USA: Director Marc Levin talks about his film Schmatta, Rags to Riches to Rags, which looks at the demise of the New York garment district.

Record ID: 1538710

  • Title: USA: Director Marc Levin talks about his film Schmatta, Rags to Riches to Rags, which looks at the demise of the New York garment district.
  • Date: 13th September 2009
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARC LEVIN, DIRECTOR, SAYING: "Schmatta is the yiddish word for rag and they used to joke, 'I'm in the schmatta business, I'm in the rag business, I'm in the cheap clothing business' and it became, you know, a vernacular for the garment business."
  • Embargoed: 29th September 2009 10:27
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVAEJQVIHLZ1N0KFBIZG7IFX3EZH
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Director Marc Levin talks about his film 'Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags" which looks at the demise of New York's garment district.
    On the eve of New York Fashion Week, a new documentary promises to lift the lid on the heart and soul of Manhattan's disappearing garment center.

    Filmed during the 2008 economic downturn, the documentary 'Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags', is directed by veteran filmmaker, Marc Levin.

    "Schmatta is the yiddish word for rag and they used to joke, 'I'm in the schmatta business, I'm in the rag business, I'm in the cheap clothing business' and it became, you know, a vernacular for the garment business."

    The film tells the story of the rise and fall of the garment district, told through the eyes of those who experienced its highs and lows - from cutters to print designers to patternmakers.

    "The idea is basically to take the garment center and look at it through the eyes of people who lived it. Not experts, but first person accounts," Levin says.

    Located in midtown between Fifth and 9th Avenues, the district is roughly one square mile in area, and has been regarded the epicenter of U.S. fashion design and manufacturing, since the early 20th century. 'Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags' explores the rise of the union movement, while recently laid-off garment workers offer their view on the gloomy economic climate.

    "The story of the garment center is an amazing American story of how these immigrants came, especially Jewish and Italian American immigrants, came to this country, organised themselves, these unions were the vanguard of the industrial labor movement, before the UAW before the steelworkers, some of the things we take for granted, social security, pensions, unemployment insurance, health insurance, co-op housing, these were all innovations that came out of the garment unions."

    The timing of the film's release is no accident, with the fashion world - designers, buyers, celebrities and fashionistas - descending on New York ahead of the start of Fashion Week on Thursday (September 10).

    "You know, all the glitz and the glamour and the media from all over the world, seeing all the beautiful models walk down the runway and the designer clothes they're wearing, we have little sense of what's behind that curtain, of how those clothes were made, of how this whole industry was created, that created this fashion world," Levin says.

    "The fashion business in all of its areas, which goes well beyond clothes, into accessories and perfumes and all these things, is the second largest employer in New York City, after the financial industry."

    "In looking at this film, hopefully people will be able to digest a story that kind of looks at how we got here and informs how they think about where we should go."

    'Schmatta: From Rags to Riches to Rags' will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, before airing on HBO in October
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