The LA garment district, now called the Fashion District: a brand's guide

Garment district or Fashion District: one place, two names

People search for the LA garment district, but the business improvement district (BID) that serves the area calls it the LA Fashion District. By its own description it covers 107 blocks of downtown Los Angeles^[1]. Its service area runs generally between 7th Street and the Santa Monica 10 Freeway, and between Broadway and Essex Street^[3].

The BID's own pages count more than 4,000 independently owned and operated retail and wholesale businesses^[2], and over 2,000 wholesale businesses^[4]. Those are selling businesses. The BID gives no count of sewing rooms or sample makers, so a sourcing trip needs appointments as well as walking.

What a brand can source in the Fashion District

• Fabric and notions. Knits, wovens, linings, elastic and thread. Buy enough to sample, then ask whether the same article and color will be in stock when your order is ready. A one-off lot you cannot reorder is a trap for a style that sells.
• Trims and labels. Buttons, zippers, woven labels and hang tags can be matched by hand. Ask label suppliers for their artwork specs early; the clothing brand guide covers the label rules, including the origin line for garments sewn here from imported fabric.
• Wholesale showrooms. Useful if your first line is decorated blanks or bought-in styles rather than your own pattern.

Sample rooms and sewing shops can be anywhere in the county, not only in the district. Ask each shop you meet for its MOQ per style and color, and for a price per garment in writing. Bring a tech pack for every style, so each shop prices the same garment.

How much sewing is left in LA

Federal employment data show LA County still has 1,288 apparel manufacturing establishments (NAICS 315) with an average of 18,842 jobs in 2025^[5]. Of that total, the county had 739 cut and sew contractor establishments (NAICS 315210) with 6,084 jobs in 2025^[5]; both job figures are annual averages. The federal definition describes those as contractors primarily engaged in (1) cutting materials owned by others for apparel and accessories and/or (2) sewing materials owned by others for apparel and accessories^[6]. A decade earlier the county had 2,075 apparel manufacturing establishments (NAICS 315) with an average of 41,193 jobs in 2015^[7]. Apparel manufacturing jobs fell by more than half.

These are county figures, not district figures. A sewing room that a Fashion District contact recommends may be elsewhere in the county, so ask for the address where your garments will be sewn. Most of these shops sew fabric a brand supplies. Ask whether a shop works cut, make and trim or full package, because on cut, make and trim you buy the fabric and trims and carry any shortfall. Book sampling and first runs early, and line up a second contractor before you commit to a launch date.

California's garment law when you hire a contractor

The rules changed with Senate Bill 62, the Garment Worker Protection Act, in effect since January 1, 2022^[8]. Garment workers must now be paid an hourly rate not less than the minimum wage; they cannot be paid a piece rate^[8]. The Labor Commissioner's FAQ notes one exception: employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement^[8] whose terms meet the conditions the FAQ lists.

The law reaches past the sewing room to whoever orders the work. A brand guarantor is any person contracting for the performance of garment manufacturing operations regardless of the layers between the brand guarantor and the contractor^[8]. So a brand is covered even when a full package manufacturer or another middleman sits between it and the shop. The trigger is a Labor Commissioner finding that a shop's workers are owed wages. Then the contractor, the manufacturer and the brand guarantor are all liable for the full amount of wages owed for any time the manufacturer or brand guarantor was contracting to have that shop do garment work^[8]. That full amount covers unpaid minimum, regular, overtime and other premium wages, reimbursement for expenses, and any other compensation, including interest^[8]. Brand guarantors must also keep records for four years, including a copy of the garment license of each garment business they contract with that must register^[8].

Registration comes first. The Labor Commissioner's garment page says every entity engaged in garment manufacturing must register, and contracting with a contractor for those operations counts as being engaged^[9]. Its FAQ adds that brand guarantors must register if they are engaged in garment manufacturing within the meaning of Labor Code section 2671(c)^[8]. So a brand that contracts with a sewing shop directly should expect to register; confirm the details with the Labor Commissioner's Office before the first order.

