When the economic development strategy says "grow an industry cluster," some puzzle over how that's really done. Here's one insider's view from the LA Design Scene... "When I got here 10 years ago it seemed particularly slow. Mind you, I wasn't in the 'know' but having dated [ex-girlfriend] for those few years, I was enlightened. She has a fashion design degree from FIDM but went more into design assistant and project management later on. While we were dating she consistently spoke about all of the cool jobs being in NYC. The L.A. scene had no credibility. But that began changing pretty dramatically. A few things that you can cite during the swing were the premium denim explosion and sweatshop-free heroes, 'American Apparel.' The denim really set the pace with $300-500 jeans being gobbled up by everyone. [Ex-girlfriend] works for the industry-leading True Religion Brand. The husband/wife owners are swimming in cash. Hell...even Wrangler had to rethink their aesthetic and market after seeing the profitability and freshness of the premium labels. They actually make good looking jeans now. American Apparel makes really comfortable and expensive cotton stuff. Known more now for their super provocative ads, they set new standards by not complying to industry standards of enslaving migrant workers in downtown L.A.s bustling sweat shop environment. They established good pay, green practices, benefits and child care for their employees. revolutionary. that success obviously rolled out into store fronts across the country bringing the cool L.A. brand to the East. Then this is where I would cite Project Runway coming along and further exposing the country to the strength of the L.A. design scene. L.A. contestants have shown very well, and won. On the heels of PR was Design Star hosted by Todd Oldham. It took place in L.A., and the runner-up was from L.A. super talented interior designer. Even the judge, Kelly Werstler, is a design celebrity. I've heard statistics that the design industry in southern California is more profitable than the entertainment industry. I think you could wrap in the underground art here, as well, to see how that blossomed and affected the commercial aspect of design. Juxtapose magazine, grafitti, skateboard art, Giant robot, Kid Robot....all of that has had a massive influence on pop culture and a lot of it flows from L.A.

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