Though there is still room to grow, Atlanta is becoming a viable option for fashion students and designers.
Atlanta: Budding Southern Center of Fashion
by Joe Cooper
As Atlanta's retail sector continues to grow, educational and professional opportunities for fashion designers expand as well.
A Successful Designer's Nod to Atlanta
Designer Elie Tahari has been in fashion design for over twenty-five years. One of several famous designers with a passion for Atlanta fashion design, Tahari draws inspiration from his wife, an Atlanta native whose femininity embodies her hometown's softer edge. With his wife serving as the creative director of the business, Tahari's company, now a $500 million business, is a fair demonstration of his continued successful presence in the southern city.
Atlanta Fashion Scene Growing
"Atlanta's retail scene is on the rise," reads a headline from the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Huge renovations of major malls like Lenox Square and Cumberland, and brand new malls like Atlantic Station in the Buckhead section of Atlanta are offering fashion designers increased retail opportunities in Atlanta. Real estate has also grown over the past decade in this bustling southern city, strengthening the economy overall.
Atlanta is known as a "shopping city," which is always a good thing for those attending fashion design school and pursuing design and retail careers. The city is beginning to make efforts to retain fashion school graduates, and encourage them to contribute to Atlanta's fashion scene instead of moving to New York or Los Angeles--the country's most popular fashion destinations.
The Buckhead district of Atlanta is the premiere shopping destination of the city, doing more than $1 billion in sales per year. The Buckhead demographic provides a large target audience for many fashion designers in Atlanta. It is also home to one of Atlanta's major fashion design schools.
Sources
Elie Tahari: Official Site
"Shopping center? It's still not quite the height of fashion, but Atlanta's retail scene is on the rise," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 4, 2007, http://www.ajc.com/
About the Author
Joe Cooper writes fashion and design articles and edits medical literature. He holds a bachelor's in American Literature from UCLA.