Theu.s. Congress, The Fashion Industry

When people think of the New York City Garment District, the first things that come to mind are high-end fashion designers like Michael Kors and Calvin Klein and the famous New York Fashion Week. As a New York Times reporter Jean Appleton put it, New York City is the “bustling epicenter of America’s clothing design and the manufacturing industry.”1 However, fashion is only part of the story. Few people actually know how garment production in New York City came about. Before the design and construction of huge lofts and towering skyscrapers, garment production took place inside garment shops and factories inside tenements. The garment industry has changed significantly in the past two centuries and continues to change today.

In “The Fashion Industry: Free to be an Individual” by Hannah Berry, Hannah emphasizes how social media especially advertisements pressure females to use certain product to in order to be considered beautiful. She also acknowledges the current effort of advertisement today to more realistically depicts of women. In addition, these advertisements use the modern women look to advertise products to increase women self-esteem and to encourage women to be comfortable with one’s image.

Fast Fashion is a worldwide epidemic that encourages and feeds capitalism, consumerism, and the end of our planet Earth. This is a detrimental 2-4 week cycle of designing clothes, manufacturing it, producing mass quantities of it, and spreading it throughout the world in stores like H&M, Forever 21, Zara, ASOS, and many other brands. These brands usually all get mass quantities of clothes from closely related sweatshops from countries where labor is cheap, and where safety laws and ethical human rights are not enforced: china, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. Production of clothes usually costs a small fraction of what they are selling it for, since all the materials are from regions all over the world the worth of a shirt is much less than what you are buying it for. The reason this vicious cycle is detrimental to our planet earth is because of the unending mass production. It manufactures unbelievable amounts of one item, because it will be gone in the next 2-4 weeks from the racks, and since they do not have enough time to remake the one item, they produce mass quantities of it and what is not sold is waste that is piling up all around our world in landfills.

Just 10 years after the turn of the century, New York City becomes a hub for manufacturing of cheap textiles and the relocation of immigrants from across the globe. Every day, boats come into Ellis Island dropping off Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe escaping persecution, Italians fleeing poverty with hopes of supporting their families back in Italy, and many others hoping to support themselves and others but all with the mindset of making money. There were plenty of jobs for these immigrants to occupy in thousands of, what we would now call, sweatshops. These sweatshops were run by greedy businessmen and were squeezed full of hundreds of poor immigrants in large open floors, even further cramped with sewing machines and conveyor belts. The one factory to be focused on with this particular story is one of the larger factories around New York City, the Triangle Waist Company, owned and operated by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, which produced skirts and dresses. Isaac Harris and Max Blanck were both immigrants themselves and through their partnership and diligent saving of their money, they were able to create their factory, the

But you can also stop and think: is the clothes that I am wearing American made? Chances are, they aren’t. China and India are the leading countries in the source of textiles in America. The tag that you see on the back of your shirts, jeans, even shoes more than likely say “Made in (Foreign Country)”. Take for example, one of the most popular shoe brands in America, even the entire world, Nike. Nike shoes were made in South Korea and Taiwan during the 1970’s. They eventually expanded their business in other countries such as Indonesia, China and Vietnam. The reason why the shoe company chose to expand their

The clothing manufacturing abilities and skills are really advanced and are still fairly cheaper than the United States fashion labels. With China’s production cost now starting to go up, American brands are starting to investigate other possibilities such as Vietnam, India, Indonesia and the United States also. Companies do offshore production because they believe that it is cheaper to make things in poorer countries. They feel that if you want lower prices you go overseas were they use cheap labor and if you want garments made of better quality, you should stay in the United States. But this is not entirely true, there’s certain kinds of clothing that are made in the U.S. of good quality at a very reasonable price and there’s other clothing that’s not.

