After they complete the program, the backers hope, the designers will build fashion companies in Philadelphia.
"In addition to fostering Philadelphia's creative class, we believe the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator will promote Center City's economic development, in particular through expansion of Chestnut Street East," Nutter said Tuesday afternoon at Macy's to about 75 Philadelphia fashion professors and people in the industry.
"We see the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator as a catalyst for this change," he said.
The resulting high-fashion energy, Nutter said, will help Philadelphia earn its own place on the style map and lead to high-end luxury stores' opening in the city. In other words, Philadelphia native Tory Burch might one day opt for a Chestnut Street location to complement her King of Prussia store.
Modeled after the reality show Project Runway, fashion incubators offer fledgling designers the support and mentoring they might not be able to get on their own.
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, a New York-based nonprofit that represents the country's top designers, launched a two-year fashion incubator in 2010. The program, which is underwritten by Target Corp., helped the designers Prabul Gurung and Alice Ritter launch their careers.
The Philadelphia incubator is the second for Macy's: the first, on State Street in Chicago, opened in spring 2007. That version houses six designers a year. Many of the alums have gone on to dress celebrities and open their own boutiques, said the director of the Chicago program, Lara Miller.
In 2009, several Philadelphia city representatives visited the Chicago site. The city and the Center City District decided they wanted to launch their own fashion incubator to stimulate the fashion economy and pull high-end retailers like Gucci or Prada to Center City.
