Fashion Business

BoF Daily Digest | Empire state of fashion, Burberry interactive, Coach goes for guys, Bluefly’s viral push, Suits lose their sting



By ELVA RAMIREZ
Young labels like the Row, Jason Wu, Nellie Partow, Waris Ahluwalia and Prabal Gurung are trumpeting their New York roots on apparel and labels in an effort to create a sartorial version of the locavore movement. The idea: to link locally-made clothes with artisanal values to promote stitched-in-New York sales.

As New York's Garment District struggles to survive, a consortium of designers and manufacturers have launched a campaign, Made in Midtown, in hopes that clothing shoppers will become more conscious of the impact of their purchases.
A prominent tag on a Jason Wu dress reads, "This garment has been completely hand assembled in New York, using fabrics of superior craftmanship." Mr. Wu says that keeping his operations in New York, where his design studio is located, is vital to his business. Close proximity to his pattern makers, cutters and suppliers allows him to more easily experiment with designs as well as keep tabs on the work, says the designer, who rose to national fame when Michelle Obama wore a dress designed by him to the presidential inauguration.