I enjoyed your post regarding Uggs and jeans. The Uggs were a popular item that gained international success in a short period of time. I found it interesting that Uggs started in the surfer culture then progressed into several different aspects of fashion. Additionally, I did not realize they started in California which was exciting fact. I agree with you that I was not surprised when looking at country of manufacturing in relation to clothing items. Frings (2008), found that the majority of United States clothing items are produced by other countries. I feel that Fashion in America has a global influence and that we as country should be able to manufacturer quality items at a reasonable rate. New York, New York is an international

The popularity of cheap and fashionable clothing has been on the rise since the introduction of fast fashion to major clothing companies. The fashion world has become one of the dominating parts of consumer culture. However, the affordable clothing movement, in addition to the fast-paced garment work, has affected more than just our wallets. Advancement of new practices and clothing availability have contributed to many garment factories and businesses for clothing manufacturing. Nonetheless, it has led to influences in cultures, environments, and societies within many developing countries. Inadequate working conditions, low wages, pollution and furthering regulatory practices have resulted from the fast fashion movement.

In today’s society, fashion rules the teen and young adult generations. Billions of dollars are spent each year on designer brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Off-White. At the same time that these large amounts of money are being spent of materialistic aspects of fashion, people in third world countries are struggling greatly. Instead of money being spent on expensive clothing, it could serve a greater purpose by being donated to countries who are in dire need. Absurd amounts of money in first world countries are spent on designer brands, while third world countries struggle to even get their hands on any clothing.

For investors in clothing retailers and manufacturers, the expiration of the MFA means good times ahead. Thirty million textile workers, on the other hand, have just been shoved off the cliff. The institutions that regulate global trade, the powerful nations that dominate them, and the corporations whose interests they promote are committed to reshaping global trade rules along neoliberal lines, even if the changes cause upheaval for tens of millions of workers worldwide. There 's nothing inherently wrong with clothes being manufactured in China or India rather than in Mauritius or Bangladesh. But there is something wrong with a global trade regime that pushes millions of poor workers into one sector then, with little ado, kicks them out

The apparel industry has historically relied on a contracting system that has allowed brand-name companies to eschew legal liability for the working conditions of those who actually sew their garments. A race to the

Look at the clothing tag on your shirt. Where was it made? Most likely, the shirt was manufactured outside of the United States. This can be explained by two words. Global outsourcing. Global outsourcing has been a hot topic concerning many Americans since the early 1990’s. Businesses are always deciding whether or not to take on this great challenge. This trend can be seen in the textile and apparel industry, companies have moved mass amounts of production overseas. Although it seems all companies in the textile and apparel industry are transferring their production to other countries, it is not essential for a business to outsource in order to be competitive. Throughout the history of outsourcing, arguments both for

Both the beauty and fashion industries are being revitalized through the introduction of an increased number of products formulated with bamboo as an ingredient or crafted from the various parts of a bamboo plant. Today it is entirely possible to craft a head to toe ensemble crafted from bamboo while simultaneously styling the hair and finishing the face and body with bamboo infused make-up and beauty tools. Bamboo Fabric Camisoles Cuddl Duds produces some of the most popular long underwear options for women, but they have branched from the traditional pajama-esque suit to daintier and more versatile pieces such as camisoles and tailored leggings. A camisole, long underwear shirt, and two different varieties of leggings are offered

According to Scratchhard.com, the fashion industry generates an average of $20 billion each year. Fashion designers are the heart of the fashion world. The fashion industry has grown to popularity by dominating the worldwide economy, media, workplace, and everyday life. Clothing trends have changed over the last century due to historical events and the evolution of technology. With the gift of creativity and skill of constructing clothing, fashion designers complete a degree in designing, research past trends, predict future trends, sketch ideas, and oversee production of their designs.

As for the reading “Where Am I Wearing?” that is by Kelsey Timmerman, the key messages of the author are clothes, culture, people, shopping, conscience and poverty. Timmerman wants us to feel people and their difficult lives that are in sweatshops, as well as child labor in apparel production. A common thread of each of these workers is family. A lot of people of them leave their hometown, where are usually small villages to look for jobs in the metropolis. After getting the salary, they would send money home to support their parents, siblings, and often their own children. The opportunity of going back home is really little; the salary of working, the working is always related to manufacturing jobs. These small wages bring them with some stability and hope for survival.