"2000 Sewing Companies in Jung-gu, Seoul... Direct Management Transition of Apparel Fashion Support Center"

Strengthening Accountability and Public Interest

On the 8th, Jung-gu, Seoul held an on-site briefing session at the center with sewing industry workers in attendance to share the business details, including future operational directions. (Photo by Jung-gu Office)

Jung-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Kim Gil-seong) has switched the operation of the Clothing Fashion Support Center (the Center) located in Donghwa-dong to a direct management system starting this month. This move aims to strengthen the responsibility and public nature of the garment manufacturing industry, a representative urban industry of Jung-gu.

The Center, which had closed in February due to budget cuts by the Jung-gu Council, is expected to revitalize the local garment industry as it resumes operations after securing funding.

Going forward, the district plans to directly implement projects such as △ operating a shared cutting room △ establishing and promoting support policies for garment processing subcontracting △ activating the garment sample pattern cluster and training new personnel, creating an environment for faster decision-making.

A district official stated, “Since its opening in 2017 until last year, the Center was operated under consignment, but this is the first time Jung-gu is directly managing it,” adding, “We will closely communicate with the garment industry and promptly reflect the field’s demands and opinions.”

The cutting machine operation system has been completely revamped to ensure fairness in the use of the cutting room. Previously, the shared cutting room was operated by accepting reservations in advance, which tended to be used mainly by a small number of companies with relatively flexible delivery deadlines.

To resolve this concentration issue, the district designated one of the automatic cutting machines to be used only by new users or in urgent cases where the finished product’s delivery deadline is within 2 to 3 days. The other machine will continue to operate by prior reservation as before. This opens the way for garment companies to use the cutting machines without being pressured by delivery deadlines.

The work linkage project will also be promoted in a new way. The district plans to collaborate with local businesses to operate the offline work linkage platform “Navigator” and focus on mediating orders between clients and Jung-gu clothing manufacturers by linking with the online platform “SP HOTSPOT,” which can secure overseas orders.

The Jung-gu Clothing Fashion Support Center opened in November 2017 to revitalize the urban clothing fashion industry. The shared cutting room within the Center is equipped with expensive advanced automated equipment such as CAD, CAM (automatic cutting machines), pressing machines, digitizers, and pattern printers.

Any garment manufacturer based in Jung-gu can use the facilities free of charge. By utilizing automated equipment for marker making and fabric cutting, which were previously done manually, the Center has improved efficiency by reducing work time and labor costs. On the 8th, the district held an on-site briefing session at the Center attended by garment industry workers to share future operational directions and project details.

Mayor Kim Gil-seong said, “Jung-gu is the center of K-fashion where about 2,000 garment manufacturing companies are based and economically active,” adding, “We will continue to actively listen to and reflect the voices from the field so that direct management of the Center can become an opportunity to further develop Jung-gu’s fashion garment industry.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.