- 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.

Like many of our other favorite brands, G-Star offered online shopping to international markets but now they’ve finally answered our prayers and delivered us a way to order online in the US. On the site you can purchase A/W items including all the merchandise featured in their campaigns staring Vincent Gallo & Gemma Arterton. You can also see the lastest styles from G-Star & Elle Magazine ‘s Women’s Night of Beauty & Shopping.

Make sure to check it out at shop.g-star.com

The site will showcase four looks styled by an Elle editor with four or five pieces from each look available for purchase. According to an H&M spokeswoman:

“This will be a preview of what’s to come in spring 2012, when we launch our e-commerce site. We’re launching the e-boutique two days before we release the collection in stores, so when it sells out online, customers will be able to go to any H&M store in the U.S. on Sept. 1 to buy it.” [WWD]

“It’s important to be able to show things in movement,” Balenciaga creavtive director Nicolas Ghesquière said. “It’s almost like a daily magazine now: It has to be really alive. Like everyone, we want to have a good amount of traffic.”

And a good amount traffic they shall receive with features like short films produced by famous photographers, a heritage section with vintage photos of starlets such as Marlene Dietrich and Ingrid Bergman wearing the brand and a full-fledged e-commerce section shipping to France, the U.K. and United States.

Look for the new Balenciaga site launching this week. Photos from WWD.com.

“Remote sellers,” i.e. Internet-only retailers and catalogue companies are at the center of the controversy. Traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, meanwhile, are typically required to add sales tax in whatever states they have stores. But states — seeking additional revenue to balance their budgets — are  pushing legislation to require e-tailers to collect sales taxes where they have a physical presence like a warehouse, call center or their headquarters.

And it’s no wonder considering the findings of a 2009 University of Tennessee study, which estimates that state and local governments could miss out on as much as $11.4 billion to $12.65 billion in sales taxes uncollected from e-commerce sales next year.

Even retailers with a strong online presence such as Wal-Mart hope to level the playing field by imposing taxes on online-only businesses. Because of their tax loophole, e-tailers can often run bigger sales, a practice that, according to a senior official at a specialty chain, “is killing other businesses.”

However, passing this type of legislation is easier said than done.

“Interstate commerce is generally legislated by the federal government,” says Paul Hurley, CEO of Ideeli, “and the right place to legislate this issue is at the federal level and even there, it’s going to be complicated.”

Hurley’s sentiments are echoed by Overstock CEO Patrick M. Byrne in a statement published on Overstock’s website:

“It is unconstitutional for a state to pass a law making out-of-state retailers collect sales tax simply for having business relations with marketing affiliates in those states.”

But Congress has already set those wheels into motion. The Durbin bill is an initiative by Assistant U.S. Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) that would require all retailers to collect sales taxes in the 45 states, including the District of Columbia, where they exist.

Hurley argues that these taxes could “stifle businesses that depend on technology and the Internet,” even though e-commerce growth shows no signs of slowing.  E-commerce now accounts for 9 percent of retail spending, in comparison to 0.47 percent in 1998 and a projected 11.1 percent in 2015.

With online sales projected at $197.3 billion this year and $217.5 billion next year, this issue will only continue to gain more traction. So the only option as I see it is to go on a massive shopping spree, hoard up on everything in anticipation of retail Armageddon and then unload it via your own e-commerce site for a tidy little profit. Capitalism at its finest. [WWD]

Want the looks now? Shop in store @DebutNYC and mention FashionIndie – get 10%off!

LOOK FOUR: Terrestrial Nautica

The Dress: Timo Weiland, $438

On the wall, this particular Timo Weiland dress was buttoned up to the tippy top and those long pieces were tied in a knot in front. If you’ve noticed yet, I don’t like just wearing a dress; there must be another layer in order to make it truly interesting to me. I knew I had to work this spotty pocketed piecey frock from the collection “A Warf on the Baltic” into my look, but how, I pondered, what could actually enhance this already amazing slightly Saurat experiment without fighting it…?

The Bikini Top: Lisa Marie Fernandez, $360

Because of the distinctly organized layout of Début, I was able at a glance from the middle of the store to spot the very piece that would bring the dress to multi-layer perfection. The answer was hanging on the front-most display in the form of a bikini top. As this is by Lisa Marie Fernandez, I know it will look entirely acceptable, if not futuristically fantastic, to wear swimwear as real clothes. I zipped myself into the maleable, even more wetsuit inspired cropped halter and closed it to the collar with the large plastic zipper and velcro strap.

The Bracelets: Brook & Lyn, $110

I had been lusting after this jewelry since the moment I walked in. Made from slates of agate that designer Mimi Jung found happenstance on her journey through Hong Kong, her line Brook & Lyn features these slabs of crystalized rock. Encased within either black or white woven rope, they form the collection entitled “Surrounded by Day and Night”. I selected two of the bracelets, in both teal-to-sea-foam and aqua blue to complement the frenzy of colors that this outfit creates.

Can you dig this neoprene top + chiffon dress combination? I’d love your thoughts.

Check tomorrow for my last look at Début. Teaser: Parachute Nylon.

Début | 298 Mulberry Street, New York, NY 10012

Inside: A very scary tweet.

Google is hosting an event called “High Tech Fuses with High Fashion.” The details are few, but it sounds like something’s up. Google hasn’t voiced their intentions yet.

The Web giant entering the fashion industry is a scary thought for retailers. (Google tends to, um, dominate anything it touches.)

One tweet heard ’round the world: “Google is launching an ecommerce site with shop in shops by major designers.” (@NoBtotheS)

Following the unveiling of Rad Hourani’s new line last July in New York City, the designer is now releasing the RAD by Rad Hourani collection on his newly inaugurated webstore, including online only exclusives as well as monthly additions.

Just in time for the holidays, Anna Sui has launched a new, e-commerce website: www.annasui.com.  Anna Sui customers can now shop online and order items such as illustrated t-shirts,  fragrances, as well as miscellaneous gift items such as the collectible Be@rbrick and Anna Sui tote bags.

Illustrator for the website is Dean “Chooch” Landry. Dean was also the illustrator for the previous Anna Sui website, plus has created artwork for several Anna Sui t-shirts and fashion show invitations.

One of my fave shoe brands, Omelle, just launched their e-commerce site, and I am so excited. There are only two stores in NYC that carry Omelle (both too far away) which means that it will be that much easier for me to shop for thier shoes online. I absolutely love theses shoes, and even though the price tag is a bit high, they are so well worth it. Check out some of the online exclusives…