The USA, Today

Although I was raised a Midwestern girl, until my recent 5-day trip to Colorado, I had spent almost no time in our country’s middle over the last several years. Recently, I got a little more than I bargained for at the Montrose, CO airport, so I went for a stroll outside. There, in a newspaper machine on the sidewalk: I saw this headline on USA Today:

“When the textile mill goes, so does a way of life.”

I found a dollar in change, and got the last copy from the dispenser. The story that followed traced massive job losses in Surry County, North Carolina, once a hub of the domestic textile industry.

Mount Airy, North Carolina

The story is a familiar one, of American manufacturing unable to compete with cheap goods from overseas, but reporter Paul Wiseman did a nice job of putting some faces on the story and looking towards the future. Some of that future, of course, is really bleak (BLS predicts the job market will lose 71,500 sewing machine operators between 2008 and 2018), but Wiseman managed to find a little bit of hope as well. He wrote about a government program called Trade Adjustment Assistance, that helps workers like Steve “Stump” Jenkins, who lost his job at Perry Manufacturing Mill in 2008, train for jobs in other fields. Jenkins chose law enforcement, his reasoning being that the police force couldn’t be displaced by foreign competition. He told the paper he loves his new job, but the fact remains he’s earning only $25,000 per year, less than a quarter of what he earned at Perry Manufacturing. Other workers are training in wine-making at Surry Community College, making use of land where fields of tobacco once grew.

I’ve sort of snubbed USA Today in the past (“Finches fight to death in blood sport” was, after all, the headline beside the one that caught my eye), in favor of fashion industry stories from The Financial Times, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. But I’m glad I was stuck in Montrose for a moment, cause otherwise I might have missed this one.

Malia Mills NYC Sample Sale

I know it’s hardly swimsuit season, but Malia Mills‘ are the absolute best, and usually quite pricey. Here’s my own favorite, bought for $20 at their sale last summer:

The suits are made in New York City’s Garment Center, right across the hall from the sale. Here’s a little window into Malia’s workspace I shot last year, where she talks about the importance of overseeing her supply chain. For more on Malia and the Garment District, read up here! And find the details for the sale below. 

Malia Mills is hosting the ultimate swimwear separates celebration!

For two days, find favorite styles from seasons past for $20 bucks a piece at our Studio Sale Extravaganza. It’s a new year, and we’ve got “newly vintage” Malia Mills mixers galore!

Tops 30A to 40DD, Bottoms 2 to 16

Add to your swimwear wardrobe and 10% of your purchase will go to The New York Women’s Foundation. http://www.nywf.org/

When? Wednesday, February 24th and Thursday, February 25th

10 am until 6 pm

Where? Malia Mills, 263 West 38th St, Floor 16, between 7th and 8th Avenues

Cash, AMEX, Visa, Mastercard Accepted

It might seem a world away today, but summertime is inevitable.

Cathy Horyn, Behind the Scenes in the Garment Center

If you’re a regular reader of this site, you may be interested in Cathy Horyn’s most recent blogpost: a New York City pattern-maker’s observations of the changing American garment industry. It’s heartening to see the comments it’s already generating on The Times’ website.

Ari Magallanes Works a J Mendel Dress in his 38th Street Studio, Fall 2009

Those comments show readers are ready look behind the curtain, at what Ms. Horyn calls, “an industry in turmoil, the drastic loss of local factories and suppliers, the manufacturing dominance of China and other countries, the gradual decline of technical expertise in the face of apparent consumer indifference about fit and quality.”

Here’s another glimpse behind the scenes, in case you missed it the first time around, of New York City garmentos in their workplaces. You can also click here to read all the posts pertaining to the the garment district.

I’ll be reporting from the runways next week for Dossier, but I’ll do my best to get behind the scenes too. Maybe consumers aren’t so indifferent after all, they just might need more stories.

The American Garmento: An Endangered Species in its Natural Habitat

If you are a New Yorker, or a regular reader of this website, you may already be aware that New York City’s Garment District is at risk of re-zoning. Maybe you:

• saw the rally in October
• watched Schmatta on HBO
• read this New York Magazine bit about why NYC is the best place for even a Parisian designer
• heard Anna Wintour was expected to show at a forum (at Macy’s!) Monday night to discuss the future of the area. (No press allowed, but so far I’ve heard it was truly just a discussion–no decisions made.)
• or noticed that Seventh Avenue was temporarily named Project Runway Avenue today in honor of the show that has raised nationwide awareness of the area. (I remember when Mood was just another stop on my errand list.)

