In 2010 the Design Trust for Public Space, in partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) produced Made in Midtown, a study of Manhattan's Garment District. Made in Midtown demonstrated that the District's dense network of designers, factories and suppliers function as a research and development hub for the fashion industry, enabling designers to create the innovative styles that make New York City a global fashion leader while also providing thousands of manufacturing jobs.
Now, building on the wealth of research and stakeholder investment developed in Made in Midtown, Design Trust and CFDA have launched the second phase of this initiative, called Making Midtown: Sustaining Design and Production in an Evolving Garment District.
Making Midtown will deliver actionable recommendations to the Bloomberg administration and to the fashion industry to sustain creative production in the District, while addressing the District's economic realities, physical environment, and public realm.
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Key project activities will include:
• Comprehensive analysis of the Garment District's real estate dynamics by HR&A Advisors, a top economic development and public policy firm [Completed Summer 2011]
• In-depth
study of the Garment District's built environment, including its building stock and public spaces [Ongoing, Fall 2011]
• Participatory workshops (see image above) convening local stakeholders and national experts to generate a broad range of strategies—including zoning, economic incentives, programming and branding —tailored to the Garment District's opportunities and constraints [ Winter, 2011-12]
• Develop and publish
innovative, realistic recommendations to steer planning, development and creative placemaking activities in the Garment District [Spring 2012]
Building on their support of the first part of the Design Trust's Garment District initiative (Made in Midtown), the Municipal Arts Society (MAS) published a report in October 2011 on the current state of the Garment District.
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