SoHarlem

A nonprofit incubating fashion microenterprises and
rebuilding the Harlem community.

 
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CITIES ARE PLACES FOR MANUFACTURING.


Urban Made Project tells the stories of the people working in New York’ City’s garment industry. We feature the businesses leading the Made in USA movement, from M&S Schmalberg, a 100-year-old family-owned flower manufacturer to CJS Sales, a jewelry supplier who buys vintage parts from fire sales. Urban Made Project aims to educate and inspire discussions on the need for local manufacturing but also highlight the challenges of sustaining a vibrant manufacturing sector.

 
 

WHERE ARE THE MANUFACTURERS?

 
 
 

There are clusters of manufacturing activity in New York City. The more widely known neighborhoods for manufacturing are Manhattan’s Garment District, a neighborhood bounded by 34th Street, 42nd Street, 5th Avenue, and 9th Avenue, and Sunset Park in Brooklyn. But there are many other pockets of industrial spaces across the five boroughs.

Explore New York City’s manufacturing and supplier network with our ecosystem map.

 
 
M&S Schmalberg has worked with fashion designers from Marc Jacobs to Oscar de la Renta and their flowers have adorned academy award ceremony gowns for Rihanna and Anne Hathaway. In May, Mood Fabrics sent over 36 yards of fabric to make flowers fo
Without the photo technology back then, jewelry pieces were glued on boards to keep track of what parts were used each season, what supplies were imported from merchants, and the orders from each store. @cjs_sales
In R. Kaye’s studio, there is a technician who works on the cutting, manipulating, and soldering and two pasters who have expertise in how an earring gets glued as opposed to how a button gets glued. 📷: @shotbyelisa
“My dad’s story, verbatim, is ‘I graduated on a Tuesday from college and I came in on a Wednesday.’ My dad grew up in the business probably more than me. I think my dad was coming in here and learning more than I was as a kid.
“Next year will be the 120th anniversary of the conglomerate, genealogy of AGH. That is another reason to have a party. I went on the internet to see what companies were established during 1897 and AGH was in business the same year as Dow Chemi