Saint Louis
FASH IS FOUND AGAIN
To say that St. Louis is proud of its history is an understatement. We have been the first of many historical and monumental moments and movements. During the 1890s to the late 1950s, we were at the top of the game in an industry that is making a huge comeback: Textiles and garment manufacturing. Throughout the late 30s and 40s, St. Louis was one of the largest needle trade contributors in the country, second only to New York City. During this time, we created musthave fashion pieces that were coveted worldwide. Our city was the center of manufacturing for junior sizes; every little girl all over the world wanted a dress tailored in St. Louis. The boom in that time affected everything. According to historical records, over the course of just a handful of years, the number of garment workers in our fair city exploded from 1,200 to just over 6,000. Between the years of 1934 and 1949, the number of women’s clothing manufacturers
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September 2015
tripled, and the total sales volume spiked from 20 million to more than 85 million dollars. We were a force to be reckoned with. The 50s hit us hard though, and manufacturing moved to small towns. We were not a union city, so the jobs went south to union-ran areas. Discount stores started popping up all over, not to mention the opening of interstates, the dawn of computers and the foreign import boom. Downtown St. Louis started shutting down; jobs were lost and our powerful garment industry fell to its knees. Saint Louis Fashion Fund, established in May 2014, recently received its new non-profit status and is about to change all of that. Led by a 42-member Board of Directors, leaders in higher education, culture, business, law and fashion all driven by the same purpose, they are motivated to reclaim our heritage in the fashion industry. “We started in the basement of Winslow’s home with a group of retailers, art patrons, a few business people, all who were interested in bringing the business of fashion back to St. Louis,” Susan Sherman, Chair, Saint Louis Fashion Fund Board Of Directors says. They asked the question, “How can we make St. Louis relevant again, a place where fashion is important?” Caleres Emerging Designer Award, presented by Saint Louis Fashion Fund, is just one avenue they are using. Caleres awards $25,000 to the winner, but the industry’s reward is all about the process
of finding worthy contestants. On November 4, Caleres and Saint Louis Fashion Fund will present a runway presentation featuring the Five Emerging Designer Finalists’ lines before an audience of 1,000 as part of Saint Louis Fashion Week’s 12th season. The winning designer receives a cash prize, mentorship from industry professionals and the production of one item from their collection, with sales to benefit the Fashion Fund. “The Caleres Emerging Designer Award creates a pipeline of talent we hope to draw from for the new Fashion Incubator,” Tania Beasley-Jolly, Marketing Director for Saks Fifth Avenue and Emerging Designer Chair of the Fashion Fund Board says. “We are looking forward to these designers’ contributions to the City of St. Louis. They will work with the local design community, with students, and will serve as Ambassadors for Fashion in the broader community. It is our hope that several of them will choose to remain here and build important businesses.” The launch of Fashion Week is November 4th, and the five finalists this year are: Julie Haus and Jason Alkire (Haus Alkire), Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta (Eckhaus Latta), Azede Jean-Pierre (Azede Jean-Pierre), Katharine Polk (Houghton) and Jordana Warmflash (NOVIS). Jurors include: James LaForce, CEO of LaForce+Stevens; Fern Mallis, international fashion and design consultant; Tomoko Ogura, Barneys New York Fashion Director; Deb Bass, Fashion Editor of