Downtown Los Angeles manufactures 83 percent of all clothing cut and sewn in the United States, yet the district has become a cautionary tale of urban decline. Empty storefronts line what was once America's most vibrant apparel center, and business owners say the neighborhood is hemorrhaging customers and revenue.
Fernando Carmona owns AP Design by Rocca, a women's dress shop in the heart of the 107-block fashion district. He remembers better days. "I went from making $2,000 a day to making now $500, sometimes $700," Carmona said. His monthly rent alone runs $8,250, a burden that feels heavier as foot traffic dwindles to a trickle.
The decline traces to multiple shocks. Immigration enforcement raids conducted last summer left workers too frightened to show up to factories and production floors. Pandemic-era disruptions never fully reversed. Sales remain stubbornly below pre-COVID levels. For retailers like Carmona, survival means constant hustling, constant vigilance against losing what little business remains.
But Los Angeles has a 2028 bet to place on revival. The Olympic Games are coming, and district leaders believe the global spotlight and flood of visitors could resurrect their neighborhood.
Anthony Rodriguez, CEO of the LA Fashion District, frames the Games as a lifeline. "The Olympics has been the light at the end of the tunnel," he said. The district has been battered by one crisis after another, he explained, leaving little room to recover before the next problem hits. An Olympic boost could finally provide breathing room.
Other cities have seen lasting benefits from hosting the Games. LA's 1984 Olympics left tangible legacies, including the LA Opera, now ranked among the top 10 opera companies in the nation. The Games left the city with a financial surplus that funded youth sports programs that operate to this day.
Downtown is already mobilizing. The convention center, which will host wrestling and fencing, is undergoing a $2.62 billion renovation. The city approved a new special arts district designed to offer entertainment packages to Olympic tourists. Nick Griffin, executive vice president of the DTLA Alliance, said the visibility alone is invaluable. "The economic opportunity that that represents is incalculable. You cannot buy that kind of advertising," he said.
For the fashion district specifically, landing official status as a cultural hub during LA's required Olympic cultural festival would be transformative. Rodriguez believes such a designation, paired with funding for neighborhood events, could help Angelenos rediscover the district's appeal. The city released a shortlist of neighborhoods for cultural hub status, but the fashion district did not make the cut.
Jonathan Saven, CEO of LA-based womenâs wear brand L'Agence, has pitched an ambitious plan directly to LA28, the Olympic organizing committee. His proposal features the city as a "global atelier" with multiple fashion-focused events, potentially livestreamed through YouTube. LA28 declined to officially sanction the idea, but Saven hopes to rally the local fashion community to organize something independently.
Saven is also opening the Denim Institute, a museum and denim school, in the district next year. He and co-founder Loren Cronk plan to bring international students to study local manufacturing firsthand, a strategy designed to raise the district's profile and generate economic activity.
Daisy Gonzalez, campaigns director at the Garment Workers Center, which represents over 40,000 garment workers across LA, sees Olympic merchandise production as a concrete opportunity. Manufacturing Olympic apparel locally could create badly needed jobs for workers who have lost ground to wage theft, offshoring, and enforcement raids.
Rodriguez frames the stakes broadly. "This isn't something that I want just for the fashion district. This is something that I want for all of downtown," he said. "This is the last corner of LA where people can live out their dreams."
Author James Rodriguez: "The fashion district's survival shouldn't depend on a sporting event, but if the Olympics can deliver what the neighborhood has failed to get from policy and investment, that's worth watching closely."
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