On Thursday, a creepy quiet neighborhood was hung in downtown Los Angeles fashion district. All stretches in the store have been closed. The only noise was the low bang from the boombox in front of the Boba Shop.
There were few customers as a small number of businesses were open. Rumors have spread via WhatsApp screenshots, with two large clothing wholesalers from the area scheduled to be attacked that day, several owners and employees said.
The attack never happened, but its effectiveness was clear. The area already rendered a ghost town following a raid by federal agents on June 6th with atmospheric apparel, resulting in the detention of dozens, but was even quieter and empty than before.
“No one really knows what’s going on. No one knows where the attack is happening, so people just post things creates fear,” said Adnan Akram, owner of I Heart Fashion at Santee Alley. “It’s like damaging the whole economy.”
Akram said the day after the attack at Amviance Apparel, he saw a 50% decrease in activity at his store compared to a regular Saturday. Sunday was even later, he said. “It was a ghost town,” he said Monday and the next day.
In addition to Akram, approximately half a dozen owners or employees of businesses in the area told The Times that sales fell by about 50% last week.
Some brand owners who employ immigrants who have undocumented or have papers but still fear federal agents have sent workers home completely and shut down their businesses.
“It was very late. You can see how it’s outside,” Crystal Torres said behind the counter at Bijou Bijou, a Suntee Street store surrounded by glittering rows of wallets. “I have a bill. I have a child to support.”
Torres said she was worried about her community.
“My mother was undocumented,” she said. “It hurts. We are Latinos. I’m worried about my friends.”
Typically, the bustling and vibrant fashion district spans over 100 blocks in downtown LA area with over 4,000 independently owned and operated retail and wholesale businesses.
More than 15,000 people work in the area, according to data from the Fashion District’s Business Improvement District’s 2024 report. Over 18 million people visited the district last year.
The Business Improvement District of Fashion District, a private group of property owners in the area, said the area has been falling sharply in pedestrian traffic in the area since the attack on Amviance Apparel.
Visitors to shops and businesses in the fashion district fell 33% last Sunday compared to a week ago. Visitors to Santee Alley fell 50% over the same period, the group said.
“While so many people volunteer to help clean graffiti and pick up trash, the biggest help is to get out and shop at these small businesses,” said Anthony Rodriguez, president and CEO of the Business Improvement District. “You could help a family member who may have been the victim of an ice attack.”
He said employers in the area have expressed fears about the financial and physical security of their businesses.
“They are scared and don’t know what this means to them, their business or their family,” he said. “We’re not a big business or a corporate district. We’re mom and pop shops, mostly immigrant owners.”
Il Semicheck, former president of California Fashion Asney who has worked in the industry since the 1950s, said the fashion industry began to boom in Los Angeles after World War II, and Hollywood costume designers began to enter the scene.
American designers, including those who made outfits such as Marilyn Monroe’s iconic white dresses from “seven years of itching,” became well known. At about the same time, the swimsuit business took off to raise wartime fabric distribution and allow for a change in culture and humble and playful expression.
In the ’60s, a patchwork of showrooms and stores called California Mart was established downtown, becoming a fixture for the fashion world, and other businesses in the district flourished around it.
“It was the center of the universe that apparel was concerned about,” Metcheck said. The complex remains, but is now known as the California Market Center and functions like a high-end mall.
Fashion celebrities such as American Apparel and Forever 21 have a huge presence in the area. Forever 21 is closing its downtown doors after filing for bankruptcy. American Apparel was facing a similar financial struggle, but its founder created a new label, Los Angeles Apparel, with factory shops in the district.
Today, Metchek said it estimates that around 80% of workers in the fashion district are immigrants. When she owned and operated the manufacturing company in the ’80s, she said that then President Reagan benefited from signing a new law that gave many unauthorized residents avenues to legal status and citizenship.
That “pardon” law, she said, created a “obvious difference in attitude” for employees who had no papers.
“Before that, when they left my property, they looked to the ice on the right and left every day to see if there was ice around. “We had the same problem, and now this is just like the same thing.”
Immigrants are not only the workforce in the fashion industry, but in the neighborhood they are customers and business owners.
Jennifer Flotus said her husband, a Mexican immigrant, started a clothing wholesale business in the fashion district about 10 years ago. He was not documented at the time.
He is now a citizen, but she said she can imagine the stress of keeping her business open, fearing deportation. They sent four workers home this week as a precaution.
“It’s a scary time,” Flotus said. “A lot of people have closed their businesses and haven’t returned. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Javier, a local clothing worker who refused to give his last name, works with about 20 other workers at the factory’s pasting button on clothing. The words of the attack at Amviance Apparel quickly spread to workers at other factories, he said. He and the other workers left earlier that day and did not return.
The manufacturer Javier asked not to name will remain closed all week.
The 54-year-old said he doesn’t know how to provide his family financially if he can’t go to work. He lives with his wife, daughter and nine-year-old grandson. Only his daughter, who has legal status, leaves the house.
“We’re basically caged,” he said.
Beacon Economics’ economist Christopher Thornberg said the fashion district isn’t as close to the LA economy as it once did.
“The apparel industry has been struggling for a while,” he said. “It’s a struggle because LA is an expensive place to do business…and apparel is a very tough business to be in the US.”
The reality is that undocumented immigrants are “just a part of our workforce,” Thornberg added. “It’s obviously bad for those families, bad for those businesses, and I don’t think you’re achieving a lot from trying to steal your fears and then create a political point for yourself.”
A scattered customer walked through Santie Alley. This is usually a colorful experience. However, on Thursday they were treated to mostly metal lattice strips.
Not only did the single customer viewed on accessories, but the alley gym fan store has been operating for over 20 years. Fan said the business was straightforward and miserable for six days.
“My opinion is that most people work hard. [The federal government] If they don’t have the paperwork, they think they are criminals and they have to be deported. But most people work,” fans said.
Marialoo, a sales associate at Sunday Branch, a swimsuit wholesaler, said despite her being a US citizen, she has been ready to leave her ID since the atmospheric apparel attack.
“We thought we were going to be attacked too, so we heard they were taking everyone,” Lu said.
The minimalist storefront where she works is home to two racks of colorful bikini lined up on each side. Lou sits at his desk facing the front door. The door is open to customers, but she says she is ready to lock the door immediately.
Lew’s boss assured her that he could close the store if necessary.
“I will not compromise on my safety,” Lou said.
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