New York Fashion Week is officially the highest grossing event in the U.S. in the past twelve months. And the biggest revenue-making schedule out of all the fashion weeks in the world.
This fashion week - Spring 2016 - marks one of the biggest schedules to date. According to the Council of the Fashion Designers of America, there are 181 shows and presentations in the NYFW schedule and a total of 308 events listed in the Fashion Calendar.
At a press conference at Milk Studios on Monday, U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney revealed that New York Fashion Week generates almost $900 million for the greater metropolitan area more than the 2014 Super Bowl. But more importantly, NYFW attracted more money than any other fashion week - be it London, Paris or Milan.
Maloney went on to highlight New York City as both a practical and stylish ville, announcing it employs 180,000 people in the fashion industry alone across its five boroughs.
“The fashion industry puts a good number of New Yorkers to work — it’s not just about glitz and glamor,” Maloney told WWD.
At the press event, Maloney referenced the latest U.S. Congress’ Joint Economic Committee entitled 'The Economic Impact of Fashion Industry.'
“I’ll tell you when I asked for this report, I was stunned by the economic impact of the fashion week and the impact of fashion in general, especially in terms of the many good-paying, middle-class jobs for American.”
In a bid to promote American manufacturing, Maloney also announced the creation of a new award for next year, which will reward the largest apparel exporter in the US for the prior twelve months.
According to the New York City Economic Development Corp., New York City’s fashion sector generates $11 billion in wages and nearly $2 billion in tax revenues each year, which includes manufacturing and exports.
Luxury manufacturing is returning to New York City, pushed on by the reestablishing of textile mills in places like Tennessee and the Carolinas, said Maloney.
According to the JEC report, the US apparel manufacturing industry is running a trade deficit, said WWD, with apparel exports reaching $3.5 billion in 2015, against imports worth $49.3 billion,
But Maloney's spirits couldn't be dampened. She said the Metropolitan Museum of Art has been asked to stage an exhibition dedicated to a New York designer or a Made in New York show at the museum’s Costume Institute to prolong the fashion buzz.
While the momentum stays strong, New York fashion can only live on.