Fashion NYC 2020 To Rethink Garment District

Fashion NYC 2020 To Rethink Garment District

Seventy-five of fashion's most influential minds are set to meet on Monday night to begin the Fashion NYC 2020 yearlong project with New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg. According to WWD, the group will discuss preserving the city as America's garment capital and:

  • Bolstering business in the boroughs and stimulating tourism, possibly by providing shopping coupons or even subsidizing airline tickets.
  • Street vendors and quality-of-life issues.
  • Fashion's Night Out, scheduled for Sept. 10, which could entail a no-sales-tax day and a fashion show for the general public.
  • How to shorten the buying cycle so stores can sell more wear-now clothes and capture trends better.
  • Technology, including sustainability, the new media and mobile marketing.
  • Pop-up stores.

NYC is home to more than 800 fashion businesses and has 175,000 people working in fashion and fashion retail. Expected attendees include: Saks Fifth Avenue's chairman and CEO Stephen I. Sadove, Diane von Furstenberg, Gilt Groupe chairman and founder Kevin Ryan, President of LF USA Rick Darling, the U.S. division of Li & Fung, Roger Farah of Polo Ralph Lauren, Burt Tansky of Neiman Marcus, Millard "Mickey" Drexler of J. Crew Group, Michael Gould of Bloomingdale's, Hearst's Cathy Black, Jim Gold of Bergdorf Goodman, Sir Philip Green of Topshop, CFDA executive director Steven Kolb, the Fashion Center BID's Barbara Randall, Kenneth Cole CEO Jill Granoff, swimwear designer Malia Mills, accessories designer Philip Crangi, and of course, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who is "just going to listen and learn."

As a separate initiative, designer Nanette Lepore has partnered with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to look at ways to save the Garment Center.

"She came to me to hear about the Garment Center cause and has been actively on it ever since. Since our meeting, she has had her economic development director on the case in order to stay on it. I was really impressed with her--she's a go-getter and extremely sincere," Lepore told WWD.

Gillibrand even commissioned Lepore to create her re-election campaign t-shirt, which can be purchased at kirstengillibrand.com.

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