Why Brooklyn Belongs on Your Apparel Sourcing Map in 2026

Brooklyn Is Having a Moment. Apparel Founders Should Pay Attention.

I've been spending more time in Brooklyn over the past eighteen months, and I keep noticing the same thing: apparel founders are there. Not just living there. Building there.

This week we launched our Brooklyn city landing page, and I wanted to explain why. Not because Brooklyn is trendy. Because the numbers and the infrastructure have shifted enough that any apparel founder considering domestic production, local sampling, or a Northeast presence should have Brooklyn on their radar.

The Data: Manufacturing Is Moving East

The narrative about New York garment manufacturing usually focuses on decline. And yes, the numbers are smaller than they used to be. Approximately 800 active garment manufacturers operate across the five boroughs as of early 2026, down from roughly 4,500 in 2000 but stabilized over the past five years.

But here's what that macro number misses: the geography has changed. Brooklyn and Queens have seen a 35% increase in new garment factory registrations since 2021, as manufacturers move out of high-rent Manhattan spaces.

That's not a rounding error. That's a structural shift. Manhattan buildings were designed for the garment industry of 1920, not 2026. Factories need larger floor plates for modern equipment, and outer borough industrial spaces deliver that.

The result is a borough that now offers something Manhattan cannot: space, reasonable lease terms, and proximity to skilled labor. Many skilled garment workers live in Brooklyn and Queens, reducing commute times and making recruitment easier.

Three Things I Noticed in Brooklyn

I'm not going to pretend I know Brooklyn better than people who've been there for decades. But I've walked the streets, visited factories, and talked to founders. Here are three things that stood out.

#### 1. The Navy Yard Is Real

I'd heard about the Brooklyn Navy Yard for years. I assumed it was mostly hype. I was wrong.

The 300-acre closed campus is home to 550+ businesses employing more than 13,000 people and generates more than $2.5 billion annually in economic impact for the city.

More importantly for apparel founders: Brooklyn Navy Yard has become a hub for small-batch manufacturing of all kinds, including garments. Several fashion-focused tenants operate sample rooms and small production facilities here.

Lafayette 148 now houses its headquarters within the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and they're not alone. Nanette Lepore's company signed a five-year lease for 5,000 sq. ft. of space in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Why? "It wasn't just the cost," she told the Wall Street Journal. "We're working in a place with paper makers, artists, jewelry makers and all the food people on the main floor."

That density of makers under one roof creates something you can't replicate in a scattered industrial park. When your pattern maker is two floors up and your trim supplier is in the next building, iteration speed changes.

#### 2. Sunset Park Is the Quiet Workhorse

The Industry City complex and surrounding Sunset Park area host a growing cluster of garment manufacturers, fabric suppliers, and pattern-making studios.

The rise of fashion in the Navy Yard parallels its growth farther south in Brooklyn, where New York City plans to spend more than $50 million to create a garment hub in Sunset Park. Already more than 100 garment manufacturers operate in the neighborhood.

I walked through Industry City on a Thursday afternoon and saw cutting tables, sample sewers, and fabric bolts in multiple units. It's not glamorous. It's functional. And it's where a lot of the actual work gets done.

#### 3. The Brands That Define Brooklyn Are Still Building Here

Telfar is a Brooklyn-based brand redefining inclusivity in fashion. Telfar's two decades in business has served as a playbook for building community-driven brands, turning its ideology into a successful, globally-recognised independent label. Founded in 2005 as a genderless fashion project by Clemens, the brand penetrated the zeitgeist in 2014 when it launched its cult $150 to $250 vegan leather totes with its TC logo, dubbed the "Bushwick Birkins."

The "Bushwick Birkin" nickname isn't just clever marketing. The Telfar Shopping Bag's ubiquity in Brooklyn is real. At conferences, on shoulders, on wrists. It functions as a marker of a specific cultural moment and a specific place.

"No designer working today understands better than Mr. Clemens that fashion functions as a sign of community and identity. He built his empire his way, transforming a logo into a not-so-secret password to a world that defines luxury not as a sign of material success, but as being seen."

That's Vanessa Friedman in the New York Times. And that community-first model, which Telfar perfected, is something I see echoed in dozens of smaller Brooklyn-based brands.

