After the atmosphere clothing raid, fashion district enterprises, workers are waiting in fear

A creepy quiet hangs in downtown Los Angeles’ fashion district on Thursday. The entire store was closed. The only sound is the low thump of Boombox in front of the Boba store.

In businesses that have few and far between, customers are rare and far away. Several owners and employees said that through WhatsApp screenshots, there were rumors that two large clothing wholesalers in the area planned to attack the same day.

The raid was never achieved, but the effect was obvious. The area has rendered a ghost town following the June 6 raid by federal agents at Ambiance Apparel, resulting in dozens of people being detained, quieter and more empty than before.

“No one knows what’s really going on. No one knows what’s going on in the raid, so people just post things and cause fear,” said Adnan Akram, owner of I Heart Fashion at Santee Alley. “It kind of hurts the economy as a whole.”

Akram said his store activity dropped 50% on the second day of the raid of ambience clothing. Sunday is even slower, he said. Monday and the next few days, “It’s a ghost town,” he said.

Apart from Akram, about six owners or corporate employees in the area told The Times that their sales fell by about 50% last week.

Some brand owners who hire undocumented immigrants, or who have papers but are still worried about federal agents, have sent workers home and stopped their actions.

“It’s very slow. You can see it outside,” Crystal Torres said behind the counter at Bijoux Bijoux, her Santee Street store, framed by a row of glittering wallets. “I have a bill. I have a kid to support.”

Torres said she was worried about her community.

“My mom used to not prove it,” she said. “It hurts. We are Latin Americans. I worry about my friends.”

Typically, the bustling and fashionable districts are located in more than 100 blocks in downtown Los Angeles, with more than 4,000 independently owned and operated retail and wholesale businesses.

According to the 2024 report of the Fashion District’s Business Improvement District, more than 15,000 people work in the district. Last year, more than 18 million people visited the area.

Private owners in the area said the business improvement zone in the fashion area said the area has dropped dramatically since the attack on atmosphere clothing.

Last Sunday’s shop and business visitors fell 33% last Sunday compared to a week ago. The group said Santee Alley visitors fell by 50% during the same period.

“So many people have been volunteering to clean up graffiti or pick up trash, but the biggest help is shopping in these small businesses,” said Anthony Rodriguez, president and CEO of the Business Improvement District. “You might help families who may be victims of ice attacks.”

He said business owners in the region expressed concerns about the financial and physical safety of their business.

“They are scared, they don’t know what it means to them, their business or their family,” he said. “We are not a region of big companies and businesses. We are moms and stores, mostly owned by immigrants.”

Since the 1950s, Ilse Metchek, former president of the California Fashion Association, said the fashion industry began to flourish in Los Angeles after World War II, with Hollywood fashion designers entering the scene.

American designers, including those who make costumes, such as Marilyn Monroe’s iconic white dress “The The The The The Year Itch”, have attracted attention. Around the same time, as wartime fabric ratios rose and culture shifted to reduce modesty and more interesting expressions, the swimsuit business began.

In the 1960s, a showroom and shop patchwork was established in the city center called California Mart, becoming a fixture in the fashion industry, and other businesses in the area flourished.

“It’s the cosmic center that focuses on clothing,” Mechek said. The complex still exists, although now known as the California Market Center and can be a high-end shopping center.

Big brands in fashion such as American clothing and Forever 21 have a major attitude in the region. Forever 21 will close the city center door after filing for bankruptcy. American apparel faces a similar financial struggle, but its founder created a new label Los Angeles apparel, which has factory stores in the area.

Today, Mechek said she estimates about 80% of workers in fashion districts are immigrants. When she owned and operated a manufacturing company in the 1980s, she said she benefited from the signing of then-President Reagan’s new law that gave legal status and provided citizenship to many unauthorized residents.

She said the “amnesty” law created a “significant difference” in the attitudes of employees without documents.

“Before that, when they left my house, they looked around and around if the ice was around every day. They were living together all the time,” Mechek said. “We had the same problem and now it’s like the same thing again.”

Immigration not only constitutes the workforce in the fashion industry; nearby, they are also customers and business owners.

Jennifer Flotas said her husband, an immigrant from Mexico, started his clothing wholesale business in the fashion district about 10 years ago. He had no records at the time.

Although he is now a citizen, she said she could imagine the pressure to keep business open while worried about being deported. They sent four workers home this week as precautions.

“It was a terrible time,” Flotas said. “A lot of people have closed their business and haven’t come back. It’s better to be safe than regret.”

Javier, a clothing worker in the area, declined to give his last name, working with about 20 other workers in the factory buttons. He said news of the raid of atmosphere clothing quickly spread to workers in other factories. He and the other workers left earlier that day and did not return.

The manufacturer, Javier, who spoke on condition of anonymity, has been shut down.

The 54-year-old said he had no idea how he would provide financial support to his family if he couldn’t go to work. He lives with his wife, daughter and 9-year-old grandson. Only his legal status left the home.

“We’re basically shrouded,” he said.

Christopher Thornberg, an economist at Beacon Economics, said the fashion district is not as big as the economy in Los Angeles.

“The apparel industry has been struggling for a while,” he said. “It’s struggling because Los Angeles is an expensive place to do business…and clothing is a tough business in the U.S..”

Thunberg added that the reality is that undocumented immigration is “a part of our workforce.” “Obviously, it’s bad for these families, it’s bad for these businesses, and I don’t think you’re doing much outside of fear and then trying to create a political perspective for yourself.”

A group of customers walk through Santee Alley, which is usually a colorful experience. But on Thursday, they were sent to mainly metal grates.

One of Jim Hwang’s stores has browsed a customer on the attachment and has been in operation for over twenty years. Huang Wang said that the business has been frustrated.

“My opinion is that most people are working hard. [The federal government] They believe that if there is no document, they are criminals and must be deported. But most people are working,” Huang said.

Malia Lew, sales assistant for the swimsuit wholesaler Sunday brunch, said she has had identification documents and is ready to go to work since Ambiance Apparel Raid — even if she is a U.S. citizen.

“We think we’re going to be attacked, and we’ve heard they’re taking over anyone,” Liu said.

The minimalist store she works in has two colorful bikini sides. Lew sat on the back table facing the front entrance. The door was open to customers, but she said she was ready to lock the door.

Lew’s boss assured her that she could close the store if needed.

Liu said: “I will not compromise on my safety.”