The Heartbeat of Los AngelesWhen you think of old Los Angeles, naturally you may first think of the MGMs, Paramounts, and the recording companies like Capital Records whose landmark building bring immediate attention. These old studios of Hollywood were the public icons of the City of Los Angeles. But if you look harder you might uncover a gem which has both a curse and glimmer of light. This gem, which fuels the real heartbeat of Los Angeles - is the apparel industry. This single industry is the largest employer in Los Angeles with some 4000 manufacturers and over 250,000 employees in the overall. Those numbers cover one-forth of the nations apparel production.
The apparel industry started out in 1925 in a part of town located near the intersection of Los Angeles street and 10th street. It was the original location of the "garment district", recently renamed as the "Fashion District."
History:
Settlers found the city of Los Angeles in 1781. In 1821, Spain grants independence to Mexico and thus independence to California. In 1850, California becomes the 31st state. The Santa Fe railroad reaches Los Angeles in 1875. Oil is discovered in Downtown Los Angeles at the intersection of 2nd street and Glendale Blvd. In 1928, the Los Angeles Airport breaks ground.In 1962, California overtakes New York as the most populous state. In 1990, FIDM opens its Los Angeles Campus and headquarters in the middle of the Fashion District.
The CalMart and other centers:
The center of the Fashion District is of course FIDM - just kidding, it is the California Mart. The CalMart as it is more frequently called, is home to over 1,500 showrooms representing over 10,000 collections from our nations design and apparel industry companies. The CaliforniaMart is in fact the country's largest apparel center, open 52 weeks-a-year.As the center of all West Coast fashion, the CalMart produces over 50 fashion shows annually, hosts five Los Angeles fashion weeks and 20 specialty markets each year. And in an effort to compete in a global fashion market, the CalMart is trying some new strategies to bring some respect to the Los Angeles Fashion District. It has a videoconferencing fashion show which for the first time brought many of our young designers to the attention of the Paris fashion buyers. It was quite successful getting the attention of the European market and thus the world market.
Part of the life line to the industry is the public participation. In the California Mart on the last Saturday of the month its exhibition hall, offers excess or unshipped merchandise at discounted prices to the public. This would prove to be a good move as a public relations tool.
Along with the CalMart, there is the Cooper building. It is the original designer outlet mall and houses an number of discount companies.
Perceptions and the political effort to change them:
Perceptions in the media belie the reality of just how important the garment industry is to the states economy and to the tens of thousands of families it supports.Unbeknownst to the general public, the largest company the district is Guess?, Inc. The makers of Guess jeans and other mainstream products. Even with annual revenues of over $500 million it is a small fish relative to the earnings of apparel companies worldwide. But even Guess Inc. has shifted some of its production to offshore and to Mexico due to rising costs and retailer demand for lower wholesale prices. It is the hope that through incentives, the City of Los Angeles can keep companies like Guess? To stay and to attract large companies to make their home in the district and to keep them here.
The most popular public street in the Fashion District is Wall Street. It is here that the walking public can find Michael Levine, one of the largest supplier of fabrics and notions to the public amongst the many discount jobbers doors away. It is an interesting contrast to see the crowds here on a Saturday afternoon and in the morning news here about raids on sweatshops.
Like all gems, if left to the elements of time and neglect, it will becomes cloudy and tarnished. And that is what happened to our Fashion District. Public perception is eternally weaved into the politics and realities of the Fashion District. This is a reality.
And what is at stake is the two-thirds of California’s fashion companies that are currently located in the fashion District.
Who is doing what to change the perceptions:
It was through the coordinated efforts of such organizations as The Downtown Property Owners Association, The City counsel led by Mayor Riordan, The Police Department, and local business operators that the effort to cleanup and polish the Fashion District gem finds its roots.As stated before, the public perception of the Fashion District is as a place of ruin, of corruption and greed so say the news media. The infamous El Monte raids, and the publicized movement outwards of many of the oldest companies have been broadcast around the world. While in actuality, there are more people employed here than ever, the companies have grown in number to over 4,000 and the city has made its most strident efforts to change the perceptions of the public. And this is where our Mayor Riordan has put his greatest effort to make it so.
