Why Clothing Made in New York Is More Important Than Ever

As recently as 1960, 95 percent of clothing that was sold in the United States was made in New York City’s historic garment district, a once sprawling microcosm and beating heart of the American fashion industry on the West Side of middle Manhattan, boasting 7.7 million square feet of manufacturing space and home to more than 100,000 jobs. Now all those numbers are much more dire.

That 7.7 million square feet is now 1.1 million, and the jobs have dropped to a little more than 7,000. And the amount of clothing made in America that’s still sold in America? A paltry 3 percent.