Yesterday's "Save the Garment Center" rally was well-attended — by fashion students, garment workers, and even high-end designers, reports the NYT — but it looks like the district could already be making a comeback. In a far cry from this summer — when Mayor Bloomberg proposed to consolidate the entire NYC garment industry into a single building — the city is now sponsoring incubator studios for young designers, who will be selected in a competition. The 12 lucky winners will not only get a two-year lease at below-market rent in a shiny new architect-designed space, but will also receive counseling from the CFDA, making this something like a real-life Project Runway. Of course, for the landlords involved, even more than for the designers, it's a win-win situation: the floor being used for the incubator project was standing empty anyway.
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