The future of fashion looks bright.

While most people in the fashion industry look to major events like New York Fashion Week for what’s next on the horizon, some of the most innovative new fashion concepts can be found at student shows from New York’s major fashion schools. Perhaps that’s why insiders like Vogue editor-at-large Hamish Bowles, former CFDA president Stan Herman, and New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn turned out for the 2012 Pratt Institute Fashion Show, held recently at Center548 in Manhattan.

In addition to 17 student presentations, the show featured a tribute to Fern Mallis, the creator of New York Fashion Week, former executive director of the CFDA, and former senior vice president of IMG Fashion, who received the Pratt Institute Fashion Industry Lifetime Achievement Award with a heartfelt introduction from designer Calvin Klein.

“Fern, as you know, has made an important contribution to the fashion industry, that few people could be capable of,” Klein said. “You really have to be built for this kind of thing. A lesser person might have run from buildings screaming.”

Following the tribute and runway show, Pratt’s Department of Fashion Design Chair, Jennifer Minniti, presented the inaugural Liz Claiborne Award, a $25,000 cash prize intended to help a particularly talented student develop a collection after graduation. The prize went to Kelsy Carleen Parkhouse, whose five-piece collection was inspired by American quilting and the Grand Canyon.

“I used vintage feed sack textiles mixed with new fabrics from the garment district,” Parkhouse said. “Nostalgia, color, and print are some other important elements. The biggest challenge was creating a collection with these inspirations that also felt fresh and new.”

Judging from the audience response to her line, Parkhouse succeeded. Here, a closer look at her work, as well as a selection of favorite looks from other graduates.

Kelsy Carleen Parkhouse, winner of the Liz Claiborne award

Kelsy Carleen Parkhouse

Theresa Deckner

Ruby Gertz

Juan Pozo

Emily Kauffelt

Meredith Lyon

Elizabeth Ammerman

Kate A. Gross

Aharon Kolatch

Dana Hurwitz

For more, check out the 2012 Pratt Institute Fashion Show in its entirety:

Images: Jessica Marati

The post Pratt Institute Fashion Show Features Rising Talent and a Tribute to Fern Mallis appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnVogue, Clean by Design and the CFDA collaborate to clean up the fashion industry.

In a new initiative, leaders of the mainstream fashion community from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and Vogue have joined forces with the NRDC’s Clean By Design program in an effort to reduce the impact of the textile industry on the globe’s environmental state. With the backing of Vogue’s “Nuclear Wintour” herself and the CFDA’s President Diane von Furstenberg, could Clean By Design now have the potential to push the issue and bump environmental and social issues associated with the textile industry toward the front of prominent designers’ methodologies? The NRDC’s National Media Director Jenny Powers tells EcoSalon that engaging industry opinion leaders gives them a powerful and enhanced edge.

“Clean By Design aims to make the way we produce our clothing more sustainable by cutting water and energy waste and reducing pollution,” Powers tells EcoSalon. With the intention of utilizing the buying power of multinational corporations as a lever to reduce the environmental impact of their suppliers abroad, Clean By Design is stepping up their media presence and future goals with this recent collaboration. As shown by the above diagram, the spectrum of Clean By Design’s approach to bettering the textile industry’s impact starts with the raw materials and goes full circle through to addressing the way consumers are caring for their finished garments.

Spearheading the research abroad, the director of the NRDC’s health and environment program, Linda Greer has traveled to Asia in hopes to better understand the four core impact areas of the supply chain. Through visiting a range of factories that create clothing for major retailers, Greer has been able to secure pilot programs with The Gap, Levis, H&M, Target, and Wal-Mart, who are all now exploring ways to clean up the factories that supply their clothes. As companies that produce massive quantities each season with loyal global customers, the impact these pilot programs could have on the environment is vast.

Waste water from the discharge pipe at the Youngor Textiles Factory

By focusing on China to begin, the possibility to make a big change exists, as many of these factories produce a large percentage of our mass retail clothes.

