LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles was once the epicenter of apparel manufacturing, attracting buyers from across the world to its clothing factories, sample rooms and design studios.
But over the years, cheap overseas labor lured many apparel makers to outsource to foreign competitors in far-flung places such as China and Vietnam.
Now, Los Angeles firms are facing another big hurdle — California’s minimum wage hitting $15 an hour by 2022 — which could spur more garment makers to exit the state.
Earlier this month American Apparel, the biggest clothing maker in Los Angeles, said it might outsource the making of some garments to another manufacturer in the U.S., and wiped out about 500 local jobs. The company still employs about 4,000 workers in Southern California.
“The exodus has begun,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at Cal State Channel Islands and a former director at Forever 21. “The garment industry is gradually shrinking and that trend will likely continue.”
In the last decade, local apparel manufacturing has already thinned significantly. Last year, Los Angeles County was home to 2,128 garment makers, down 33 percent from 2005, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. During that period, employment also plunged by a third, to 40,500 workers. Wages, meanwhile, jumped 17 percent adjusting for inflation, to $698 per week — although that can include pay for top executives, as well as bonuses, tips and paid vacation time.
Many apparel companies say Los Angeles is a difficult place to do business. Commercial real estate is expensive and limited, the cost of raw materials continues to rise and it can be difficult to find skilled workers who can afford to live in the city. They expect things will become even more challenging after the minimum-wage hike further raises their expenses.
Felix Seo has been making clothes for wholesale in Los Angeles for 30 years. His company, Joompy, used to count giant retailers like Forever 21 among its clients. But as prices have gone up in recent years, he said, those fast-fashion peddlers are no longer giving him orders.
“I used to pay $5 to get this sewn, and now it costs $6.50,” Seo said, holding up a patterned dress. “But my customer doesn’t want to pay that, so I can’t sell it anymore.”
To survive, Seo, 59, said Joompy may have to start importing goods instead of producing them locally. “It will be impossible to make clothes in Los Angeles,” he said.
The minimum wage is accelerating changes in the LA apparel industry that began decades ago, industry experts said.
In the 1990s, as borders opened up, foreign competitors began snatching up business from Southern California garment factories.
Eventually, many big brands opted to leave the region in favor of cheaper locales. Guess Jeans, which epitomized a sexy California look, moved production to Mexico and South America. Just a few years ago, premium denim maker Hudson Jeans began shifting manufacturing to Mexico.
Jeff Mirvis, owner of MGT Industries in Los Angeles, said outsourcing was necessary to keep up with low-cost rivals. MGT, which makes apparel sold to retailers, moved its production to Mexico in the 1990s, China in the early 2000s and Southeast Asia a few years later. Its designs and samples are still made in Los Angeles, Mirvis said.
“Manufacturers really have no choice,” said Mirvis, whose father started the company in 1988. “With the rise of Forever 21 and stores like that, price points have gone down and down and down.”
Labor organizers say it’s greed, not survival, that’s pushing clothing makers out of California.
“It’s always, ‘Oh woe is me, If I pay minimum wage at this rate I can’t turn a profit,’” said Nativo Lopez, a senior adviser with Hermandad Mexicana, which is helping American Apparel workers unionize. “They were using that argument when the wage was $6.75 an hour.”
For nearly two decades, American Apparel bucked that trend. In 1997, when apparel makers were flocking overseas, American Apparel began making cotton T-shirts in Los Angeles and paying its workers higher than minimum wage. At the time, founder Dov Charney recalls, the local apparel industry thought the company was doomed.
“They basically were of the mind that my efforts were futile and juvenile,” he said. “The competitors, the consultants, the banks — everybody thought I was crazy.”
But the company proved detractors wrong, and its success inspired other garment makers to make a go of it in Los Angeles, said Ilse Metchek, president of the California Fashion Association.
It “was the impetus for many, many other companies to move here to make their goods,” she said. “If it could be done by a neophyte like Dov, other people thought they could do it, too.”
If American Apparel’s production leaves, that “unfortunately will also make a difference,” she said.
After years of net losses, moving production out of Los Angeles is necessary for the survival of American Apparel, industry experts said. The company initially considered staying in California and moving just outside Los Angeles to the city of Vernon, according to a person familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to speak publicly. After the state raised the minimum wage, executives began looking at manufacturers in the South, the person said.
Local garment workers said they’re worried about their livelihoods if the city loses more clothing companies.
Marina Neza, 66, was one of the workers who lost her job as part of American Apparel’s latest layoffs.
Neza said she used to make about $500 a week as a sewing machine operator. Over 32 years in the industry, Neza said she’s been fortunate to work for many apparel makers in Los Angeles that paid decent wages.
But Neza said she’s worried about finding another job to make ends meet. Her husband is sick, she said, and can work only part time.
“Apparel manufacturing has been my life,” she said. “There are many, many companies that have moved out of here. I’m not sure about finding work.”
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