The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) released its Fashion.NYC.2020 report on Tuesday, "designed to examine the state of New York City fashion and the challenges facing the industry over the coming decade." For the fashion nerd in you, here are some facts and figures about the fashion industry and where it's headed.

- New York's biannual fashion weeks draw approximately 232,000 attendees a year, generating $532 million in direct visitor spending and $865 million in total economic impact

- US apparel industry is expected to grow at about 2% annually

- Fashion manufacturing represents some 31% of all manufacturing jobs in NYC

- NYC's fashion retail market is the largest in the country with sales over $15 billion annually

- NYC's wholesale market represents 27% of the country's wholesale market and accounts for over 578,000 domestic and international visits a year

- NYC retailers generate over $15 billion in sales and $768 million in tax revenue annually

- Employment in NYC clothing and accessories stores expected to increase by 17%

- NYC employs 53,280 workers in design/wholesale, representing 12% of the US total; 25, 838 in manufacturing, 7% of  US total; and 95,718 in retail, 3% of US total

 

According to the report, these are the major trends impacting the fashion industry:

- Spend polarization: consumers spend mostly at high and low price points while ignoring the mid-tier, which fell by 4% annually from 2004 to 2009

- Growth in emerging markets: particularly Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC countries) where their annual GDP is expected to increase by 6-9% annually, compared to 2-4% in developed countries; foreign brands account for 20-40% of the top 10 brands in BRIC countries, compared to less than 20% in the US, UK and Germany

- Rise of contemporary brands: teen fashion and premium denim labels, thus favoring Los Angeles

- Demand for on-trend and in-season merchandise: "buy now, wear now," instead of waiting a season to buy the clothes you see during fashion weeks and in magazines

- Growth of vertical brand strategies: vertical integration, where brands handle all aspects of manufacturing and distributing their goods

- Appealing to online and mobile customers: online sales are expected to grow 10% annually compared to overall retail sales at 2% annually

- Rise of new media and social networks: both brands and consumers rely on social media platforms

- Consumer centricity: consumers providing more input into the design process

- Sustainability: designers and customers interested in producing and buying, respectively, sustainable merchandise

 

The report also outlined six initiatives the city is implementing to stimulate growth and interest in the fashion industry:

- Fashion Campus NYC: programming to expose summer interns to exciting career opportunities on the business side of fashion

- Fashion Draft NYC: talent recruitment initiative in which top college seniors get behind-the-scenes look at the fashion industry and interview for full-time, management track positions

- NYC Fashion Fellows: offering mentoring, networking and educational opportunities for rising stars in fashion management

- Design Entrepreneurs NYC: entrepreneurial boot camp to equip emerging designers with necessary tools to launch and manage their businesses

- Project Pop-Up: annual competition to foster innovation in retail by promoting compelling, cutting-edge retail concepts

- NYC Fashion Production Fund: providing emerging designers with loans for production financing as well as mentoring and access to local production resources

 

To get a copy of the Fashion.NYC.2020 report, click here.