As part of the 10th anniversary of the Fashion Manufacturing Initiative (FMI), the CFDA, in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), announced the 2023 FMI Grant Fund recipients, continuing the decade-long support of the New York City fashion manufacturing sector.
The 2023 round of grants marks the eighth round of the program, which has invested over $5.6 million across New York City, with over $1 million distributed this year.
The 18 grant recipients include: Button Down Factory, Capital Cutting, Create-A-Marker, Dream Fashion, Emmelle Design, Glory Apparel, Heartland Manufacturing, Knit Resort, LW Pearl, Martin Greenfield Clothiers, Mei Zou Pattern Design, Park Avenue International, Polytime, Rainbow Leather, Refine Studio, Sunrise Studio, Sustain Brand Advisory, and Tomtex, who is the program’s first-ever material innovation grant recipient.
Among the recipients, 66 percent are women-owned businesses; 55 percent are minority-owned businesses; and 55 percent are first-time recipients of funds through the FMI Grant Fund. Nearly 300 jobs are impacted across this year’s recipients’ businesses through the grants.
Services of the recipients include cutting and sewing, pattern and sample development, knitwear services, embellishment/embroidery, fabric dyeing, printing and washing, marking and grading, as well as material innovation development and production.
Criteria for the recipient selection included qualifiers surrounding environmental sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as community and workforce impact and overarching business viability. All recipients successfully completed both financial audits as well as social compliance audits which covered areas such as health and safety, worker wages and welfare, and more.
