Home >> Fashion Smashion, Politik, Diane von Furstenberg >> The Fashion Industry Takes On Washington DC

The Fashion Industry Takes On Washington DC

Filed Under: Fashion Smashion Politik Diane von Furstenberg

Last week, the fashion industry's first caucus was approved by the Committee on House Administration.

The group will now be known on Capitol Hill as the "Congressional Apparel Manufacturing and Fashion Business Caucus".

What a mouthful! They couldn't come up with anything shorter?

The caucus is headed by Diane E. Watson (D., Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.) and Carolyn B. Maloney (D., N.Y.). Conveniently, the two states also represent the largest clothing manufacturing and design centers in the US.

Now that the industry has a voice, they hope to get funding to provide scholarships to fashion students, job creating initiatives and efforts that will help save New York's Garment District.

They're also looking to revisit the legislation of the Design Piracy Prohibition act, which would give designers copyright protection.

President of the CFDA, Diane von Furstenberg is a major advocate of this law and hopes to get it passed quickly.

Christine Brooks-Cropper, president of the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce, who helped spearhead the initiative said:

"We commend the chairs of this caucus, which will give us a platform and a voice on Capitol Hill to deal with various issues in our industry, whether it’s design piracy, job creation, intellectual property rights issues or the enforcement of counterfeiting."

Looks like they're headed in the right direction!

Congrats on joining the suits in DC!

[Image via AP Images.]

Tags: capitol hill, carolyn b maloney, cfda, congressional apparel manufacturing and fashion business caucus, design piracy prohibition, diane e watson, fashion industry, jerrold nadler, new york city garment district