You might be wondering what this all really means. What’s at stake? Who works in this Garment Center anyway? (To the layman, the neighborhood may just be home to peep shows, Port Authority, and The New York Times.) Today, I’ll try to give you a run-down of the issue at hand, and share some video-windows I made into a few businesses in the neighborhood.

Since 1987, Manhattan’s Garment District, which falls between 34th and 40th Streets east of 9th Avenue and west of Broadway, has been protected by a zoning regulation that requires landlords to devote a minimum area of their space to manufacturers. Now, after New York City lost 12,500 manufacturing jobs over the last year, local politicians feel the space can be put to better use, and that regulation is under re-negotiation.

Andrew Ward, Executive Director of the Garment Industry Development Corporation, said his organization, which represents the fashion faction, is in discussions with developers, landlords, and union workers about how best to proceed. He wasn’t at liberty to discuss the next steps just yet, but he did note that although only 5% of the clothing Americans buy is made in the USA, 1.3 million square feet of the Garment Center–about 1/6 of the commercially zoned area, are still occupied by manufacturers, wholesalers, suppliers, and designers–that rare breed of New Yorker we affectionately know as garmentos.

As I said in this previous post, when I ran around the Garment District years ago as a design and production assistant, I took the industry’s grittiness, diversity, and camaraderie for granted, as part of New York City. Watching Schmatta helped me put my experience in historic context, but here’s the thing–it’s not just history.

Although according to Wikipedia’s definition, the American garmento is an endangered species, (threatened by changing environmental parameters) they’re still very much alive here in Midtown Manhattan. Here, have a peek into the work-spaces of a belt manufacturer, a bathing suit designer, and a button wholesaler, and let them tell you what the Garment District has meant to them throughout their careers.

Terry Schwartz, 58 years old, Sherry Accessories, 23 years in business. If my landlord wants me out, I’m out of business because I can’t afford to move anymore.

Malia Mills, 43 years old, Malia Mills Swimwear, 18 years in business. The closer your team is, the more you can supervise it. The garment center is absolutely vital to what we do.

Teddy Haft, 54 years old, Buttonology, 5 years in business, a “whole adult life” in buttons. The companies are still here and they do their sourcing here. And then everything gets produced overseas. It’s become very, very difficult.

Andrew Ward couldn’t say what will happen next. The city has scrapped one plan to consolidate the Garment Center’s protected area into a single building, and the negotiations continue.

“It would be a shame if we lost what’s here,” he said. “What’s left.”

CLOSETTOUR, California Style

I did a pretty good job packing for a California Christmas, with one major exception: I forgot my sunglasses.

Flea Market Sunnies in Rio

I have a couple of great vintage pairs at home,  from Eu Amo Vintage in Rio de Janeiro, including the ones pictured below, but none made it into my suitcase.

My Stripey Blue Ones, pre-purchase at Eu Amo Vintage, 2008

I hate the thought of buying another pair when I’ve got these great ones at home. Borrowing isn’t really an option, since my host is a guy of formidable stature (a bonus when it comes to loaner sweatshirts, but not so much for sunnies.) But while I was taking a little morning walk around San Clemente today, cooling off after a hot yoga class (it seems I always end up closing my practice with second-hand shopping), I came across the Casa de Kathy Thrift Shop. California thrift shops are the greatest, as I’ve mentioned in my reminiscence of Ventura, and Kathy’s was no exception.There were only a couple pairs of sunnies, but I scored these for a grand total of 50 cents.

The Case de Kathy had some other great pieces too, like a pair of high-waisted, pleated, peg-legged Ralph Lauren Country khakis that would be muy cute with wedge espadrilles and a black tank top in New York, were it not 35 degrees farenheit there. They were made in the U.S.A., and the boy working said although they were marked $6, he could sell them for $3.50. It’s something to think about. Maybe after yoga tomorrow. For now I’m kicking back behind my new shades.