Brooklyn Industries, founded in 1998 by artists living and making art in a factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, operates with a similar ethos: "start a company to make art everyday." They recently opened a new Williamsburg store at 126 N 4th St.

These aren't Manhattan brands that happen to have Brooklyn addresses. They're brands that grew from the neighborhoods, that reflect the street-level energy of the borough.

Why This Matters for Apparel Founders

Let me be direct about who should care about Brooklyn.

If you're sourcing high-volume production overseas, Brooklyn probably isn't your primary concern. You're optimizing for landed cost, and Brooklyn can't compete with Guangzhou or Dhaka on unit economics at scale.

But if you're doing any of the following, Brooklyn deserves a look:

Small-batch production. Small-batch production under 500 units accounts for roughly 60% of NYC factory output, reflecting the city's shift toward serving emerging and independent brands. Brooklyn Stitch offers fast turnaround times with low minimums, making it a good option for startups wishing to test designs with small runs.

Sample development. Average turnaround time for samples in NYC is 2-4 weeks, compared to 4-8 weeks when working with overseas factories. That speed advantage compounds when you're iterating on fit or construction.

Made-in-USA positioning. Made in NY Designers site 75 percent of their production in New York City, providing a product pipeline to approximately 1,500 fashion manufacturers throughout the five boroughs. If "Made in New York" is part of your brand story, Brooklyn offers a way to do that without Manhattan rents.

On-demand manufacturing. Tailored Industry has built a new model of apparel production with a world-class 3D knitting factory in Brooklyn, NY and a proprietary on-demand software platform. Localized production hubs, such as Tailored Industry's facility in Brooklyn, allow brands to manufacture ethically, reduce carbon emissions from shipping, support local economies, and increase profitability.

The Infrastructure Is Getting Better

The city is putting real money behind this. NYCEDC in partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America announced the continuation of the Fashion Manufacturing Initiative with the launch of a new Local Production Fund to support the city's garment manufacturers. The Local Production Fund will support designers and garment manufacturers by strengthening relationships and driving local production order growth over a two-year time frame.

Local Production Fund applications for manufacturers opened on April 20, 2026, and designer applications will open on June 23, 2026. If you're reading this the day it publishes, designer applications are opening in two days.

NYCEDC also maintains a user-friendly, searchable online database that catalogs New York City fashion production companies to connect designers to local factories. That's a real resource if you're trying to find a sample room or small-batch manufacturer.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation is also investing in the future. They've established an Industry Development Council to help shape investments in promising industries including Innovative Fashion/Wearables.

What Brooklyn Won't Give You

I want to be honest about the limitations.

Brooklyn is not cheap. Basic CMT pricing in NYC typically ranges from $8-$80 per unit. Full-package production ranges from $15-$250+ per unit. That's dramatically higher than China or Vietnam. You're paying for proximity, speed, and the "Made in New York" story.

Brooklyn also doesn't have the depth of fabric suppliers you'll find in the Garment District. You'll likely still need to source fabric elsewhere, whether that's Manhattan, LA, or overseas.

And capacity is limited. With only about 800 garment manufacturers across all five boroughs, you're competing for factory time with a lot of other brands. Lead times can stretch during busy seasons.

The Brooklyn Fashion Incubator

One more resource worth knowing about: Brooklyn Fashion Incubator provides fashion entrepreneurs the basic knowledge and tools to help establish a more secure path to business and brand growth, while contributing to maintaining leadership in New York City's fashion industry.

If you're early-stage and need mentorship alongside manufacturing access, this is worth exploring.

The Practical Takeaway

If you're an apparel founder in or considering Brooklyn, here's my single piece of advice: map your production needs before you commit to anything.

Brooklyn works well for specific use cases. Sample development. Small-batch production. Made-in-USA lines. On-demand manufacturing. If your business model requires any of these, Brooklyn should be on your list.

But if you need 10,000 units of a basic tee at $4 landed cost, Brooklyn isn't your answer. Know what you need. Then decide if the borough fits.

We built the Brooklyn city page to help founders understand what's actually available there. Use it.

The garment industry in New York isn't disappearing. It's relocating. And right now, a lot of it is landing in Brooklyn.

Dougie Taylor

Co-Founder, Ohzehn Textiles · Forbes & Inc. recognized brand operator