RaiseFashion Spotlights Production Gap

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16 hours ago

'I just have to say something,' Prabal Gurung said. 'Who knew Long Island City was so fashionable?'
The American designer and memoirist was joking, of course, but the sentiment was sincere.
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Just above a local factory's cutting room floor was a group of industry insiders and emerging designers, gathered in support of RaiseFashion, a nonprofit dedicated to offering pro-bono advisory services, grant resources, and network access to Black, Indigenous, and people of color-owned brands.
'We're here tonight not just to network and fund-raise, but to name the production gap for what it is,' said Felita Harris, RaiseFashion's executive director and co-founder. Considering most manufacturers require high minimums, she explained, designers need thousands upfront just to get started. Payment delays of 60 to 90 days only deepen the strain.
'Eight out of 10 designers we've worked with cite production financing as their biggest barrier. In 2024, just 0.4 percent of venture capital went to BIPOC founders,' Harris said. 'These statistics aren't just numbers. They represent collections that never leave the sketchpad, opportunities that vanish before they're realized, and creative businesses that stall—not for lack of vision, but for lack of access.'
The organization's annual Raise the Future fundraiser was held June 12 at the family-owned Ferrara Manufacturing headquarters in Long Island City in support of the Designer Production Fund. This grant initiative was created to front production costs, broker relationships and fulfill orders at scale to, ultimately, build sustainable businesses without compromising integrity.
'Your support helps turn a sketch into a sample, a sample into a collection and a collection into legacy,' Harris said. 'And who doesn't want to be a part of that?'
Looking behind the curtain to 'go deeper into realities behind the runway,' per Harris, the evening's panel explored 'the trust cost of production' to take an honest look at what it takes to build a lasting business, highlighting production realities and power in local manufacturing.
'I love running a family business. It's been great, it's been an honor,' Joseph Ferrara, co-founder of Ferrara Manufacturing, said. 'What I love about the industry most is the creative force that drives it. It's the designers, it's the creators, and they are so prolific. They are so unbelievably talented.'
To that end, Joseph Ferrara sees his role as something of a conduit.
'I like to capture that energy in a bottle, translate it into a factory activity, and produce clothes that are a representation of that vision, of that joy, of that unbelievable creative talent,' he said. 'That's what turns me on.'
That same creative force, he said, is what makes the business possible in the first place.
'Our reason for existing is because design exists,' Ferrara said. 'Without design, without creativity, there's nothing for us to do.'
Supporting the future of the industry, he emphasized, isn't optional—it's imperative. That means backing all emerging creators.
'Our job is to execute. It's to interpret, it's to monetize, it's to operationalize, it's to make sustainable,' Joseph Ferrara said. 'Design is a function, and if they're not making money, we're not making money.'
The long-term viability of the business, Joseph Ferrara argued, hinges on investing in new talent now.
'We're going to need enough [designers] 10 years from now,' he said. 'It's all about replenishment. When we think about what sustains forests, you're seeding new plants. And if you're not part of that ecosystem—if you're not part of the future—you shouldn't be part of the present.'
This mindset persists throughout the local manufacturer. Gabrielle Ferrara, president and COO of Ferrara Manufacturing (and Joseph Ferrara's daughter) highlighted a pervasive myth within the industry.
'Sustainability is a hot topic,' said Gabrielle Ferrara. 'Everyone wants to buy sustainable clothing, and everyone wants to make it—but it's pretty complicated to do that.'
She pointed out that the word 'sustainability' often gets flattened in conversations despite being quite multifaceted in practice.
'There's material sustainability: Buying something certified by one of many organizations,' she explained. 'But there's also production sustainability: Are you paying fair wages? Are the people making your clothes being treated how they should?'
Certifications tend to dominate the conversation, especially among big brands, Gabrielle Ferrara said. But they don't tell the whole story.
'There are more holistic ways to approach it,' she added. 'One of my favorite projects was with Jacob James' American Woolen mill in Connecticut. We made a fully sustainable garment, using certified sustainable wool—but it wasn't just about the fiber. It was about labor, materials, the full production cycle.'
The biggest myth, she said, is assuming that sustainability begins and ends with the fabric.
'It's not just about the material,' Gabrielle Ferrara said. 'It's about the entire process.'
Aisling Camps, designer and CFDA member, as well as RaiseFashion masterclass alumna and Designer Production Fund recipient, knows this all too well.
'My background is in engineering, with a focus on sustainability,' she said. 'From the start, I was committed to making products that were ethically and responsibly produced. But that comes at a cost.'
That cost? Thinner margins. And harder decisions. Even with 'great partners and growing resilience,' per Camps, the production process has been a constant challenge. And that's where RaiseFashion comes in.
'Raise has gotten me into rooms I never thought I'd be in—connected me to C-suite leaders, opened doors, and, more importantly, helped cover production when I didn't know how I'd pay my factory,' Camps said. 'The grants go straight to invoices. It's that real.'
The system, she argued, is structurally broken for smaller, emerging designers.
'It's a cash flow game,' she said. 'You get paid in six months, but you have to pay your entire business now—your production, your staff, your show. The barrier to entry is astronomical. These production grants don't just help—they keep us alive.'
For founders like Camps, the challenge is less about vision and more about viability. Even the most responsible brands can't survive on ethics alone without financial support.
That's where people like Bradley Taylor, founder and investor of the Carrom Company, come in. For Taylor, a RaiseFashion board member, the evening was about more than fashion. It's about showing up.
'You can run a sheet metal business or a fashion label—it doesn't matter,' he said. 'If you believe in people, in nonprofits, in community, you have to actually show up. Everything is under attack right now. You can't sit it out.'
For context, Taylor launched his own company in 2004 and sold it to Vista Equity Partners—led by Robert Smith, in 2017.
That acquisition prompted Taylor and his family to set up a donor-advised fund at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. 'George Floyd's murder in 2020 made everything we were doing feel more urgent,' he said.
Though Grand Rapids regularly ranks among the best places to live in America, Taylor pointed out the stark divide.
'If you're white, it's great,' he said. 'If you're a person of color, it's one of the worst cities in the country for economic opportunity.'
Since then, he's focused on 'anything that has to do with generational wealth for people of color.'
'Everybody deserves a shot, but not everybody has the same access,' Taylor said. 'That's what we have to fix.'