Friday was the first day of Fashion Week across the city and in The Bronx, but this week, a new report from Partnership for New York found that even four years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the city’s fashion industry is still struggling.

The study found that the number of people employed in fashion jobs in New York City dropped from 182,000 in 2014 to an estimated 129,000 between 2014 and 2024.

It’s a statistic felt even more in the Bronx, where local designers say they have to fight for a seat at the table - or in some cases, make their own table.

Jevaughn Williams, better known as Mugzy Mcfly, is a Bronx-born designer and the creator of Signed By McFly. With a studio on White Plains Road and over 20,0000 Instagram followers, his style blends street style and futurism—his namesake a play on Marty McFly from 1985’s "Back to the Future." He’s been featured in places like Forbes and at the Grammys.

“Being from the Bronx, being a Black designer, I feel like we get a stigma,” he said. “Ralph Lauren is possibly the greatest American designer. He's from Gun Hill, he's from the Bronx. He's grown up here. Calvin Klein, a block away, like, they're from here. And if you travel enough, the most famous fashion logo is that Yankee hat.”

If New York City wants to keep its role a one of the fashion capitals of the world, the report says city governments and fashion leaders need to invest in the industry through things like expanding partnerships with schools to “encourage students to explore the wide range of careers in fashion” and to showcase more emerging designers during times like Fashion Week.

Bronx Fashion Week kicked off Thursday night with its annual Decade of Dreams fashion show in collaboration with Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson.