You might not think this concerns you--you're not a designer, you don't live in New York City, you don't work in the garment industry... But if you care at all about the clothes you put on your back, you'd want to rally, too. New York City's Garment District, blocks that span from 35th to 39th Streets between Ninth Avenue and Broadway, is in jeopardy.

"The [district] is at serious risk of being consolidated and commercialized, if all goes according to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plans," according to CocoPerez.com. "The Mayor intends to move all of the approximately 250 fashion manufacturer's factories into one building, which would be about 280,000 sq. ft." Without adequate space (not to mention proper zoning regulations to control production overseas), the Garment District will transition to the point of extinction. Cheap labor in other countries like China has threatened the "Made in the USA" label, and designers are fighting back.

This past Monday, a documentary premiered on HBO on the very subject called Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags, which shed some light on the 100-year-old design center. The Garment District once welcomed immigrants and gave them a place to work. Today in New York alone, $10 billion in wages are generated and 175,000 people are employed through fashion--25,000 of those people work in the Garment District--says the New York Daily News. Those numbers may fall if the Garment District isn't saved.

So how does this affect you? With the clothing factories right at their doorstep, designers like Nanette Lepore, Michael Kors and Zac Posen can pay closer attention to their production. "I can cut a sample in the morning, put it on my model in the afternoon, and then let the factory start sewing after I fitted it on her," says Lepore. "In China, you can't think that they're going to fit it properly because you're not watching. The nuances are small--an eighth of an inch here, a quarter of an inch there. We're able to control it because we're right here."

The quality of fashion in the USA will be compromised if we don't do something! So today, designers like Nanette Lepore, Zac Posen, Michael Kors, Anna Sui and Betsey Johnson are rallying in the name of the Garment District and the very clothes that you put on. If you're in the New York City area and want to join the fight to keep clothes "Made in the USA," fashion bigwigs and supporters alike are meeting at the button-and-needle statue on 39th Street and Seventh Avenue at noon. Hope to see you there!

--Ysolt