Trend-Driven Retail Industry is Changing How Apparel Outfits Do Business

Looking to kick its retail operations into high gear, hipster clothing chain Brooklyn Industries last fall borrowed from the playbook of higher-flying competitors H&M and Zara, known for what the retail world calls "fast fashion," or ultraquick turnaround of the latest designer styles. As fast fashion continues to win over shoppers, more specialty retailers like Brooklyn Industries, which traditionally freshened merchandise just a few times a season, find they too must speed up their turnaround cycles. That could create new opportunities for their garment-district suppliers and New York-area vendors whose proximity allows for faster production.