Naeem Khan's Miami Facility Will Be More Than Just a Factory

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Last year we reported that Naeem Khan would be moving almost all of his operations to Miami, thus jumpstarting our fashion industry in a serious way. In an interview with Ocean Drive he revealed that this Miami River studio would be more than just a place for his design and production facilities, however. "It is going to be large enough to have conferences, to have dialogues between architecture and fashion, and have the world of art meeting in this place," he said.

The article states that all of the company's creative and production departments will be moving here, but sales and PR will still operate out of New York. He's bringing in artisans from Mumbai to train his new staff, which will most likely include workers from South America who are masters at the craft of beading and handiwork.

Ocean Drive reports that Khan is hoping one of Miami's universities will begin to offer a fashion program. The Art Institute and Johnson & Wales already have fashion courses, so is Mr. Khan hoping that Florida International University or the University of Miami roll out fashion studies? That might not be such a bad thing, but it feels a bit unlikely.