“Transforming the way the major players do business can have a ripple effect throughout the industry. Fashion leaders can play an important role in this effort by shaping popular attitudes and creating demand for sustainably produced fashion” says Powers.

One massive waste example that was prevalent throughout Greer’s travels in Asia was leaky tubes. Textile pollution is often associated with the chemical emissions from fabric dying or the number of dirty dozen chemicals that are utilized in conventional cotton production. While these are key issues to address in the raw materials and manufacturing sectors, another often forgotten problem involves tubes with leaking steam that can be found everywhere in fabric dying and printing mills. For instance, a hole in a steam pipe only 2 mm in diameter can cause a textile mill to waste energy equal to more than 10 tons of coal a year.

DVF’s Spring 2012 Collection

With higher profile initiatives like Runway To Green in the past, the NRDC has been on a consistent mission to bring these environmental concerns related to the textile industry to the forefront of high end and mainstream fashion houses. While the CFDA/Vogue/Clean By Design initiative is strongly focused on the environmental impacts and the effects of environmental pollution on human health, it doesn’t focus on social or labor issues.  Powers tells EcoSalon, “Dirty water and dirty air affects us all – humans and critters alike. And the reality is that by cutting waste and making factories run more efficiently, these factory owners are actually saving money in the process.”

With the environment as a starting point, the transparency and exposure of these realities could potentially open designers’ eyes to the way people connected to their supply chains are affected as well. By continuing to work with individual designers on ways in which they can apply the Clean by Design principles to their own operations, the future affects of upcoming and established designers on the globe’s flora and fauna is hopeful.

Image: Greenpeace, H&M

The post THREADED: Cleaning Up The Fashion Industry From The Top Down appeared first on EcoSalon.

To tumble = to come by chance; to come to understand.

It’s this sort of happenstance social tumble-ing that seems to be taking the globe by storm. Tech-savvy or not, online perusers are seriously embracing the rumbling, stumbling platform that is: Tumblr. For finding the hottest new looks on the runway to inspiring videos and photographs for design, Tumblr is quickly becoming a resource for style and fashion. When feeling overwhelmed by the tumultuous expansiveness of Tumblr’s community, look to these 20 fashion finds – their curations will keep you coming back for more.

Above Live
With a focus on sharing information on the “endangered beauties of the world,” Above tackles issues of climate change and environmental degradation with a holistic approach to sustainability. For inspiring images and content that stretch across the board from food and travel to architecture and fashion, their Tumblr continues to establish a connection between art and nature.

Gretchen Jones
If you’re curious about the happening of a self-made creative designer, Gretchen Jones’ Tumblr is for you. A collection of both outfits she rocks in Brooklyn and NYC, with musings for her upcoming collections, Jones gives you an inside look at her inspiration board. Be it music or photographs, art or literature, her Tumblr showcases a snapshot of the depth of her creative process.

Past Fashion Future
Known for her on-trend sustainable style writing on Treehugger, Emma Grady’s very own Tumblr Past Fashion Future dips deeper into peoples’ personal style and aesthetics, as well as profiling upcoming fashion-forward events. Her trademark “Something Old, Something New” series showcases individuals who incorporate vintage and heirloom pieces into their everyday wardrobe, and shares each of their unique stories behind the style.

Permacouture Press
If the processes behind the vibrant colors of hand-dyed designs intrigues you, the Permacouture Institute’s Tumblr is right up your alley. Founder Sasha Duerr’s Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes bridges a strong connection between food and fashion, plant and fashion. Lessening this gap between nature and culture is exactly what is embraced on the hands-on experiential learning offered on the Permacouture Institute’s Tumblr.

Street Etiquette
Let’s not forget all those dapper dudes out there. When it comes to men’s fashion, Street Etiquette serves just what we ordered. A bit street, yet infused with classic, authentic style, Street Etiquette reminds us that some men can truly knock our fashionable socks off. Founded in 2008 by Joshua Kissi and Travis Gumbs – a couple of style innovators – Street Etiquette reveals the intersection between historical anecdotes and their references to modern-day style.

