The fashion industry—including retailers, manufacturers, designers and wholesalers—employs more than 1.8 million people in the United States. It relies on workers in a wide range of occupations, including
fashion designers, market research analysts, graphic design artists, computer systems developers, patternmakers, sewing machine operators, retail sales workers, wholesale buyers, accountants and business operations specialists.The U.S. fashion industry has changed dramatically since the early part of the 20th century when its main focus was manufacturing. In 1931, the Garment District in New York was home to the highest concentration
of clothing manufacturers in the world. Today the U.S. apparel manufacturing sector employs 135,000 workers while the retail sector has 1.4 million employees.

Source:   Joint Economic Committee, United States Congress | Ranking Democrat, Carolyn B. Maloney

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