LA’s storied fashion district in a slump – can the Olympics put it back on its feet?

The famous Santee Alley in Los Angeles’s fashion district. The district’s business leaders hope the Games can bring a life-saving shock to the area. Photograph: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The famous Santee Alley in Los Angeles’s fashion district. The district’s business leaders hope the Games can bring a life-saving shock to the area. Photograph: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images LA’s storied fashion district in a slump – can the Olympics put it back on its feet? The neighborhood that makes America’s clothes has been buffeted by ICE raids and post-Covid problems – but leaders say hope is on the horizon D owntown Los Angeles’s fashion district, the largest apparel manufacturing hub in the United States, is a neighborhood in freefall. While 83% of clothing cut and sewn in the United States is made here, the district has suffered in recent years as visitation and sales have plummeted. “I went from making $2,000 a day to making now $500, sometimes $700,” said Fernando Carmona, who owns the women’s dress store AP Design by Rocca. He added that rent for his store is $8,250 a month. On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Carmona was hustling. Glittering dresses in red, blue and black lined the walls from ceiling to floor. On the street, foot traffic was a slow trickle. These days, Carmona said he can’t slack off for even a moment, or he might lose precious business. Fernando’s shop is located in the 107-block neighborhood made up of storefronts, showrooms and factories, and is known for its local businesses that sell everything from tailored tuxedos to flower bouquets at cheap prices. Carmona, who opened his store in another location before the pandemic, said foot traffic has never been as bad as it is now. Immigration enforcement raids ordered by the Trump administration last summer have left a scar on workers across the district, who are afraid to go to work. And, he said, sales haven’t bounced back to their pre-pandemic levels. But there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon. In two years, LA will host the Olympic Games, and leaders are hopeful the global event will be a boon for the city. The Games are expected to bring millions of visitors and generate billions of dollars in income to a city still reeling from a year of turbulent events including last year’s wildfires. Leaders across the fashion district, as well as LA’s broader fashion industry, have hopes that the Games can bring a life-saving shock to the area. “The Olympics has been the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Anthony Rodriguez, CEO and president of the LA Fashion District, a body that works with local governments to manage the neighborhood. An Olympic ‘jump-start’ In the run-up to the Games, every host city is required to put on a “cultural Olympiad,” a suite of events and activities that highlight the cultural richness of the host city. LA is no different – but it is behind. LA28 delivered its cultural plan six months past its self-