Miss Moss
If you haven’t stumbled upon Miss Moss yet, you’re missing out. A designer from South Africa, Diana’s clean and simple, yet insanely on-point style and design aesthetic marvels us. Her Tumblr focuses primarily on global street style and fashion; looking for a bit of outfit inspiration? Can’t get creative with your closet today? Check out Miss Moss’s Tumblr to ignite your inventive and resourceful style sense.

Fashion Gone Rogue
Fashion Gone Rogue is known for its constant stream of fashion lookbooks and magazine editorials. If you’re feeling like buying Vogue off the shelf has gotten a bit pricey or you just don’t want to continue to waste the paper, Fashion Gone Rogue’s Tumblr will satisfy your high fashion cravings, and most likely spark your travel bug (if you have one), as global spreads seem to be a recurring theme.

Well Spent
Brad Bennett, the brains behind Well Spent, is a stand-out curator of “honestly crafted products.” For Bennett, this means pieces that were made in first world conditions, using sustainable materials, made in the U.S., or truly made to last a lifetime. Tumble with him at Well Spent along his search for fashionable goods that last.

Mr. Larkin
Designer Casey Larkin comes from a diverse array of experiences that have shaped her creative lens. She was born in Oklahoma, grew up in Texas, went to fashion school in the US and abroad, toured with some bands, lived in Paris, lived in LA, and now has found her home in San Francisco.  With such an eclectic story, her Tumblr is a perfect collage of her past and current adventures in design and creation.

Afia
“Play pretend until it’s real.” This is the mantra sustainable fashion label Afia lives by. Sourcing textiles from Ghana and working with Ghanian seamstresses provides the basis for an incredible story line. Designer and founder Meghan Sebold invites us to travel with her on her “ride”and presents tidbits of life’s lessons along the way.

Trendland
For images that require a second glance and bold colors to brighten any day, Trendland is the source. Presenting a collection of music, art, design, photography, technology, pop culture, advertising and FASHION, this online magazine boasts that they dish out “a multi-course menu of new ideas each day”.

T Magazine
The New York Times is inevitably a go-to source for news and events. Turns out their Style Magazine T, is just as addicting. Simple, clean, and beautiful.

JeffreyB
Florida native Jeff Boudreau is a young photographer whose work with People Tree and Bora Aksu has landed him in London-town. He clearly has a knack for impeccable taste; tumbling for him includes his own photography as well as inspirations.

CFDA
The Council of Fashion Designers of America is one of those hip and in-the-know organizations who are well aware of the up-and-comers before the rest of us. Watch their Tumblr for fashionable foresight and an insider look at the current trending designers.

Nowness
While Nowness is undoubtedly a source for overall culture, they provide such a style-focused vision, it was impossible to deny their inclusion on this list. Looking backwards and forwards at the same time, Nowness has a way of invigorating and grounding the viewer.

Rachel Comey
Fashion designer Rachel Comey is all about vintage with a rock-and-roll edge. Tumbling for her resembles a reflection of her design aesthetic. The vibe it emits is almost an “enter at your own risk” feel; either way, you will be exposed to eclectic juxtapositions and unexpected designs.

Ermie
If you’re a designer, this is a haven. Curated by Jennifer Parry Dodge, a textile and clothing designer herself, the vibrant hues and textures harbored within her Tumblr are almost unbelievable to the eye, particularly for a web-based platform.

Lost In Fiber
Environmental fiber artist Abigail Doan has a way with conjuring up the most lovely, calming, serene images from across the web. Her collage of imagery consistently conjures feelings of self and its relationship with the environment.

Its Couture
When you’re willing to be wowed by the handmade, custom creations of designers near and far, It’s Couture says it all in the name. Showcasing solely couture fashion, the intricacies and embellishments will take your breath away.