The Alligator Industry Bites

“How can this industry fall out so quickly?” Stephen Bonnecarrere asked while tossing live alligators into bins at his father-in-law’s farm outside Houma. “It happened too fast.”

photo by Lee Celano for The New York Times

That, and more from this story in today’s New York Times about the market for alligator skins.

I wonder if an increase in alligator bites in the bayou will follow?

Party Dresses

More than even the average occasion, weddings really beg the question of what to wear. They’re a special excuse to get dressed up, and see lots of people I rarely do, so I want to make it count! A few years ago–no, five years ago, my dear friend Mike asked me to be his last-minute date for a wedding in St. Louis–my hometown. I was visiting from California at the time, and didn’t have much with me. I wanted to go, but what to wear?

Mom? She descended the basement steps, dove into the archives, and emerged with this.

Remember Laura Ashley?

The British brand is not really what it used to be in the ’80s, which I imagine is when mom (pictured below) bought this.

She had kept it in beautiful condition, and it was the perfect fit for an August afternoon wedding, sipping Seabreezes at the St. Louis Country Club (seriously!) A good family friend, Mike had helped mom move years earlier, and probably carried the box that contained this dress–and many others, downstairs.

So it was nice that he appreciated it, and looked lovely himself in seersucker. But this weekend, he’ll likely be wearing a tux, as he will be the groom!

Tomorrow I’ll go from Vanity Fair, to an airplane, to the rehearsal dinner. (What to wear for that marathon? I haven’t the foggiest just yet.) But more importantly…what to wear to the wedding this Saturday?

Rag Trade Rally: Schmatta and Swimsuits

Wednesday, at the rally to Save the Garment Center, Joey Raico, a former fabric cutter who took a buyout (“my job was shipped to China”), stood at the podium under the 39th Street button, and called the manufacturing zone on midtown Manhattan’s west side “a magical place.”

There were days when I too thought it was magical, though for a different reason, when I was running between factories and fabric shops in the area as an assistant for Cynthia Rose. I remember thinking the Garment District was somehow frozen in time.

This was the New York I had read about, the dingy, dirty, sort of disgusting place, where people still brazenly spit on the street and catcalled, hurrying past peep shows and Port Authority. One slushy day, as I waited to cross the street with a roll of fabric, a passing truck actually splattered me. I once thought these things only happened in movies.

But, with a little bit of perspective on the place, where I’m based now not as a production assistant, but an editorial one, I see it’s pretty special that in a single day at Cynthia Rose, I would work with people–actually talk with them face-to-face, from China, Greece, Ecuador, India, the Dominican Republic, all over the U.S., and more, all with the common goal of making something. Not money, an idea, or a multi-media web networking platform, but a real, tangible thing: a garment. Maybe that’s why the place felt frozen in time. American manufacturing, imagine that.

“We do need to examine whether we need to make things,” said Marc Levin, “as a society.”

Levin directed the recently released HBO documentary about the NYC Garment Center, Schmatta. Standing on the sidewalk after the rally, the director said he was initially dubious of fashion as a subject (it was HBO’s idea), but now he sees NYC’s garment industry as representative of the American economy as a whole.

It’s a powerful and seductive myth, said the director, that we can move manufacturing jobs overseas, replace them with better jobs for Americans, and continue to run up credit card debt.

“The economy has no clothes,” he said.

image from giantmag.com

The director said he didn’t know if Mayor Bloomberg has seen the film, though he knew HBO’s Sheila Nevins had given him a copy.

Levin said Michelle Obama would be the best one to get his documentary in front of. The first lady has been such a powerful proponent of American fashion, wouldn’t she like to see it stick around?

No doubt, these ladies would, all of whom work for Malia Mills, a swimwear designer based on 38th Street. Below, is a beautiful example of their work–albeit a little wrinkled from my drawer: a spice-colored one piece bathing suit with cutout sides. The straps, lovely and narrow, tie in the back to make it adjustable.

Their suits fit like a dream, which likely factors into their pricey-ness. Frequent fitting sessions, myriad styles for multiple body types, and domestic manufacturing all add up–to a beautiful, but expensive garment. But here’s a valuable secret, ladies. You can go and visit their studio on 38th Street, which also serves as a sample outlet. (And a peek behind the scenes!)

