Save The Garment Center

We’ve been hearing about Save The Garment Center for years, but it’s a bit difficult to gauge the organization’s progress as we see more hotels and condos replacing manufacturing and showroom buildings across the protected zone in midtown Manhattan.

“Save the Garment Center was started in 2007 as a grassroots campaign by factory owners Samanta Cortes, Anthony Lilore, Paul Cavazza and Larry Geffner. This campaign was in response to City Hall’s plans to lift the 1987 zoning laws that had protected the leases of the Garment Center fashion tenants for the past 23 years. Save the Garment Center’s initial goal was to keep the manufacturers and suppliers in New York’s Garment Center from being pushed out of the district, or having to shut down all together.” – savethegarmentcenter.org

In this episode, Anthony Lilore, Samanta Cortes, Caroda Inc. garment factory owner Ida Leigh M. Law, and Create-a-Marker Inc. owner Paul Cavazza provide an update on the organization’s progress.

Also in the studio, Flying Solo Collective founder Elizabeth Solomeina, and Artbag owner Chris Moore, whose business not only manufactures high end leather accessories for his 1130 Madison Avenue store, they also recondition and restore vintage bags and other accessories.

References:

• CFDA Fashion Manufacturing Initiative (list of factories)
• Maker’s Row
• The Garment District NYC Fashion Directory
• DG Expo
• Park Avenue International
• Village Tannery