Lulu Frost
Who knew accessorizing could be this glorious? Through inspiration from her grandmother and family’s involvement in the estate jewelry industry for generations, Lisa Salzer of Lulu Frost creates one-of-a-kind pieces using unexpected combinations of vintage and antique pieces. Be it chandelier crystal, forgotten keys, or show buckles, Salzer’s aesthetic of new and old and stories left untold is exhibited throughout her Tumblr.

Image: Good Morning Kids

The post Curated Style: Top 20 Fashion Tumblrs We Can’t Get Enough Of appeared first on EcoSalon.

Our guide to this year’s best fashion exhibits.

Did you miss the magical Savage Beauty exhibit at the MET last year?  Take comfort by buying the book – a showstopper in itself – and vow not to miss another this year. Curatorial staff are realizing the particular appeal of fashion exhibits and the increased ticket sales potential. If an article in WWD on how museums are “getting fashionable” is any indication, they’ve cottoned on. “There’s a loyal following — besides the fact that fashion is fashionable,” Pamela Golbin, chief curator at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris was quoted, “There’s something very intimate about clothes.” More and more new fashion exhibits are popping up here in the United States all over the world. Several exciting ones are due to debut this year.

Here are our top 10 don’t-miss fashion exhibits of 2012.

1.  Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: On Fashion, opens May 10 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Featuring over 80 designs by Schiaparelli and an installation that will give the effect of the two designers being in conversation with one another on subjects such as art, politics and the role of women now and then. With director Baz Luhrman serving as the exhibition’s creative consultant this show promises to follow up on the success of last year’s groundbreaking Alexander McQueen exhibit.

2. FIT NY and the CFDA collaborate to celebrate Impact: Fifty Years of the CFDA at the FIT museum from the 10th of February through until the 17th of April. The leading trade organization of fashion designers presents a tribute to the creativity of American talent and will showcase designs from Halston, Norman Norell, Pauline Trigère, Geoffrey Beene, Bill Blass, Rudi Gernreich, Bob Mackie, James Galanos, Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Isabel Toledo, Rodarte, and Proenza Schouler.

3. Chanel: Designs for the Modern Woman at the Mint Museum Randolph in Charlotte, North Carolina continues thru February 26. Pioneering clothing that was comfortable, casual and enduring in its construction and style, Coco Chanel (1883-1971) remains a pivotal figure responsible for much of what is still considered modern in women’s fashion in the 21st century.

4. A retrospective of designer Christian Louboutin at London’s Design Museum opens March 28 – July 1 and promises to be as red-hot as his signature soles. The exhibition coincides with the publication of a coffee table book documenting Lobuoutin’s work. Mulholland Drive director David Lynch photographed some of the designer’s most fantastical creations and John Malkovich wrote the foreword.

5. If you are in London, you must check out Fifty Years of James Bond Style at the Barbican, opening in April. In addition to Mr. Bond’s Savile Row tailoring, expect to see  lavish Bond-girl finery by Giorgio Armani, Givenchy, Roberto Cavalli, Thierry Mugler, Miuccia Prada, Oscar de la Renta, Emanuel Ungaro and Donatella Versace.

6. Also opening in the 2012 Olympic Games host city is the sure-to-impress Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum 
running May 19, thru January 26, 2013. Featuring evening wear from the V&A’s vast collection of British designers, the exhibit will show a selection of royal ballgowns including a Norman Hartnell gown designed for Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Diana’s “Elvis Dress” designed by Catherine Walker and gowns worn by today’s young royals.

7. Paying tribute to the legendary French designer Yves Saint Laurent — The Retrospective opens March 25 at the Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colarado. Organized thematically, the presentation showcases over 200 pieces that explore the full arc of Saint Laurent’s developing style and turbulent inner life.

8. If you didn’t catch The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk at the Dallas Museum of Art, Texas (runs thru February 12) head to San Francisco’s Deyoung Museum where it will run from March 24  – August 19. Dubbed fashion’s enfant terrible, his often provocative messages are enhanced by the sublime construction of his clothing.

