“What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language.” —Miuccia Prada
There are few things that evolve as rapidly as fashion — trends come and go seemingly overnight, moving from the showroom to the street in what can feel like the blink of an eye. Over the course of my career, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the most successful designers, creative directors and models in the world, and I’ve seen first-hand how quickly the industry has changed with the introduction of new technologies in manufacturing and the internet. Now more than ever, fashion — that complex visual language of shape, color and even history — is being transmitted at the speed of light, using nothing so complicated as the click of mouse. More and more, tech companies are adding fashion companies to their portfolios, with business leaders who once launched apps and chipsets now bringing entire footwear and garment brands to market. Looking at the fashion industry through the lens of immigration, it becomes clear that designers, executives and technologists from hundreds of cities around the globe, speaking dozens of different dialects, are united in one goal: to ensure that the language of fashion remains fluent in America.
Investment in immigration has obvious and immediate benefits. For starters, a diverse workforce is able to easily connect with sources abroad. From Berlin to Beijing, immigrants possess native language skills that are essential to maintaining the literal lines of communication with partners at home and abroad. In an industry that thrives on nuance, knowing not only what someone is saying, but what they mean, can make the difference between winning a contract or losing to a competitor. Not only does the ability to overcome linguistic hurdles offer a palpable incentive for American employers to seek out employees from abroad, there is also a cultural component to consider. A varied workforce leads to a necessarily cosmopolitan perspective, eschewing the blinkered provinciality that results from a homogenous workforce.
Where fashion truly stands to gain from immigration, however, is from one particularly exciting area: innovation. In recent years, I have seen an increasing number of clients who have been creating fashion that speaks to the promise of daily life made easier through the integration of technology. Wearables, for example, provide the clearest expression of the melding of fashion and technology. Smart clothing and accessories that can respond to a wearer’s commands is no longer something out of science fiction — it is technology that has become as ubiquitous as an Apple watch. Immigrants from an astounding number of backgrounds are responsible for major changes in the wearable market, and if the work my clients are doing is anything to go by, they will be the key to ensuring that America leads the world in innovating new garments and devices that seamlessly bring technology out of the lab and into the living room.
Immigration also offers another powerful benefit to fashion: the human element. As important as technological innovation is to the industry, it’s absolutely essential to be mindful of unintended consequences, particularly in the labor market. As dependence on automation increases, we will undoubtedly see a push to limit cost by curtailing hiring. After all, a robotic pattern cutter doesn’t get sick, it doesn’t require insurance and rarely asks for a raise. And if we know anything, it’s that cost-cutting can be irresistible to an industry where profit comes at the margins. It won’t stop at manufacturing, either — we have seen brick-and-mortar shops and once-vaunted ateliers replaced by the ease offered by online shopping. It seems inevitable that the global supply chain will soon be disrupted by driverless vehicles on our highways and flocks of drones delivering on-demand couture from the sky. And if this seems like a proposition informed by Luddite paranoia, ask yourself this: when is the last time you saw a tollbooth operator?
Immigration, particularly in fashion, provides a way forward when we consider how the American economy will manage the human element that is most imperiled by the rush to embrace new technology. Immigration ensures that innovation that results from the efforts of talented individuals remains a priority, with the best and brightest vying to come to countries that welcome their passion and zeal. There is not an algorithm in the world that can replicate the inspired originality of a truly gifted designer or make international business deals that are borne of meaningful person-to-person interactions. It is on the most basic level, however, that immigration will ensure that people, not products, benefit from technology’s increased presence in the fashion industry. A consistent influx of new citizens and families will be the consumers of tomorrow, buying the garments that can provide something that fashion has always offered, something as simple as it is profound — a visual language that can be mastered by all.
Michael Wildes is the Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey and the author “Safe Haven in America: Battles to Open the Golden Door.” He is a former federal prosecutor and an adjunct professor of immigration law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
