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The Importance of the Fashion Industry
By admins | March 1, 2010
Here’s the question, is fashion important? Well, in short, YES. Now, of course, we would say that since this is a fashion blog after all, and we do work in the fashion industry, and we are particularly supportive of NYC’s Garment Center, but is it really important to the rest of the world? And should it be? Again, we have to say the answer is a resounding yes. The fashion industry’s importance comes from its ability to consume your spending dollar in massive quantities, it comes from a lasting tradition of bringing women into the workplace, it comes from encouraging self expression for all individuals, it comes from its impact on the US economy as one of the nation’s largest manufacturing sectors, it comes from a long history in the Garment Center of promoting the immigrant’s American dream, and of course, it comes from the couture talent in creating wearable art.
As fashion industry professionals we have often heard comments dismissing fashion as a career, as a rather less than serious job, akin to a paid hobby. This attitude comes from the misrepresentation by mainstream media that fashion design is just fun sketching and then, poof, the product appears in stores. (For our full rant on that issue read this, Amazingly Stupid Fashionistas?)
Beyond the dismissal of fashion as a serious career, there is also the common notion that caring about fashion is rather shallow and vapid. In a recent post where we uncovered the ugly truth about Forever 21, we received a surprising amount a feedback mentioning, “well, I don’t really care about fashion” or “fashion doesn’t effect me.” The truth is, if you wear clothes (which we hope you all do) you should care, especially during this time of economic uncertainty. We should all care where our money goes. People think long and hard before buying a house, they research when buying a car, but somehow clothes shopping just happens. As we mentioned before in our Label of Origin post, the least people should do when shopping is think about where their products are made. How you spend your consumer dollar directly affects our economy and sends a message to retailers, designers, and manufacturers alike. By not patronizing companies and brands that support sweatshop labor or unethical labor practices, you are impacting the greater world.
The angle most often overlooked is fashion’s impact on our national economy. While fashion evokes images of supermodels and runway shows, many people forget it is also an industry of great economic importance. In New York alone the industry supplies over 10 billion dollars worth of wages to its residents. The apparel and textile industry is one of the largest domestic manufacturers in the US, (and unlike the auto industry we did not get a bailout) it supplies over 700,000 jobs in manufacturing alone. When people question the importance or relevance of fashion, they often forget its significant role in our economy. Fashion employs everyone from retail store clerks, to seamstresses, to designers, not to mention the majority of these jobs have historically been held by women and minority groups when other industries were not so welcoming. For anyone who has ever worked in a union, the fashion industry should matter. We set the standards in protecting workers’ rights and ensuring safe working conditions beginning with the ILG union in the 1920’s. Those pioneering women garment workers set the standard for today’s unions.
No matter who or where you are, the fashion industry affects you. Every morning when you look into your closet and choose to wear an item you purchased, you have affected your budget, our environment, somebody’s job, the national economy, and a company’s bottom line. Obviously we care about fashion for many reasons, including that it is our livelihood, but we get particularly frustrated when people claim that caring about fashion is unimportant. Besides styles and trends (which of course, we adore too) fashion and apparel have a long and storied history of importance. So, we dedicate this post to anyone who has ever questioned the value of the fashion industry. And if you still feel fashion is irrelevant, why are you reading and complaining to a fashion blog?
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Topics: fashion, fashion industry | 12 Comments » 
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March 2nd, 2010 at 3:02 am
HA! Tell ‘em! Fashion is always going to be important as an industry and should be respected. It’s responsible for dressing the very people who scoff at it.
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:14 am
Hear Hear!! *Jumps up and down in agreement, nearly spilling coffee over the table*. You’re so right and I get fed up of people saying that to have an interest in fashion is “fickle” or “vain”. I think so often they only see the glossy side of it and forget the industry behind it, and as you say, the impact on the economy in differing parts of the world. I think Meryl Streep summed it up perfectly in the “cerulean blue” put down monologue in The Devil Wears Prada. Note to self: learn it verbatim and repeat to next person who indicated it’s all so shallow!
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:37 am
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by fashioner98: The Importance of the Fashion Industry | 39thandbroadway.com http://ow.ly/16Hffq…
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:36 am
love! can i just tell you how amazing this blog is–well it is!!
xxx
t
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:11 pm
The truth sometimes gets to the real heart of the matter as does this blog again and again and again.
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Wow, this post brings to mind a conversation I had a long time ago with the father of a female friend I had who was questioning the validity of my career choice as a fashion designer. He had one son who was a doctor, and one who was a lawyer.
He said, “Well, if you’re sick, you go to the doctor, and if you have legal problems, you go to a lawyer.”
I responded, “Well, if you are naked, you call ME.”
Suits and labcoats don’t magically appear out of nowhere!
The truth of the matter is that pretty much everyone (except nudists) is dependent on the work of the fashion industry to go about their daily lives.
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:44 pm
From the moment I saw the picture I knew this post was going to be good. Usually you see nothing but pictures of runway models and high brow fashion, but people seem to forget just how large, intricate, and many time unglamorous the industry can be. Great post. Keep em coming.
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:59 pm
That’s my photo! Glad you liked it. My wife is a fantastic seamstress.
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Thank you thank you thank you..Yes finally someone said it.. Fashion despite what these “intellectuals” think is not that easy – take my Aunt, a cellologist, sniffs her nose at my career choice…yet when she “decides” to make something, skips commercial patterns, because “they’re too complicated and don’t make sense”…gee..not so easy eh?
Watch Real Clothes – japanese drama about realistic and semi-seedy side of fashion retail!
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Amazing post! So well put.
Just a nitpicky thing — “effect” the verb should be “affect”.
April 7th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
I sometimes wonder if fashion is considered frivolous because a lot of women work in it. Of course it’s important, not only because we all wear clothes but because of the manufaturing and production aspect, not to mention the comment clothes make on society. This is why I mainly hang out with industry folks. I couldn’t listen to people question my devotion to fashion.
November 10th, 2011 at 8:10 pm
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