Does The Fashion Industry Need Government Aid To Survive?

The fashion industry has been hard hit by the recession, and it looks like it may take some strategic political partnerships to find the path of recovery. After the collaborative efforts of Fashion’s Night Out, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is helping to launch another initiative to help stimulate the fashion economy. This time, it’s a designer contest which will begin next month, reports the Post: “The mayor will stage a competition to pick 12 up-and-coming designers for a new city-sponsored fashion ‘incubator’ facility. The project is aimed at helping New York attract young talent by providing cheap design space.” [NY Post]

Bloomberg, expressing his concern for the fashion business, called NYC the “fashion capital of the world,” yet overseas, the French are also working hard to retain this claim. The couture industry has also suffered from the recession, and today government officials are convening to discuss special tax breaks for designers as well as “the the fragility of the sector and its importance to France’s image, and the difficulty in recruiting and training young artisans,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

While the events in France and New York are operating on slightly different levels, it nevertheless points the fashion industry’s openness to receive government help. Is this a good thing, or do you think the politicos should be focusing their efforts elsewhere? [WSJ]