LABJ Insider: LA’s Fashion Industry Continues to Grow

Fashion is woven into the fabric of Los Angeles, from Hollywood to Silicon Beach and everywhere in between.

Ilse Metchek, the president of the nonprofit California Fashion Association, wants to make sure L.A.’s business leaders don’t forget that.

While the town’s entertainment, real estate and finance industries may garner more headlines with their multibillion-dollar deals, Metchek was quick to point out during a fascinating conversation last week that L.A.’s far-flung fashion business is much bigger than most people realize.

The challenge is putting it into context.

“It’s hard to get a handle on the size of the industry in Los Angeles,” Metchek said, adding that the fashion business actually employs more people in L.A. than New York.

Tracking the industry is tricky, in part because the companies that comprise the city’s fashion world are so far-flung and encompass so many different sectors.

There are countless ways to slice fashion’s business side here, with brick-and-mortar retail companies, ecommerce businesses, independent designers and in-house creatives, to name just a few types.

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