The LA Garment & Fashion Industry Program is a vehicle for LA to invest in ethical & sustainable fashion and workers in the City of Los Angeles.

Garment Worker Center and allies have been engaging with the LA’s Economic and Workforce Development Department (EWDD) office for several years to help improve, support, grow, and invest in the local, ethical, & sustainable garment industry.

What do we want? We are asking the City of LA to prioritize and resource the LA’s Garment & Fashion Industry Program and — by doing so — invest in the future of LA’s Garment Industry. We want to connect business to workers We want to connect small businesses to services and resources. We want to help the industry move from underground/exploitative into a compliant thriving industry. We want the City to invest in skills building for workers.

We recently shared a letter with City Councilmembers on the Economic Development & Jobs Committee that outlines our vision for this program. READ THE LETTER. 

OUR ALLIES:

BACKGROUND: In 2024, GWC, local, ethical, sustainable businesses, property owners, the Fashion District BID, CD1, multiple city departments including the Economic and Workforce Development Department — as well as representatives of LA County — came together to reimagine the local garment manufacturing landscape. 

The EWDD taskforce was born out of GWC’s advocacy around the DTLA 2040 Community Plan Update, where garment workers and sustainable businesses came together to push the City to Protect & Preserve the Fashion District. This victory was the result of forging deep relationships with various City Council offices, and the EWDD work we are engaged in now is a direct result of our ongoing organizing.“