US Edition
U.S. Tailors See Rising Demand as Workforce Ages
Younger shoppers and thrift buyers are driving more alteration work, while the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says fewer than 17,000 tailors remain nationwide.
- Shoppers increasingly seek tailoring services to refresh wardrobes, but the U.S. faces a persistent shortage of skilled professionals to perform this work.
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated fewer than 17,000 tailors nationwide almost two years ago, a 30% decline from a decade earlier, with median worker age reaching 54 last year.
- Nordstrom, North America's largest employer of tailors, partnered with New York's Fashion Institute of Technology to launch a nine-week program addressing the industry's skills gap.
- Weight-Loss medications like Zepbound and Wegovy are driving more requests for garment resizing, while retailers like Brooks Brothers expand bespoke services to meet growing demand.
- While artificial intelligence automates pattern making, experts emphasize that human craftsmanship remains essential, with industry leaders seeking to preserve this art form for future generations.
35 Articles
35 Articles
Tailors, dressmakers retire their pincushions as US demand for skilled sewers grows
NEW YORK (ABC NEWS) — Hunched over a sewing machine, Kil Bae is hemming a dress inside his Manhattan tailor shop when a new customer stops by with a vintage Tommy Hilfiger jacket he wants taken in. The modeling agent paid $20 at a thrift store for his reversible bomber style that’s plaid on one side and red on the other. He’s willing to spend $280 to have it slimmed down. Alteration requests with such a price disparity would have seemed odd a fe…
Associated Press News
Tailors and dressmakers retire their pincushions as US demand for skilled sewers grows
The ranks of tailors, dressmakers and custom sewers are shrinking in the U.S. even as their skills and services are finding fresh demand.
Lying on a sewing machine, Kil Bae makes the hem of a dress inside his tailor shop in Manhattan when a new customer gets past an old Tommy Hilfiger jacket he wants to fit.
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