"Well... I know a guy..."

Beware garment industry sourcing sorcery trickery.  (Whoops! My apologies, since I thought "sorcery" was my own original clever wordsmithing, but it is actually close to the name of a garment industry sourcing business. Sorry, this comment is not about that business!) So many people offer "sourcing" as a skill, when what they mean is "Oh you need fabric?  I know a guy..."

That isn't the same thing.

A "hookup" is something a friend or acquaintance can do for you, while a fabric sourcer listens to what YOUR particular needs are.  Make sure you know the difference.

If you are looking for fabric or supplies at the small business or retail level, you may simply choose to buy a "Speakeasy Map",  an ever-evolving map of businesses and services in the garment district, serving both retail and small business customers. As I learn and discover more sources in the district, I will continue to share that information with you!  Once you have the link, you can watch it evolve and change, as information is added, taken away, updated, and amended!

This week, I attended the DG Expo at the Hotel Pennsylvania, and it was great to see some familiar faces, previously blogged about here: Buttonology, Elliott Berman, Schmalberg and New York Embroidery Studio. 

A few other interesting new finds I cannot detail here, because I sincerely hope some deal-making was done with vendors in the district who may offer goods here in NYC that you could otherwise only obtain wholesale elsewhere... Fingers crossed that those deals are successfully made!

Oddly enough, many others I've seen at this event before were absent this week, and seemed not to even be aware of the event this time around. The floor was extremely quiet when we (my friend/frequent tour partner Cindy was with me), but the benefit and beauty of that was that we were able to talk freely with vendors and see products without waiting. Sadly, though, many of the businesses did not represent the New York Garment District, hailing from other states and/or countries. I also noticed the absense of functioning or up to date websites for many of the companies who attended.  This is a very old-fashioned industry, I know, but a healthy web presence is vital these days, don'tcha think?

I was particularly excited to learn about MCM Enterprise, where I learned about the sublimation dyeing technique, and TrimLab LLC, where I was intrigued by the interesting way they run their business.  Those two businesses may be explored in future posts!

Overall, it seems that most interest was directed toward Trendstop, a trend forecasting company, and the business seminars.  This seemed to be where the youngest  people at the event were congregating.  Overall, it was fun for me  (as always!) and fueled me with a million creative ideas!

The next New York City DG Expo event will be held in January 2015.