The ReThread Project
Support and Endorsements
The ReThread Project is honored to have earned the support of distinguished individuals and organizations who share our commitment to preserving costuming heritage and craft traditions.
Voices of Support
Leaders in culture, craft, and the arts stand with The ReThread Project
The ReThread Project's endorsements reflect a deep recognition of the vital role that costume history plays in our broader cultural story, and affirm our belief that these traditions deserve to be celebrated, protected, and passed on to future generations.
Endorsers Include:
Garment District Alliance
Steven Kolb, Council of Fashion Designers of America
Manhattan Community Board Four
Manhattan Community Board Five
Municipal Art Society of New York
New York Fashion Workforce Development Coalition
Brenda Abbandandolo
Multi-Award Winning Costume Designer
“As a costume designer and a lifelong New Yorker, I understand the deep roots of labor that has, for generations, kept the working class alive and culture flourishing in our diverse city. Immigrants have brought their skills to this city from all over the world creating a hub of intersecting customs and traditions which have inspired invention and ideas. New York City was always a place where this kind of life-force would thrive, but we have traded the creative and working class for a more homogenous and suburban way of life. This is a time when it ’s crucial to preserve our legacy of making and manufacturing tactile objects.
The Re-Thread project has the bold vision necessary to reclaim our history and continue our narrative of labor, community, creativity and craft with the ethos it began with; that of human effort and practiced skill. The garment district has historically been vital to the spirit of NY and we have the opportunity to reclaim a sector that supports work and creative expression in the very place known as the center of American culture.”
Susan Hilferty
Six-Time Tony Award Winning American Costume Designer and Scenic Designer for Theatre, Opera, and Dance
“In my lifelong pursuit of design and education I recognize that the two are interwoven. We train the next generation as we grow in our fields. The need to keep innovation and examination key points in the furtherance of the performance art form. These principles led me to become the chair of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Department for Design for Stage and Film. The ReThread Project’s garment district initiatives with its focus on the costume element of design and the many workers it supports is pivotal to the revitalization of the performing arts inside New York city and beyond.”
Justin Townsend
Tony Award Winning Lighting Designer & Chair, Department of Design for Stage and Film NYU Tisch School of the Arts
“In my lifelong pursuit of design and education I recognize that the two are interwoven. We train the next generation as we grow in our fields. The need to keep innovation and examination key points in the furtherance of the performance art form. These principles led me to become the chair of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Department for Design for Stage and Film. The ReThread Project’s garment district initiatives with its focus on the costume element of design and the many workers it supports is pivotal to the revitalization of the performing arts inside New York city and beyond.”
IATSE Local 829
Endorsement of The ReThread Project
“THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Local Union Executive Board of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 endorses The ReThread Project, and will provide support with communications to amplify the initiative with updates and materials provided by The ReThread Project.”
Martin Scorsese
Film Director & Producer
“I know the garment district—actually, it’s personal for me because my father worked there as a presser for most of his life. But I also know how important it is to our city and its history, and I know as a filmmaker how important it is to keep costume shops and collections right here, close by, where we can actually see and feel everything. To let it all fly away to another city would be a tragedy.
I’ve known Carisa Kelly for years now. As a costume designer, she understands how vitally important clothes are to storytelling on screen and stage… and in life. And She also understands something I’ve always felt about moviemaking: that we have to know the past in order to have a future of our intersecting art forms: cinema and costume design.
That’s why I support Carisa’s organization, the Re-Thread Project, and all its initiatives, from the acquisition of a building in the garment district to apprenticeship programs and workforce development to train young people to be costume designers of the future.”
Edgar Romney
Secretary-Treasurer, Workers United
“New York City's garment industry is a critical source of jobs for 120,000 people, from sewers to designers, from fashion photographers to sample makers. The ReThread Project can anchor these jobs to the city and provide the stability the fashion industry needs to invest in new technology, job training and job creation.”
Municipal Art Society of New York
MAS Support for City Council Funding of the ReThread Project
“The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) urges the City Council to support and fund the ReThread Project’s proposal to acquire affordable space within the Garment District for fashion industry businesses. As a member of the New York Fashion Workforce Development Coalition, MAS has been an advocate for the garment industry remaining in Midtown
Manhattan. We testified on the Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan to ensure that garment industry businesses are supported and remain active in parallel with meeting the goals of bringing housing and vibrancy to the neighborhood.
ReThread is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the fashion and costume industries through education, skills training, and the development of an industry innovation hub. Aptly called Midtown Made, this hub will be a living facet of the garment industry ecosystem as well as a museum commemorating its rich New York City history.”
“As a person, as a woman, as an actress, I know that the clothes we wear—on the street or the runway, on a stage or on a film set—tell stories about who we are and where we come from and where we dream of going. That’s why I support The ReThread Project and its New York City Garment District initiatives, which will help the district to stay alive and thriving”
- Greta Lee, Actor & Filmmaker
