FASHION

The Fashion Industry today is a multibillion-dollar global enterprise devoted to the business of making and selling clothes. Some observers distinguish between the fashionindustry (which makes “high fashion”) and the apparel industry (which makes ordinary clothes or “mass fashion”), however, the fashion industry encompasses the design, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, retailing, advertising, and promotion of all types of apparel (men’s, women’s, and children’s) from the most rarefied and expensive haute couture (literally, “high sewing”) and designer fashions to ordinary everyday clothing—from couture ball gowns to Juicy Couture-brand sweatpants. Sometimes the broader term “fashion industries” is used to refer to myriad industries and services that employ millions of people internationally.

The US Fashion Industry is a $225 billion industry with the three major fashion centers in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, though with technology, many companies have ventured beyond those city limits and are located throughout the United States.

The US apparel retail industry consists of the sale of all menswear, womenswear and childrenswear. The menswear market includes mens activewear, casual wear, essentials, formalwear, formalwear-occasion and outerwear. The womenswear market includes women's activewear, casual wear, essentials, formalwear, formalwear-occasion and outerwear. The childrenswear market includes baby clothing, boys activewear, boys casual wear, boys essentials, boys formalwear, boys formalwear-occasion, boys outerwear, girls activewear, girls casual wear, girls essentials, girls formalwear-occasion, girls outerwear and toddler clothing.

“…Major market centers, apparel manufacturers and some of the largest and most unique retail centers in the world provide California with diversified career opportunities. At this time, California is the number one fashion employer in the nation. California’s apparel industry is a thriving economic force in the United States.”

                                                                  – California Fashion Association

Key sectors of the fashion industry:

Textile Design & Production

Fashion Design & Manufacturing

Fashion Retailing & Merchandising

Fashion Marketing, Promotion & Advertising