9. Set to open on the last night of Paris Fashion Week, March 9, and run until September 16 at the famous Museé des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, the Louis Vuitton – Marc Jacobs exhibit weighs the careers of both designers. The show aims to compare their bodies of work and offers a potential explanation as to why Jacobs and his ready-to-wear approach could never replace Galliano at Dior.

10. Azzedine Alaïa in the 21st Century currently at the Groninger Museum in Holland and running thru May 6, celebrates the body-con creations of the great Tunisian-born couturier. Now in his 70’s, the designer recently became an outspoken proponent of slow fashion, saying “Four collections for women, four collections for men, another four collections to sell, and everything needs do be done within four, five months—it’s a one-way course towards emptiness. It’s inhuman.”

Top Image: Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty

The post From Azzedine Alaïa to Yves Saint Laurent: The Fashion Exhibits of 2012 appeared first on EcoSalon.

Sustainable fashion just got another big push from mainstream, this time by Lexus and the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The program’s goal of increasing sustainable practices in the fashion industry, just picked their ten finalists, three of which will be selected to receive support from Lexus for their Fall 2011 show or presentation in February 2011.

The finalists, representing womenswear, menswear, and accessories include Behnaz Sarafpour, Maria Cornejo, Monique Pean, Marcia Patmos, Organic by John Patrick, Costello Tagliapietra, Alabama Chanin, Libertine by Johnson Hartig, Subversive Jewelry by Justin Giunta and Slow and Steady Wins the Race by Mary Ping.

WWD reports that the ten finalists were chosen based on their most recent collections – 25 percent of which had to be created in an eco-conscious way in order to qualify.

Three winners will be announced next Tuesday, in addition to a “People’s Choice” winner that you can vote for on Lexushybridliving.

Image: Linda Loudermilk

The post The CFDA and Lexus Announce the Eco-Fashion Finalists appeared first on EcoSalon.

Last week, Sen. Chuck Schumer introduced the Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act. The bill aims to extend a three-year copyright protection to keep fashion designers from having their original designs stolen and copied.

Replacing last year’s Design Piracy Prohibition Act – which failed its third attempt at passage – the new bill is once again funded and supported by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, which represents many big-name fashion design houses who continue to push for legislation that provides intellectual property protection rights to a fashion design.

What’s different this time around is that it has the support of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, the largest industry group. Managing to reassure the concerns of its members that include many small apparel and fabric firms, the bill no longer requires registration of every design from smaller independents who can’t afford costly lawyer’s fees just to be able to sell something.

Large established designers stand to gain the most, but they’ll be limited to protecting designs not already in the public domain and will face the formidable task of establishing that the design in question had not existed before.

New York Times fashion critic, Cathy Horyn elaborates, “A designer who claims that his work has been copied must show that his design provides “a unique, distinguishable, non-trivial and non-utilitarian variation over prior designs.” And it must be proven by the designer that the copy is “substantially identical” to the original so as to be mistaken for it. The bill would cover all fashion designs, including products like handbags, belts and sunglasses, for a three-year period from the time the item is seen in public – on a runway, say.”

Which begs the question, in this age of overwhelming access to information, is this kind of protection really necessary? Can anyone really possess inspiration?

And how does extending copyright protection to fashion benefit anyone other than those who can afford the legal fees to sue? While it might provide protection for some big designers against blatant plagiarism of their most innovative designs, to me it seems like more fiddling while Rome burns.

We can all appreciate that cheating is wrong. Rather than pointing the finger, as an industry let’s try to develop the consumer instead. With the advent of catwalks streaming live on style.com and fashion blogs that share up to the minute insider info, fashion knowledge has become more accessible than ever before. Rather than attempting to limit access for fear of plagiarism, it’s important to build on that platform and educate the consumer about the cause and effect of their choices.

There’s simply too much at risk to jeopardize it with difficult to identify laws that are costly and may impede an emerging eco-fashion designer’s creativity and resources. This is not an industry that needs to rest on its laurels by seeking timely credit recognition, but one that needs to be constantly innovating forward to keep the world and its inhabitants beautiful.

