The Fast Facts:

• Over $40B in L.A.'s apparel industry shipments, over $13B in local manufacturing revenues, with $6B in local salaries
• The competitive advantage of LA's Textile industry is design, diverse product lines, speed -to-market, and a willingness to try new things
• "LA Style" is propagated by media obsession with celebrities
• A powerful combination of geography and orientation to 'fast fashion'.
• About 6,400 firms are involved in the apparel/textile complex, with more than 100,000 direct employees.
• Over 33% of all US apparel manufacturing jobs are located in LA or Orange County.

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Apparel and Textile complex is a global industry with the powerful combination of a prime geographic location and an orientation to 'fast fashion.' With its massive impact on the Los Angeles economy, the west coast brands and designer names command a price premium for local manufacturing, while the businesses of design-based importers continue to grow. The concept of "LA Style" is constantly reinforced by the current media obsession with Hollywood celebrities, and the enduring popularity of designs inspired by sun, nature, and easy living.   

A new report, researched and created by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, and sponsored by the CIT Group in association with the California Fashion Association (CFA), compiles recent data about apparel manufacturing, apparel wholesaling, and textile mills, and attempts to define the industry's expansion of 'market share' of US apparel production and distribution.   

The report offers a statistical profile of the industry by the numbers, and goes on to outline the direct and indirect impacts of the industry. Defined as a design-driven industry dominated by immigrants, turning out quick-turn merchandise with a truly global perspective; the report goes on to include the trendsetting nature of the companies expanding into the Orange County region of Southern California.

Mindful of the barriers to exporting, the labor compliance issues, and the travails of the local textile industry, the Fashion Industry Profile outlines the pluses, the minuses, and the steps that can and should be taken to support continued growth

The issues presented, as well as specific ideas for the future, were examined at a round-table discussion with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and key industry leaders; including those who were involved in both local manufacturing and importing. Among the issues discussed were job creation based on industrial education for students as well as a re-education of available adults, and the requirements for more business acumen from the graduates of the fourteen local colleges and universities with a design-based curriculum. Other topics were problematic regulations, barriers to "Made in USA" exporting, and the need for extensive marketing of the "LA Style" brand.

What we learned:

• 86% of California's apparel manufacturing employment and fashion wholesale employment is in the LA county area.

• From Los Angeles, fast-fashion firms can get merchandise to the stores in weeks, not the months it takes from the global supply chain.

• In 2010, the US imported $71.4 billion worth of apparel, of which $40.6 billion arrived through the Los Angeles Customs District which includes the twin ports of LA and Long Beach, Port Hueneme, LAX, Ontario International and McCarran Field (Las Vegas)

If interested in a copy of the complete report, please contact the CFA office.

About the California Fashion Association

The California Fashion Association (CFA) is a non-profit organization established to provide information for business expansion and growth to the apparel and textile industry of California. www.calfashion.org

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