Hunched over, tailor Kil Bae sews in his Manhattan shop when a customer stops in. The patron wants a $20 flashy vintage jacket—plaid on one side, red on the other—altered for a custom fit. Bae can do the work. Not everyone could. He’s part of a class of sewers, dressmakers, and tailors aging out of the U.S. workforce—just as their services find fresh demand.
Alterations like the jacket’s would have seemed odd a few years ago, Bae says. After all, $280 for the overhaul far exceeds the garment’s cost. But jobs like this help keep Bae’s bobbins bobbing.
The 63-year-old began training as a tailor at age 17 in South Korea. Eventually, he moved to the New York City area and worked for Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, and other designers.
“I recommend this job to young people because this one cannot be AI’d,” Bae says. He admits artificial intelligence is automating patternmaking. But so far, it can’t replicate a tailor’s painstaking handiwork.
“Different bodies. Different shape. They cannot copy like this. If I close this door, I can go out and find another one,” he says of his shop and ease of securing employment.
It’s true. Bae’s skill is increasingly in demand. Experts say shoppers who grew up wearing fast fashion now enlist tailors to custom fit off-the-rack purchases, revive secondhand finds, or refresh current wardrobes.
But like engraving, repairing musical instruments, and other skilled trades, fitting garments to individual measurements isn’t attracting new workers.
Relatively low pay and the physical toll of bending over detail work for hours probably discourage many young workers from the garment-making profession. So there aren’t enough new workers to replace those retiring their pincushions.
“Most of fashion training is really aimed at mass production, not spending time in a shop handmaking a garment,” says Scott Carnz, provost of a college offering degrees in fashion business.
Yet unlike many other job areas, online postings for tailors, dressmakers, and sewers have remained fairly stable or even increased slightly, according to economist Cory Stahle.
“There is a kind of a craftsmanship,” he says, calling that “an important piece that we can’t ignore.”
Bae plans to keep working as long as his hands stay steady enough.
“Young people. They just want to find a job in computers,” Bae says. “I think that’s too boring. I think this is very interesting. Every time, I am drawing in my head. I am like an artist.”
Work is one of God’s gracious gifts. Finding joy and purpose in doing what God has for you honors His good purpose for your life and contributes to the well-being of others. (Ecclesiastes 9:10; Psalm 128:2)
Plus, Bae says, “I’m always learning.”
Why? Some jobs provide value beyond the goods they produce—especially when they require thoughtful skill, using God’s giftings.