In 1995 Riordan established the California Fashion Association an industry trade association whose charter is to define and recommend avenues of action to help along those lines.
One of the most visible efforts by the Mayor is the team of Fashion Police. These officers are clad in bright purple shirts and bike the entire district from 7th street to 16th street and from Broadway to San Pedro Street. Since their mandate began the streets have been kept clean and manageable. Theft and vagrancy has all but disappeared on these streets. Shop owners and patrons alike praise the efforts by the 10 man team of officers. Of course, it is not yet a total cleanup as in the evening the streets are not yet safe.
There is a 3 billion dollar plan to restore Downtown called "The 10 minute Diamond". A plan which would locate City, County, State Federal offices in the Civic Center area. It is a massive investment in the downtown area with government and cultural buildings. If the area is rebuilt with landscaping, cultural amenities, restaurants, historical attractions and a convenient transit system then people will come to live and work in the downtown area. This of course means a boom to the image of downtown and an increase in commerce for all businesses in the long term. The effort is long term plan led by Daniel Rosenfield and involves the City Counsel, County Board of Supervisors, LAUSD, and the Civic Center Authority. It originated from the Mayoral office of Tom Bradley but has only been instituted in 1993 by Riordan. As of December 1997 the plan was approved by the Los Angeles City Council and under a feasibility study by the Chief Administrative Officer
DECEMBER 22, 1997 Supervisor Antonovich: Instruct the Chief Administrative Officer to report back on the potential advantages and disadvantages of the "10-Minute Diamond Plan" approved by the Los Angeles City Council,
Politics, power and money are one in the same when it comes to the fashion district. There are 10 billion dollars in wages at stake here and the future growth of the industry is at a critical stage right now.
The conflict:
In a recent update by the federal labor commission, a new set of laws have been enacted to ensure the rights of garment workers are protected. Basically, it states that in the United States, the end product can be deemed illegal to ship if it was manufactured by employees whose rights have been violated.Such violations as not meeting the minimum wage laws, not paying the employee time and a half for overtime, the use of illegal aliens in part or in whole for the work force, and violations of child labor are some of the more severe violations.
In my opinion, this law can be traced to a knee jerk reaction related to the Montebello "sweatshop" incident and the power of the news coverage.
The enforcement falls under the jurisdiction of the local law enforcement agencies. In our case the Los Angeles Police Department.
Although the goals of the new laws are admirable, a point was brought up during discussion. "What incentive does the retailer have for purchasing from the more costly (but compliant) apparel manufacturer?" In fact there are no incentives in effect at this time surprisingly nor are there any truly effective deterrents. Since we have discovered that it is the retailer that drives the cost goals for the manufacturer, it is reasonable to assume that very few businesses will be able to comply with the new laws, price competitively and remain a "Made in America" company.
To address this point, Attorney Richard Reinis has drafted a plan called the Retail Compliance Alliance Proposal. It asks for voluntary compliance with the guidelines set forth in the proposal.
With a current commitment of 16 retailers (an estimated 600 commitments are needed for the proposal to be effective) there is a long way to go before the goals are realized. In the mean time we may find that the squeeze is on for the small apparel manufacturer.
The future of the heartbeat of Los Angeles:
The past has been written in black ink. The future is still being written. The focus today, the focus at this stage of the grand scheme is Crime and what LA City has been doing to alleviate the problem is nothing short of amazing.Efforts are being pushed forwards by key figures in politics and the public perception is on the way to making a turn around.
In just one short year. The city counsel has put a dozen brightly clothed patrol officers on bikes, increased the number of and better organized the maintenance crews to clean up both the crime and trash that once defaced the very store fronts that millions of shoppers now enjoy throughout the year.
Bold restructuring plans are in the works for Downtown and there is still a glimmer of hope that may be sometime during my career as a fashion designer, Los Angeles will become the fashion Heartbeat of the world.
Victor Osaka
Sources:
Los Angeles Times Online
FIDM presentation of the new labor laws
California Apparel News
New York Times
The City of Los Angeles and the City Counsel
The Los Angeles Daily News
The Los Angeles Business JournalReturn to the Fashion Section in Personal Interests page
This page was last modified on: 05/21/05
All information and graphics are property of Victor Osaka
