Help Us Build Fashion Center Chicago

Chicago has the talent. Now we’re building the infrastructure to keep it here.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Chicago metropolitan area had an estimated 290 wage-and-salary fashion designer jobs in 2017. By 2023, that number had fallen to just 70—a decline of approximately 76%.

For comparison, New York had approximately 7,910 fashion designer jobs in 2023 and Los Angeles had 4,180. Chicago’s concentration of fashion designer employment was dramatically below the national average. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

The BLS numbers do not capture every independent or self-employed designer working in Chicago. But the direction should concern us.

Because when we lose a designer, we don’t just lose a designer. We lose the ecosystem around them.

Patternmakers. Sample makers. Sewers. Textile suppliers. Photographers. Stylists. Merchandisers. Models. Makeup artists. Manufacturers. Retailers. Internships. Mentors. And the small fabric, trim, button, lace and notions businesses that exist because there is an industry around them.

We lose businesses. We lose jobs. And eventually, we lose part of the creative identity of our city.

Chicago is producing the talent. We need to give them a reason to stay.

Every year, hundreds of students study fashion and fashion-adjacent fields across Chicago and Illinois—from fashion design and merchandising to photography, textiles, costume, beauty, marketing and production.

[Photo: Designer Tracy Asare, Student at DuPage College. Apprentice for Stephane St. Jaymes- AIBI.]

Then they graduate.

For many, that means losing access to the industrial equipment, studios, workrooms, technology, mentors and creative community they had in school.

Now imagine trying to build a fashion company while independently finding workspace, buying industrial equipment, sourcing fabric, making samples, finding production, photographing your collection, marketing it and finding customers.

We can make that easier.

That’s why we’re building Fashion Center Chicago.

For nearly 40 years, the Apparel Industry Board, Inc. (AIBI) has worked to support and grow Chicago’s apparel industry.

AIBI was established in 1987 following Mayor Harold Washington’s Apparel and Fashion Industry Task Force. Our roots go back to a time when Chicago designers had local showrooms, buyers came here to do business and the apparel industry had a physical home.

Chicago still has the talent. What we need is the infrastructure to connect it.

Fashion Center Chicago will create a centralized home where designers, makers, students, photographers, digital creators, beauty professionals, manufacturers, retailers and entrepreneurs can work, make, sell and build businesses together.

The Fashion Center is envisioned to include:

Prototyping and fashion labs with industrial equipment and technical resources
Cut-and-sew production for sampling and small-batch manufacturing
Business incubation to help emerging entrepreneurs build viable companies
An accelerator to help established brands grow sales, operations and distribution
Showrooms and sales support connecting brands with buyers and new markets
Coworking and offices for fashion and creative businesses
Photography, Live Shopping podcast and content studios
Classrooms and workforce training
Events, markets and fashion shows
Mentors, industry connections and pathways to capital

It creates one connected pathway:

Incubator → Prototyping → Production → Accelerator → Market Access → Scale

The goal is to support designers build a company, A company that sells products. Hires employees. Uses local manufacturers. Creates internships. Opens a storefront. Attracts investment. And eventually grows beyond the Fashion Center into its own space in Chicago.

This is economic development.

Illinois already has a powerful creative economy. Arts Alliance Illinois reports approximately 226,000 creative workers, 22,000 creative businesses and $37 billion in economic impact statewide. Arts Alliance Illinois

Fashion should be a larger part of that economy.

A successful fashion company creates demand for photographers, manufacturers, suppliers, marketers, models, salespeople, technology, logistics, commercial real estate and retail.

When we build fashion businesses, we build an economy around them.

And there is no better place to do it than State Street.

Fashion and State Street have always gone hand in hand.

For generations, people came downtown to shop, discover new brands, see incredible windows and experience Chicago. We believe fashion can help bring that energy back.

Imagine walking down State Street and seeing a fashion show through the windows. Upstairs, students are learning. A designer is making a sample. A photographer is shooting a campaign. A founder is meeting with a buyer. A small brand is producing its first collection.

Then those businesses grow—and begin opening their own studios, factories and storefronts throughout Chicago.

Education → Fashion Center → Businesses → Jobs → Stores → Foot Traffic → Tourism → Stronger Corridors

That is how an ecosystem grows.

The Garment District is coming back.

But an industry doesn't come back because one organization says it should.

It comes back because a community decides to build it together.

Our capital campaign goal is $1.5 million.

Whether you give $25, $100, $500, $2,500 or become a major founding partner, your support helps create the infrastructure Chicago's fashion and creative community needs to stay here, build here and grow here.

Your gift is for the student who wants to stay in Chicago after graduation.

For the designer trying to turn a collection into a company.

For the patternmaker looking for consistent work.

For the photographer building a creative business.

For the manufacturer looking for the next generation of clients.

For the entrepreneur who simply needs a place to begin.

Chicago has the talent.

Now let’s build the infrastructure around it.

Help us build Fashion Center Chicago.

Help us bring Chicago’s Garment District back.

Full Campaign Goal: $1,500,000

How do we know when we are successful? When we see Illinois hit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as a Top 10 in wage-and-salary fashion designer job!

TM 2026 Apparel Industry Board, Inc. (AIBI). All Rights Reserved.
Fashion Center Chicago™, Chicago Garment District™, campaign concepts, written content, program models, graphics, renderings, photographs, and related materials are proprietary to Apparel Industry Board, Inc. and may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, adapted, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission by it's author Nicole Ruiz. Funds may be used for operational expenses. Contact for more information

It's Time for a Garment District

Help us build the place where Chicago’s next generation of fashion businesses begins.

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