Makers United: Economic access for Garment District businesses
Project overview: Consultancy with Nest to conduct qualitative research and landscape mapping for Makers United, a program aimed at providing access to resources and market opportunities for Garment District’s small business owners
Timeframe: September 2021-June 2022
Problem: NYC’s Garment District has experienced steady economic decline in recent years. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced shops and factories to close for months. Low margins and high rent costs meant that the immigrant business owners struggled to stay afloat. Some filed for bankruptcy while others subsisted on loans and savings.
Key questions:
What are the Garment District business owners’ specific needs after COVID-19?
How might we support these immigrant business owners with resources and tools?
What are opportunities to foster collaboration and community within the Garment District?
Participants: 50 business owners in NYC’s Garment District, including seamstresses, embroiderers, pleaters, pattern-makers, and wholesale distributors
Objectives: Measure the impact of Makers United program and design marketing and educational resources to improve access to income
Research method: Generative research with Qualtrics surveys, interviews, participant observation
Phase 1: Need-finding
In September and October 2021, I conducted 35 interviews with business owners in the Garment District. Using Qualtrics to structure the interview, I asked questions to probe deeper at what exactly each business was struggling with in the midst of the pandemic: Paying rent? Finding sewing talent? Starting (and maintaining) social media accounts? Fashion companies switching to overseas factories? The answer was all of the above, but they varied depending on the type of business (production, pattern-making, embroidery) and their capacity to devise contingency plans.
I also conducted participant observation as I spent two months in the Garment District with the busy business owners. I would chat with them in Chinese, observing how seamstresses chatted with each other during breaks while eating noodle soup out of Tupperware.
Key finding 1: Generational talent gap
While rent and marketing were cited as barriers to income, I heard that a majority of business owners felt trapped in a bigger systemic problem. This generation of children of immigrants and new immigrants no longer wanted to work in sewing factories. Instead, university graduates went on to work in business, law, and other high-earning fields, while new immigrants sought work as cleaners. Sewing talent simply did not exist anymore.
Key finding 2: Opportunities for specialty services
For some, COVID-19 brought new opportunities. Specialty services like embroidery, pleating, and weaving benefited because high-end designers like Thom Browne, Marc Jacobs, and Alexander McQueen started turning to Garment District producers. Designers enjoyed being able to meet face-to-face with the makers whenever they needed to make a slight change in the collection.
Key finding 3: Keeping the community safe
For those who were not completely burnt out or hopeless about paying rent, there was a desire for more skill- and knowledge-sharing, along with community building among makers in New York.
With a strong AAPI population in the Garment District and the rise in AAPI hate during COVID-19, several business owners instituted “buddy” programs for going home at night and doled out personal alarms.
Phase 2: Workshop and job fair
During the second phase (Jan-June 2022), I conducted another 50 surveys of Garment District business owners to understand what their preferences were for program implementation (based on Phase 1 research on needs). I ideated that a job fair would be the best fit for the business owners, since one of the main issues was finding sewing talent and social media interns.
“We need more events like [this job fair]. Production companies tend to hire through word of mouth, so the rest of us never get a chance. This is the first time I’ve made, or even needed, a resume.”
— Immigrant seamstress
Output: Job fair and networking event
I led the job fair project by coordinating with universities in New York City, labor organizations, and Garment District Alliance partners
Impact: Job seekers were enthusiastic about this concept. We got feedback from immigrant job seekers (seamstresses) that connecting with business owners is nearly impossible because they tend to rely on word-of-mouth connections.
Output: Capacity building workshops
Hosted a panel “Marketing Your Business as Locally Made” with experts
Hands-on workshop with Democracy at Work Institute to help business owners with handing over ownership and succession planning
Impact: Business owners benefited from workshops tailored to their specific needs.
