In this opinion piece, Alyssa Hardy, Teen Vogue’s digital director, analyzes the dramatic contrast between the glamour of New York Fashion Week and the reality of fashion work in the United States in 2026.
Immigrants have shaped the American fashion story. Whether it’s the young Jewish, Italian, and German immigrants who worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in the early twentieth century, whose labor movement changed the country; the hundreds of Latin American garment workers in Los Angeles, whose fight for better working conditions exposed the dark side of “Made in America” clothing; or the seamstresses in New York’s Garment District, who have kept a struggling sector of the city alive as designers move their manufacturing.
As we approach New York Fashion Week, this reality seems more relevant than ever. The Trump administration continues to increase the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which affects workers in cities around the country, notably Los Angeles and New York City, where many fashion workers reside. According to reports, several factories have been targeted in the recent year, leaving employees concerned about their own and their loved ones’ safety. For example, over a dozen garment workers were arrested while working at Ambiance Apparel in Los Angeles. In New York, an ICE raid targeted Canal Street vendors; while they do not manufacture clothing, both licensed and unlicensed merchants are part of the city’s fashion ecosystem, which many fashion insiders admire.
Compare these cases to the glamorous side of American fashion, which is about to garner a lot of attention. I, for one, can’t watch gorgeous outfits parade down dozens of runways, congratulate designers, and savor photographs of celebrity appearances without demanding the safety of people who bring it all to life. It is the responsibility of anyone involved in fashion to acknowledge demands for support. Ignoring the danger to these employees is cruel.
“Immigrants are such a critical part of the garment industry, and they’ve been under heightened attack for over a year,” Marissa Nuncio, executive director of the Garment Worker Center in Los Angeles, tells me in an email, “though they’ve historically been targets of ICE raids under both parties. Garment workers are terrified to go to work and be outside.”
Nuncio says, “ICE raids in Los Angeles have not slowed; rather, they have intensified. The threat to this workforce has been felt across the supply chain. Since last June, traffic in Los Angeles’ Fashion District has dropped by 37%.
Of course, not all American brands are manufactured in the United States—far from it. But this is even more cause to highlight the flawed system that relies on immigrant laborers to survive while demonizing their very presence. “Businesses are battling to survive, exacerbated by Trump’s tariffs. Nuncio explains that when corporations struggle, so do workers. “It’s crucial to find ways to materially support immigrant communities, whether through donating or joining a rapid-response or mutual-aid network.”
Tariffs that are allegedly intended at stimulating manufacturing but are being implemented concurrently with immigration raids create a twisted irony. To bring any garment-manufacturing employment to the United States, people with the abilities to expand the business must be protected.
As our short attention spans shift to the glamorous moments we’ll witness over the next month (which, to be clear, are fantastic and part of why I love clothing so much), we must remember to tell the full narrative. It is critical to the continuation of a viable US fashion industry, as well as New York Fashion Week.
