Molly Worth opened The Factory Buffalo, a cut-and-sew manufacturing business last November. She’s a Buffalo native, and a women’s-wear designer.  

As someone who's worked in the fashion industry for years, she wanted to provide a service for companies that were not only simple, but educational.   

"I didn't feel particularly supported when I was going to different manufacturing facilities in New York City, and you know you come in and it's messy and crazy and they don't spend a lot of time with you. And I really wanted to offer a robust experience for our customers with educational materials and contracts and kind of the formalities that make a customer feel comfortable," said Worth.

At The Factory Buffalo, the team of seven full time employees can make anything that needs to be cut and sewed. 

And, it's much more than just garments. 

"It's not necessarily just for fashion designers. We did the edge protector for a local company and its a neoprene guard for the edge of a snowboard so that it doesn't dent or scratch things around it," said Worth.

Inside their factory at the corner of Kenmore Avenue and Vulcan Street, they're able to process orders as small as 50 products, up to 13,000. 

Cut and sew supervisor Johanna Brassel is also a Buffalo native with an extensive fashion background. 

She says not only is the fashion industry in the Queen City on the rise, but there's also an increasing demand for products made in the U.S.

"It has really made it easier for a lot of people locally but also not locally…those companies that have heard of us who live or who are located in L.A., and other areas of the country…they've reached out to us," said Brassel.

Within the next year, Worth hopes to double the size of the staff here in Buffalo to reach even more customers across the country. 

"It's an industry that didn't really previously exist here and we're creating it. And what I saw The Factory Buffalo being able to do is serve a need for the people like myself who have chosen to stay here, and want to launch businesses and feel that Buffalo could be a really great place to do that," said Worth.