Pre-Fashion Week: Behind-the-Scenes in New York's Garment District

January 31, 2008, New York, New York
Contact: New York Foreign Press Center
Telephone: 212-317-8325; Email: nyfpc@state.gov

The NYFPC led a tour to New York's fabled Garment District a day before the start of Fashion Week.   The group, consisting of print, broadcast and online media, included 30 journalists representing 19 countries and two international outlets.  In order to get a line on how and where high-end clothing starts - from the idea stage, to the racks of well-known designers - the group visited three venues.  The first and third were up-and-comer Nanette Lepore (nanettelepore.com) and name-brand couturier Nicole Miller (nicolemiller.com).  Sandwiched between was 'American success story' Tony Singh, Indian immigrant-cum-manufacturing-company-owner who briefed the group on his rise to success.  On hand to talk about U.S. exprts, volume and trade statistics were a U.S. Department of Commerce representative, and to explain locally-specific data, several individuals from the New York City Economic Development Corporation.  Both hosts and invited visitors briefed journalists during the three-hour tour on the origins and complexity of American design and sales, as well as the prolific creativity that has kept the robust industry in business for more than a century.