The suit pictured above cost me just $20 earlier this summer. A $20 investment in the domestic development of swimwear, made, as Malia Mills’ website states, “lovingly in the U.S.A.“

TODAY in the NYC Garment District

Today in Manhattan, at 39th and Broadway designer Nanette Lepore will be leading a rally to Save the Garment Center between noon and 1:00 pm. A change of the zoning laws that protect the manufacturing spaces in NYC is threatening the neighborhood, home to what’s left of New York City’s fashion industry. Just in case you don’t believe anything is still made in New York, I’m pasting a picture below of Ari Magallanes (who works on 39th Street), working on a dress that is currently hanging at a boutique on Madison Avenue. (Maybe you’ll find out where in a story to come…)

Ari is one of the many talented dressmakers I worked with in my former life in fashion production, which also started on 39th street, where I worked for Cynthia Rose. Actually I’m going to have to break a date for alterations (on a vintage dress for another day) with one of Cynthia’s former sample-makers in order to check out the rally today. But I’m definitely going, so of course the question is, what to wear? I think for a rally in the Garment Center, it should be something made in the Garment Center, no? Here are a few options: (There’s a funny little thing in fashion called a clothing allowance, where you earn a modest salary + a set amount of clothing you might never afford.)

melon cashmere jacket from Cynthia Rose

This jacket is actually on extended loan from my sister, who it was made specially for. She adores it, but said she couldn’t really use it at home on the farm. (Go figure!) Lovely and soft, but a bit out of season–very spring, for October, I mean.

coated cotton voile top from Cynthia Rose

This is a body that we originally did in silk charmeuse, which is slippery shiny stuff, with lots of floral embroidery on the neck line. I adapted it in a coated cotton voile that’s just a bit metallic (it appears more so in this photo). It sort of balloons out nicely. (A sartorial sigh of relief that the balloon boy is grounded?)

black cotton voile jumper from Cynthia Rose (back)

This is a favorite–I photographed it from the back so you could see those giant buttons, which are made of horn. (Certainly there’s another story there. We’ll revisit that.) Anyway, this jumper is another piece that was never part of the Cynthia Rose collection, it was just development. (Remember the cancelled collection?)

It might be a little chilly for the jumper today, though I suppose I could layer it, either with a turtleneck underneath or a sweater on top. Likely the gold voile top will be the winner, with a sweater and jeans. (Don’t ask which ones. They all seem to have holes lately. More denim diaries to come.)

Here’s a trailer for Schmatta, a documentary that’s just aired on HBO about the Garment Center. I’ll report back on the rally, and hopefully have a review of the documentary soon too–just as soon as I get to see it. Okay, that’s all for now, folks. I’ve got to go get dressed!

I Mean Business

This news made the front of The New York Times’ Business Section today:

“Although world trade declined this year because of the recession, consumers are demanding lower-priced goods and Beijing, determined to keep its export machine humming, is finding a way to deliver.”

photo from Reuters, Jianan Yu via The New York Times

 

David Barboza reported that American imports of Chinese knitwear (think tee shirts, sweatpants, sweaters)jumped 10% in July while imports from other developing countries plunged.

“One reason,” he wrote, “is the ability of Chinese manufacturers to quickly slash prices by reducing wages and other costs in production zones that often rely on migrant workers. Factory managers here say American buyers are demanding they do just that.”

It’s worth reading the whole article, to learn about what some of those “other costs” are. What are trade-offs are we demanding when we insist on cheaper Chinese imports?

One economist suggests the Obama administration can’t afford to speak up about China’s weak currency or trade imbalances while Beijing foots our bill by buying up U.S. debt.

The administration might be in a tough spot, but what about American consumers? Do stories like effect our choices? Do you care where your tee shirt was made?

For my part, I’m realizing the tank top I’m wearing as I write this has no tag in it. I bought it at a street booth in Rio de Janeiro, and it’s knit cotton. There’s a good chance it was made in China though I can’t be sure. (The ladies there customized it for me on the spot with that iron-on.)

Please, leave a comment–because unfortunately it seems The New York Times didn’t offer the opportunity at the end of this particular story. I would love to know your thoughts…and where your tee shirt was made.

Two related recent stories, in case you might have missed them:

• The effects of the global crash on Vietnamese craftspeople.
• American Apparel fires 1,800 illegal immigrant workers in Los Angeles.

There’s definitely more to discuss here. My hope is that we’re just getting started.