<P> German and Central European immigrants to America around the mid-19th century arrived on the scene with relevant business experience and skills just as garment production was passing from a proto - industrial phase to a more advanced stage of manufacture . In the early twentieth - century a largely Eastern European immigrant workforce powered the garment trades . Writing in 1917, Abraham Cahan credited these immigrants with the creation of American style: </P> <P> Foreigners ourselves, and mostly unable to speak English, we had Americanized the system of providing clothes for the American woman of moderate or humble means . The average American woman is the best - dressed woman in the world, and the Russian Jew has had a good deal to do with making her one . </P> <P> With an ample supply of cheap labor and a well - established distribution network, New York was prepared to meet the demand . During the 1870s the value of garments produced in New York increased sixfold . By 1880 New York produced more garments than its four closest urban competitors combined, and in 1900 the value and output of the clothing trade was three times that of the city's second largest industry, sugar refining . New York's function as America's culture and fashion center also helped the garment industry by providing constantly changing styles and new demand; in 1910, 70% of the nation's women's clothing and 40% of the men's was produced in the City . </P> <P> Cheaper overseas labor and production has dramatically affected the New York industry for decades . This change has forced many designers who once manufactured their lines in the city to shift production overseas, which has in turn affected small cutting and sewing rooms as well as zipper, button and supply stores in the Garment District . As Charles Bagli of The New York Times wrote: </P>

Why did new york city become the center of the garment industry in the united states