NYC Is Bringing Even More Fashion Initiatives to Sunset Park

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Continuing its support of the local fashion community, New York City is announcing a $3.5 million investment into a new fashion incubator in Sunset Park—where companies like Steven Alan, BaubleBar, and Malia Mills have already set up work spaces within Industry City.

The Manufacturing Innovation Hub for Apparel, Textiles & Wearable Tech, WWD reports, will be part of the privately-owned Liberty View Industrial Plaza and consist mainly of manufacturing space, along with storage and work areas for designers, classrooms, a research and development center, and a factory for making samples

Construction on the site is expected to begin in February. Of the 160,000 total square feet that the Hub comprises, nearly a quarter of that will be dedicated to a permanent home for Manufacture NY, which is now taking up a mere 2,000 square feet elsewhere in the complex (having moved out of its temporary Garment District space earlier this year).

Many of the initiatives proposed for the Manufacturing Innovation Hub—a space dedicated to researching wearables, a workforce development center, a design accelerator to help talented artisans launch businesses—sound similar to the Pratt Institute's BF + DA that was announced last month. The city is investing more than a million dollars in that project.

Officials that include Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen, NYC Economic Development Corp. president Kyle Kimball, and Manufacture NY CEO and founder Bob Bland are holding a press conference in Sunset Park this morning to announce further developments for the project.

· NYC to Invest $3.5M in Fashion Incubator in Brooklyn [WWD]
· Pratt Institute Hops on New York's Fashion Incubator Train [Racked NY]
· How Manufacture NY Gives Young Designers a Fighting Chance [Racked NY]