel we were staying at was just a few blocks away, and I dragged Robin there every chance I got!
The statues:
Garment Worker 31 Foot Steel Needle
and World’s Largest Button
Parson's is where the designers make their creations for the runway, and a lot of the PR is done in Bryant Park behind the library..
Parson's Bryant Park
The Fashion Walk of Fame includes such designers as Bill Blass and Calvin Kline.
Calvin Kline Ralph Lauren
Bill Blass
Then I got to see Mood; that is where they take the contestants for their fabric.
Here’s some info about the Garment District and the Fashion Center:
New York first assumed its role as the center of the nation’s garment industry by producing clothes for slaves working on Southern plantations. It was more efficient for their masters to buy clothes from producers in New York than to have the slaves spend time and labor making the clothing themselves. In addition to supplying clothing for slaves, tailors produced other ready-made garments for sailors and western prospectors during slack periods in their regular business.
Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, the majority of Americans either made their own clothing, or if they were wealthy, purchased “tailor-made” customized clothing. By the 1820s, however, an increasing number of ready-made garments of a higher quality were being produced for a broader market.
The production of ready-made clothing, which continued to grow, completed its transformation to an “industrialized” profession with the invention of the sewing machine in the 1850s.
The need for thousands of ready-made soldiers’ uniforms during the American Civil War helped the garment industry to expand further. By the end of the 1860s, Americans bought most of their clothing rather than making it themselves.
German and Central European immigrants to America around the mid-19th century arrived on the scene with relevant business experience and skills just as garment production was passing from a proto-industrial phase to a more advanced stage of manufacture. In the early twentieth-century a largely Eastern European immigrant workforce powered the garment trades.
With an ample supply of cheap labor and a well-established distribution network, New York was prepared to meet the demand. During the 1870s the value of garments produced in New York increased sixfold. By 1880 New York produced more garments than its four closest urban competitors combined, and in 1900 the value and output of the clothing trade was three times that of the city’s second largest industry, sugar refining. New York’s function as America’s culture and fashion center also helped the garment industry by providing constantly changing styles and new demand; in 1910, 70% of the nation’s women’s clothing and 40% of the men’s was produced in the City.
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.
The Fashion Center Information Kiosk is an award-winning service provided by the Fashion Center Business Improvement District, located on Seventh Avenue (Fashion Avenue) and West 39th Street. This unique Claes Oldenburg-inspired structure incorporates the world’s largest button appended to the structure’s roof, held upright by a 31-foot-long steel needle.
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