New York Fashion - Doomed?

IS New York’s reign in the fashion industry coming to an end?
This question would have sent anyone who knew anything about the fashion world away laughing only a couple of years ago.

But the votes at a prominent poll speak for themselves. The Big Apple has now been pushed to second place in the race for fashion capital of the world according to the Global Language Monitor’s annual fashion capital research 2009 (July 20).
Although still ranking in the top five, alongside long-standing top cities including Paris, London and Rome, the poll brought an end to New York’s five-year reign as the world’s top fashion city.

The research also revealed trends that seem to indicate New York fashion may never take up first place again.
Los Angeles, whose scene only a decade ago was a complete mockery, has now firmly asserted itself to the fashionistas of the world and has edged up to number six.
Miami and Las Vegas also made great strides forward, as well as Toronto, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Berlin and Barcelona.

Indeed, the fashion nexus seems to be ceding away along with the population drain from America’s Northeastern coast. Could this have had any bearing on Project Runway’s decision to permanently move the show from New York to Los Angeles for its sixth season later this month? (I know it was over a dispute between NBC Universal and Weinstein, but really..)

Okay, laugh at that point, but the New York fashion industry is in some serious trouble. Due to the recession, the garment industry has taken a severe blow, with only about 9,000 garment workers remaining in the garment district, near Times Square, compared with 16,000 in 1995.

The same district, which once employed hundreds of thousands of workers and produced most of the clothes worn in the USA, has been reduced to a shadow of what it once was as garment producers have fled to foreign countries where they can function much more cheaply, such as China, India and Latin America.
The fear is that the remaining shops and factories are also in jeopardy with rising rents. The total loss of garment production in the city would leave little reason for designers to stay. New York then would loose its fashion prominence, no longer able to hold its own against Paris and Milan.

While New York does stand out for its individuality and innovation, the plain facts say that the garment industry is at risk. This, while other American cities are quickly maturing to rival New York’s unflinching sense of confidence. If New York is to continue to be taken seriously, it needs to stop being so complacent – as fashion waits for no one.