About a week after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided Ambiance Apparel in the downtown Fashion District, Mario De La Torre, owner of the manufacturer Los Angeles Design and Development, learned some news that would stun his business.

Six of his workers, almost all of his sewing staff, were detained at a bus stop by Pershing Square in downtown’s Historic Core District. De La Torre first heard the news from a neighboring shop owner. He didn’t want to believe the tip. When his employees didn’t show up for work the next day, De La Torre found himself in a crisis that not only affected his business, but the welfare of his staff.

The families of those detained didn’t know where their loved ones were being held. De La Torre helped them in their search. Still, they haven’t made contact.

But also, with half of his team gone, he’s facing one of the biggest crises in his 17 years of business. He had to outsource work for the first time ever; thus, profits for that order were knocked out.

“We’ve been working on this project for two months, and all of a sudden, we couldn’t finish it. It turned into a rush job for someone else to take over,” De La Torre said. “Instead of (ICE) getting people who deserve this, they’re doing it to your local mom and pop. They’re also harassing citizens.”

De La Torre isn’t alone. The aftermath of the raids has placed Fashion District manufacturers and retailers in a place where they question whether their businesses can survive. The raids have hit the district particularly hard because many of the workers and people who shop in the area are overwhelming Latino—making up alone 61% of visitors to the district in the first quarter of this year, according to civic group Fashion District Business Improvement District.

Business advocacy groups like the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce have condemned the raids – with the chamber highlighting in a press release how much they’ve “destabilized business” throughout downtown. Compounding these issues, violent unrest that occurred in response to the enforcement activity resulted in retail businesses like Adidas, T-Mobile and Apple Tower Theatre along the Broadway being looted and vandalized.

Some stores have reopened, while others have kept their doors closed.

“It was a ghost town,” said Gian Frabotti, owner of the streetwear boutique Undisputed Principles. His store, which is open, is located between Sixth and Spring streets. “There’s no foot traffic,” he noted.

Center of the garment industry

The Fashion District has for decades been the traditional center of Los Angeles’ garment industry. A 2022 study, commissioned by the Los Angeles City Planning Department, found that 83% of domestic clothing manufacturing takes place in the district.

Santee Alley, the district’s high-marquee retail area, is known for its narrow alleyways with an array of shops selling inexpensive fast-fashion clothing merchandise.

Fallout from the raids arrived during the summer, one of the shopping area’s traditional business seasons, said Dulce Cruz, manager of LA Vibe Boutique. The shop is a 2,000-square-foot space, selling women’s fashion footwear.

“I’ve been here for 25 years, and it’s never been this bad,” said Cruz, surveying the empty alleyway.

Before the raids, it was crowded with shoppers. Only a few trickled by her shop. Cruz said she and her neighbors would earn $1,200 per day in sales before the June raids. Now she said they are lucky to make $50. Work hours have been drastically scaled back. She used to work seven days a week. Now she works three.

“Hopefully, this stops soon,” Cruz said. “We still have to pay rent.”

She estimated that some of the rents for retail space along the alley can be as high as $14,000.  There is a wide price range for commercial real estate in the Fashion District. Prices per square foot run from $0.33 to $2.95 on listings posted on the website run by the Fashion District Business Improvement District.

No end in sight

The raids have yet to end, leaving many downtown businesses in a precarious situation, said Nella McOsker, president and chief executive officer of the Central City Association of Los Angeles.

“There are no questions that these actions are bad for business,” McOsker said. “This is not a sustainable state of affairs.”

Business groups have urged the federal government to de-escalate the raids. They also have lobbied local and state government officials to provide Fashion District businesses some relief. But McOsker said this particular crisis doesn’t neatly fit into a category where emergency funds can be disbursed, like the relief funds set aside for businesses devastated by the Palisades and Eaton fires in January.

“Mostly (relief) is set up to directly help businesses in a time of crisis that doesn’t capture what is happening now,” McOsker said.

The Fashion District has made it through other times of fiscal crisis.

For De La Torre, this time feels similar to the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, when the government issued shelter-at-home orders. Now, he tried to care for his remaining staff, who fear coming to his shop. He’s allowed them to work at home, by supplying them with sewing machines.

“I’m hoping that this is not a new norm,” he said. “It would be scary if this is a norm, where you can’t go to work because you are too scared to go outside.”

Recovery won’t be easy, De La Torre said. He estimated that his orders have plummeted 75 % since the raids started. Such declines hurt even more, especially as he was already navigating through a rough patch following the 2023 strikes held by both the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. More than two-thirds of his business was making costumes for film and television productions. Hollywood work didn’t return after the strikes.

Since then, his business pivoted to making clothes for touring musicians and seeking a declining flow of orders from private label manufacturers.

While it’s harder to make a dollar, he doesn’t see himself seeking a new line of work. In 2008, he quit a lucrative job as a mortgage loan officer so he could be his own boss and design fashion.

“When it’s your own business, you just can’t throw in the towel,” he said. “You’ve got to hustle, meet people, and find different ways to make more business.”

Some businesses are moving forward during this turbulent time. Boichik Bagels held its grand opening last month at downtown’s Bradbury Building in the National Historic Landmark. On the night of its grand opening, Los Angeles police clashed with protestors and rioters near the restaurant. Boichik Bagels founder Emily Winston said trouble will pass and she is bullish crowds of office workers and tourists will return to the battered Downtown Area. 

She doesn’t mind being a contrarian when it comes to choosing retail neighborhoods. In 2024, she opened a location in downtown San Francisco which has been criticized for being crime ridden area plagued by homelessness.

“People thought we were nuts for opening in downtown San Francisco,” Winston said. “But our downtown San Francisco store is doing great. It surpassed expectations. I’m excited to help San Francisco recover. Downtown Los Angeles could surpass expectations once people go back to work.”