To check a shop, the office offers a garment registration search for approved and temporary registrations, and a separate one for denials, revocations and suspensions^[10]. Search both lists, for the shop and for any shop it sends work to. Match the legal name on the quote to the registered name, keep a copy of its license, and put a no-subcontracting-without-approval clause in the order.

What federal investigators found

The US Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division surveyed contractors and manufacturers in Southern California. It found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 80 percent of its investigations, in a 2022 survey based on data from more than 50 contractors and manufacturers^[11]. The same survey found 32 percent of contractors paying garment workers piece-rate wages^[11].

The same release put the average sewing fee at $2.75 below the amount needed per garment for sewing contractors to comply with federal wage standards^[11]. Contractors that paid lawfully received a higher sewing fee, ranging from $17.50 to $35 per garment^[11]. The release does not say which garments those fees covered, so read them as a warning about unusually low bids, not as a price list.

The risk also lands on the goods. Federal law prevents interstate shipment of "hot goods" produced in violation of minimum wage, overtime, or child labor regulations, and applies to anyone in possession of the goods^[12]. If your warehouse or fulfillment center is in another state, shipping a run there from LA is an interstate shipment, and so is sending an order to a customer in another state. In a later release, the division described a company that used garment contractors. It agreed to make good on its contractors' legal obligations and pay $582,317 in back wages and an equal amount in damages^[12].

Questions about the LA Fashion District

Does LA have a Garment District?

Yes. Its BID calls it the Fashion District, and its service area is the one described above. Garment work spreads wider than those blocks: the federal counts above cover all of LA County.

Is the LA Fashion District worth visiting?

For a brand developing its own styles, yes, with a plan. Many doors are wholesale only, most stores keep daytime hours, and workrooms need appointments. Compare fabric by hand and buy trims on the walk, and visit sample makers and sewing shops by booking, wherever in the county they are.

Is the LA Garment District open?

Stores set their own hours. The BID's shopping tips say you can expect most stores to be open between 10am and 5pm^[2], and suggest contacting stores directly if you plan to visit particular ones. Sewing shops and sample rooms are not retail stores, so call ahead for an appointment.

Can anyone shop at the LA Fashion District?

Not every store is open to the public. The BID notes that a wholesale license is required to shop "Wholesale Only" shops^[2]. It also says more and more wholesalers are transitioning to wholesale and retail in order to sell direct to consumer^[2]. Ask each shop before the trip what it needs to see from a wholesale buyer.

How to use the Fashion District as a brand

1. Book before you go. Make appointments with pattern makers, sample rooms and sewing shops; walk the fabric and trim stores around them.
2. Sample in the real fabric. Buy yardage for samples, record each roll's article number and ask about repeat stock at production quantity.
3. Fit, then approve. Correct the fit on a body in each size, and sign off a pre-production sample that the run will be checked against.
4. Check the registrations. Search the shop and any subcontractor on both state lists, and keep a copy of each license with your records.
5. Test the price. If a sewing price looks far below what other shops quote for the same style, ask how the shop pays hourly wages at that rate.
6. Put it in writing. Price per garment, quantity, deposit and balance, and completion date. Who owns the pattern and marker, the return of leftover fabric, the accepted defect rate, and no subcontracting without your approval.
7. Plan the next run. Keep proven fast-turn styles local if the numbers work, and compare larger runs with overseas quotes on landed cost with the import duty and landed cost guide.

Before a bigger order, a factory audit checks the shop's conditions and records on site.

When the style is ready for production

Send us the tech pack for the approved style, its fabric and trim details, and the quantity per style and color. Say whether you want the next run in LA, elsewhere in the US or overseas; a California contractor must hold its state garment registration. We introduce you to clothing manufacturers that fit, each one named, or tell you if none does. It is free for brands, and the manufacturers quote you directly, so check the registration of any California shop among them before you send fabric.