Mayor Bill de Blasio, who self-deprecatingly says he’s at the bottom of the style totem pole in the De Blasio household, takes fashion very seriously.  On Wednesday, he kicked off New York Fashion Week with a major gift to the industry. The City is tripling its support from $5 million to $15 million to start new programs and enhance existing ones aimed at boosting the industry from design to manufacturing.

De Blasio spoke at MADE to an audience that included Diane von Furstenberg, Andrew Rosen, Nanette Lepore, Stacey Bendet, Maxwell Osborne, Dao-Yi Chow, Yeohlee Teng, Jeffrey Banks and the First Lady of NYC, Chirlane McCray.

The Mayor ended his remarks by honoring the late Oscar de la Renta and announcing that a future street in New York City would be named after the  designer and former CFDA president.

Below find the full press release with more details:

MAYOR DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES $15 MILLION INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT ‘MADE IN NY’ FASHION

New and Expanded Programs Support Manufacturers, Students, Emerging Talent, and Growing Companies Within One of New York City’s Key Industries

Fashion Industry Accounts for 5.5 Percent of City Workforce, Pays $11 Billion in Wages, Generates Nearly $2 Billion in Tax Revenue Annually

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen today marked the beginning of Fashion Week by announcing new and expanded programs to support the City’s fashion industry, tripling the current investment from $5 million to $15 million. New and enhanced programs will directly support and shine a spotlight on manufacturers, emerging designers, aspiring designers, and students in New York City. The new public-private programs include scholarships and internships to help immerse emerging talent in the fashion industry, and will build upon existing programs to further reinforce the City’s manufacturing and design sectors. Fashion companies may now apply to participate in Made In NY programs at MadeInNYFashion.nyc, which also provides valuable information and other resources for the City’s fashion industry.

The City’s fashion industry employs over 180,000 New Yorkers, and the semi-annual Fashion Weeks generate a total economic impact of $887 million for the City. Mayor de Blasio and Deputy Mayor Glen made the announcement at MADE, an upstart organization that provides approximately 40 designers with space, production and other resources to show their collections at no cost during each NYC Fashion Week.

The $15 million suite of initiatives will be largely comprised of public-private partnerships, spearheaded and financed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) with additional funding from a diverse set of industry partners. The program includes a two-year, $5 million creative marketing campaign, launching in 2015, that will leverage traditional and digital advertising media to highlight the City’s fashion companies. Additionally, the City will launch MadeInNYFashion.nyc, a digital hub dedicated to promoting local designers and manufacturers, showcasing New York City-made products, and providing the fashion industry with valuable resources and information.

An additional $5 million suite of programs for manufacturers includes Capital and Workforce Grants that build upon the existing Fashion Manufacturing Initiative to empower local production facilities to implement the latest cutting-edge manufacturing technology and training programs for workers. To ensure that the City is the first to adopt the latest techniques and is positioned to offer the full range of manufacturing options to local designers, new seed funding will help establish companies that explore the use of advanced technologies or offer services not readily available in the fashion manufacturing sector (e.g. knitwear). The City will also facilitate a “Production Summit” for fashion manufacturing in order to highlight best practices and identify innovative solutions for industry challenges; develop an electronic platform to allow local designers to more easily connect with local production facilities; and expand worker training sessions to ensure local garment workers stay up-to-date in their production skill set. To date, the City’s Fashion Manufacturing Initiative has granted over $1.1 million for equipment upgrades and workforce development to enable new efficiencies and increased competitiveness for 13 New York City manufacturing companies.

A $4 million package of new and expanded design initiatives will help designers build visibility within the industry by providing space at critical events such as trade shows, and by creating new public-facing opportunities to sell products and draw attention to their brands via retail pop-ups and partnerships. Additionally, the City will introduce an awards program that recognizes Made in NY designers who have demonstrated exceptional promise and ability. The City’s existing Fashion Production Fund has now awarded a total of nearly $1 million to 11 designers to help fulfill purchase orders that move their products into the marketplace.  Additionally, the City’s NYC Capsule Collection, operated in partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America, will allow City-based designers to create a small collection of items and facilitate their production in City-based factories to sell through City-based retailers.  NYCEDC and CFDA expect to announce participating designers in the coming months and collections to be in stores this fall.

For the first time, the City will offer a $1 million program to connect aspiring design students to the fashion industry via scholarships to study fashion-related disciplines at a New York City-based educational institution, and fully funded internships at fashion companies for current students who wish to gain exposure to the industry.

To be eligible for Made in NY initiatives, including having products featured in Made in NY branded retail events and marketing programs, designers must initially meet the following criteria:

a.  Headquartered or incorporated in New York City

b.  Possess registered business license

c.  Manufacture one or more fashion products (e.g. clothing, jewelry, or accessories)

d.  One or more existing retail partner(s) or minimum of 1,000 products sold annually

e.  One or more full-time employees

f.  One or more products designed, cut, sewn, assembled, and finished in New York City

The City’s fashion industry accounts for 5.5 percent of the city’s workforce, pays $11 billion in wages, and generates nearly $2 billion in tax revenue annually. New York City’s wholesale fashion market is one of the world’s largest, attracting more than 500,000 visitors per year to its trade shows, showrooms and fashion shows. Overall, the industry garners more than $18 billion in retail sales, $72 billion in wholesale sales, and $8 billion in manufacturing sales annually. The city’s semi-annual Fashion Weeks draw approximately 232,000 attendees to more than 500 shows, creating a total economic impact of $887 million.

For more information, visit MadeInNYFashion.nyc.