Meet the Makers

New York Embroidery Studio (NYES) is an LGBTQ+ owned full-service fashion design studio and manufacturing facility located in the heart of New York’s Garment District. Founded by Michelle Feinberg more than two decades ago, NYES helps amateurs and brand-name designers embellish garments with decorative stitching, rhinestones, sequins, and other items. Its apparel has been worn by “it” celebrities including Saoirse Ronan, Meghan Markle, Miley Cyrus, and Willow Smith.

In 2010, long-time client Ralph Lauren asked for their help creating the Team USA uniforms for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, which would be the first time in decades that Team USA uniforms would be made in the USA. In order to produce the order on time, New York Embroidery Studio had to upgrade their equipment and acquire an assortment of modern and antique specialty stitching and cutting machines, receiving a grant from the Fashion Manufacturing Initiative at the Council for Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). New York Embroidery Studio produced the Team USA uniforms worn in Sochi on schedule, and had a new edge over competition in the global market for garment manufacturing.

In 2021, the company won another grant to support their work developing a biodegradable PPE gown, in collaboration with RIT and a manufacturing consultancy firm. The company also opened a large-scale factory for volume manufacturing in the Brooklyn Army Terminal, which will create thousands of new jobs in PPE manufacturing. Their Garment District factory will continue to provide the wide array of specialty embroidery services that they have built their brand on.