Image: Aidan Wojtas

The post Possessing Inspiration: Fashion Copyright Protection appeared first on EcoSalon.

Last week the Gap, in collaboration with the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, launched their newest collections at their Fifth Avenue concept store.

The collection features sustainable jewelry designs from Monique Péan, menswear from Patrik Ervell and luxe women’s wear by designer Sophie Théallet. The trio was titled by the CFDA in 2009 as “The most celebrated in the industry.”

We celebrate Monique for making the grade as a sustainable designer with this pack!

While some of Péan’s organic materials sound a little exotic (water snake skin beads and naturally shed buffalo horns), there’s still something to be said of a designer working with a big box store who supports eco-friendly designs.

This is nothing new. We’ve seen collaborations with Payless, H&M, Target and Kohl’s and we all praise the initiative these companies have taken to make sustainable strides (some more than others). But why does it always come back to one particular big box store screwing it all up?

Case in point? Wal-Mart, a company that tries to convince us that they’re doing so much for us and the environment.

But according to a recent ecouterre post regarding lead tainted accessories from a popular Wal-Mart collaboration with Miley Cyrus, price tags shouldn’t be our worst fear when it comes to shopping.

Editor Jasmin Malik Chua writes: “Just last month, the big-box retailer yanked an entire line of Miley Cyrus-brand necklaces and bracelets from its shelves after tests performed for the Associated Press found they contained high levels of the toxic metal cadmium.”

Though marketed for adults (because so many adults wear Miley Cyrus jewelry), safety issues regarding the jewelry going in one’s mouth was cause for alarm.

CBS news reports, “the items are not known to be dangerous if they are simply worn but concerns come when youngsters bite or suck on the jewelry, as many children are apt to do.”

CBS concludes that “Federal regulators’ own research says that kids start becoming interested in making their own jewelry around age six or eight. As for products featuring Miley Cyrus, she is 17 and her appeal reaches down to kindergartners. ”

Maybe instead of tutoring musicians older than her on American Idol, child star Cyrus should learn how to create and collaborate sustainable with an adult like Monique Péan. After all, Cyrus is just a child. Better yet, Wal-Mart could spend some time carefully investigating their collaborations so they can stop looking like, well, schmucks?

The post Buffalo Horns, Snake Skin and Cadmium? appeared first on EcoSalon.

New York City’s Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) recently welcomed their first 12 designers to the CFDA Fashion Incubator located in New York City’s historic Garment District.

CFDA president Diane Von Furstenberg led the designers on a tour of their new home just last week.
The first 12 designers are: Alice Ritter; Bibhu Mohapatra; Rachel Dooley of Gemma Redux; Grant Krajecki of Grey Ant; Waris Ahluwalia from House of Waris; Joel Diaz from Jolibe; Prabal Gurung; Dao-Yi Chow & Maxwell Osborne of Public School; Yuvi Alpert & Danna Kobo from Ruby Kobo; Sang A Im-Prop of Sang A; Justin Giunta from Subversive Jewelry; and Tom Scott.

According to a press release, the incubator was announced in November 2009 by Mayor Bloomberg as “Part of the City’s efforts to foster the development of entrepreneurs across all industry sectors, and to encourage small businesses to locate and grow in New York City.”

New York City currently has five incubators currently open or in development throughout the Five Boroughs, with at least two additional spaces expected to open by the end of 2010. Other cities like Chicago, L.A., Atlanta and Dallas have their own incubators which foster affordable work spaces, networking opportunities, and financial support to designers loaded with talent who might not otherwise be able to thrive.

With this mentoring and cultivation of designers sponsored by the CFDA, will we see New York’s Garment District slowly come back to life from its rapidly decreasing amount of tenants? And from an eco-design standpoint will there be opportunities so that more than just two of the 12 are afforded and educated on sustainable materials for their collections?

We can only hope.

