There were 22,000 stitchers and sewing machine operators in Baltimore's needle trade in the 1970s, and as of 2022, there were about 26,380 sewing machine operators in the entire US, per the Department of Labor.
People don't realize that when a longtime, experienced needle trade factory owner dies, that operation usually closes since succession plans are often not in place.
That dwindling base is a disservice to the fashion industry, since it limits the options for new talent to develop prototypes or small-batch production runs, says Stacy Stube, an experienced fashion executive who has been campaigning to fund the industry for more than five years.
Stube is literally racing to get things done even though she has been campaigning to fund the industry for more than five years.
In August, Sew Bromo established the Fashion Heritage Needle Trades Foundation so that industry veterans' knowledge would be transferred to the next generation of Baltimore-based fashion entrepreneurs.
Stube moved back to her hometown in 2016 and worked for one of Baltimore's last needle trade factories, Fashions Unlimited, as head of innovation.
She then moved on three years later since working with start-ups was not something management was interested in.
To work with area start-ups, line up prototype development, and provide them with other
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Caroline Diehl is a serial social entrepreneur in the impact media space. She is Executive Chair and Founder of the UK’s only charitable and co-operatively owned national broadcast television channel Together TV, the leading broadcaster for social change runs a national TV channel in the UK and digital platform which helps people find inspiration to do good in their lives and communities.