Fact Sheet: Celebrating and Supporting New York City's Fashion Industry

September 3, 2014

Today, Mayor Bill de Blasio marked the beginning of Fashion Week by announcing the creation or advancement of three City initiatives that support the City's $98 billion fashion industry and its homegrown businesses. Beginning this winter, the City's Made In NY designation will be expanded to include local fashion designers and manufacturers, highlighting the sector's thriving network of local talent. Mayor de Blasio also announced the inaugural recipients of the NYC Fashion Production Fund, a brand-new $2 million public-private fund designed to advance the growth of emerging New York City designers by offering loans ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 toward the fulfillment of existing purchase orders. Finally, the Mayor announced the NYC Capsule Collection, a program that will select New York City-based designers to create a small collection of items that are subsequently produced by City-based manufacturers and sold through local retailers.

Each program is part of the Mayor's strategy to support emerging fashion designers and manufacturers in the City, generate economic growth, create jobs, and build upon the City's reputation as a global fashion capital. Mayor de Blasio made the announcements at Gracie Mansion, where he celebrated the kickoff of Fashion Week at an event with designers, retailers, manufacturers, and other industry stakeholders from across the City.

Expansion of Made in NY
Fashion companies will soon join the Made in NY brand portfolio, allowing them to benefit from its significant promotional capacity, while encouraging widespread awareness of the local jobs created by the industry and the reasons New York City is among the best places in the world to start a fashion company. Developed in 2005 to support and promote local media and entertainment, Made In NY has since come to represent some of the most dynamic and creative content being produced in the five boroughs.

Fashion Production Fund
Local designers Karolina Zmarlak and Rosie Assoulin have been awarded the first two loans issued by the NYC Fashion Production Fund. The Fund, created with an initial investment of $1 million each from NYCEDC and its partner, Capital Business Credit, offers short-term loans to emerging designers, who frequently receive orders from retailers but do not possess the requisite capital to produce those items. The Fund mitigates this common challenge by awarding loans ranging from $50,000 to $300,000, helping to facilitate and pay for the production of items ordered by retailers. The Fund has awarded a total of $240,000 so far, and is expected to issue more than $750,000 worth of loans by the end of 2015.

Born and raised in Poland, Karolina Zmarlak immigrated to the United States at age 10. She studied apparel design at FIT and graduated with high honors. Zmarlak subsequently honed her skills at NYC-based design houses Carolina Herrera and Theory, and received Gen Art's Styles award for eveningwear in 2005. In 2009, she launched her eponymous line of women's ready-to-wear. Her designs are all manufactured in the Garment District and currently sold at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.

A Brooklyn native, Rosie Assoulin worked for Oscar de la Renta, Lanvin, and Brian Reyes before striking out on her own in 2013. Since her debut resort collection, Assoulin has been named to Forbes' annual "30 under 30" list, as well as nominated for the CFDA Swarovski women's wear award, which honors emerging designers. Based in Tribeca, Assoulin's designs are currently sold at Bergdorf Goodman, Fivestory, the online retailer Moda Operandi, and numerous international boutiques.

The NYC Capsule Collection
The NYC Capsule Collection, operated in partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), will launch in 2015 and serve as an extension of the Fashion Manufacturing Initiative, a grant program whose awardees were announced by Mayor de Blasio in February. The Capsule program will select City-based designers who create a small collection of items and facilitate their production in City-based factories to sell through City-based retailers. By showcasing the quality and diversity of fashion manufacturing in New York City, the program will help drive sales of locally designed and manufactured products.

About NYC's Fashion Industry
Fashion accounts for more than 180,000 jobs in New York City, comprising nearly 6 percent of the city's workforce, paying $10.9 billion in wages, and generating nearly $2 billion in tax revenue annually. New York City's wholesale fashion market is one of the world's largest, attracting more than 500,000 visitors per year to its trade shows, showrooms and fashion shows. Overall, the industry garners more than $18 billion in retail sales, $72 billion in wholesale sales, and $8 billion in manufacturing sales annually. The city's semi-annual Fashion Weeks draw approximately 232,000 attendees to more than 500 shows, creating a total economic impact of $887 million. In recent years, the City's efforts to sustain and grow the fashion industry, managed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, have included providing seed funding for the CFDA Fashion Incubator, offering professional mentorship in design and fashion management, and the creation of networking and educational programs, such as Design Entrepreneurs NYC and NYC Fashion Career Week.