Regardless, NYCEDC President Seth W. Pinsky says “This diverse group of designers is a reflection of the depth of fashion talent New York City is known for. It is because of designers like these, as well as the retailers, wholesalers, and numerous fashion-related businesses that choose to locate here, that New York City is, and will remain, the world’s fashion capital.”

Image: Gemma Redux

The post CFDA Fashion Incubator Announces First 12 appeared first on EcoSalon.

In part two of Dumbing Down American Design, we talk with Anthony Lilore, co-designer for sustainable design label RESTORE and a board member for New York City’s Save The Garment Center. We revisit the driving question: Has our quest for convenience and rock bottom prices forever altered fashion and is American design becoming a thing of the past?

Let’s talk carbon footprints, supporting American eco-designers who want to keep things in the U.S. and seasoned industry professionals whose techniques we simply can’t afford to lose.

Lilore spoke with us from a designer’s perspective but also more personally, as an individual working to preserve the Garment Center, New York City’s industrial fashion glory and a cultural icon that could become more than a historical footnote.

“Pull the garment work out of China, they’ll collapse, pull it from India, collapse, pull it from Mexico, them too. See a pattern here?” Lilore says, adding that the garment industry in the 1960’s was the largest single employer in NYC except for the government.

“Garments and garment work and workers are economic engines,” says Lilore. “Fashion is the fuel.”

The decline of the Garment Center is being encouraged by local real estate owners. Without enough workers in the Garment Center, the zoning will have to be changed, meaning higher rents from new tenants, not in the industry. Preservation of the District, located in what many consider the soul of Manhattan’s mid-town, means little in the face of the almighty dollar.

“In the 60’s, everything in the U.S. was made or passed through the Garment Center, there were unions and really, hundreds of thousands of people working in the Garment Center,” says Lilore.

The designers are as much to blame for the decline.

To satisfy their own financially flush version of the American dream, designers got greedy and realized that manufacturing overseas was increasingly cheaper.

“At first, it wasn’t a big deal, maybe somebody would lose a job, maybe two but over the past 30 years, that greed has caused only 3-5 percent of American manufacturing to be happening in New York City,” says Lilore.

In the meantime, with less actual manufacturing occurring in the Garment District, NYC landlords continue working to re-zone and to ghettoize the area by putting Garment professionals in one building and charging more to force them out. So far, this effort has been met with a fight. Groups like Save the Garment Center, the CFDA and the Design Trust for Public Space are now spearheading a conscious campaign against the city landlords to show why the Garment Center is an integral part of New York City’s economy, cultural identity and sense of place.

If this doesn’t work, existing pattern and sample makers, trim and design houses will be forced to pay more, which in this already tight design economy, makes it virtually impossible to survive. Add to this equation Americans’ addiction to deals and a disconnect from the true costs involved in the clothes they wear and the result is the perfect formula for extinction.

Still, we haven’t completely lost our edge, and there are encouraging signs for American design.

“It’s an interesting thing that China is actually making it easier to compete lately because the carrot of [Western-style] democracy has been placed before them,” says Lilore. “They like the American lifestyle where we do make more money so they’re putting their prices higher. This makes them less attractive to designers trying to make more for less.”

For those rare designers willing to invest in American design and manufacture, Lilore says they now have to sit back and quietly ask themselves, “Why the hell do I want to do this?”

“When I go talk to young designers now, I tell them, the idea of being a designer has to be as important to you as breathing. If you’re not prepared to be poor, if you’re not prepared to be a nobody, if you’re not prepared to make a difference then don’t f*cking do it.”

For Lilore, being an American designer is worth the exhaustion, financial strain and production headaches.

“I deal with all this and still want to do it all in the Garment Center because I want to keep design in this country,” Lilore says. “New York City is the fashion capital of the U.S., if not the world, and as a brand it is on par with Coca-Cola. By not protecting the brand, by not saving the Garment District, we are not saving the fuel that runs one of the economic engines of the fashion capital of the world.”

Video and image: Design Trust For Public Space

The post Dumbing Down American Design, Part 2 appeared first on EcoSalon.