That's the NYC term for people who work at any level in the "rag trade." That is, fashion and attire. It was once a Jewish business in NY, now mostly Asian.
NYC remains a bustling center for design and manufacturing, even though most cheap stuff we buy is made in Asia.
A NYC daughter emailed me her iPhone pic in front of a Crossfit in the garment district, with the comment "Poor skinny Chinese guy struggling with his heavy cart of fabrics for $5 an hour while yuppies pay $200 an hour to lift boxes inside Crossfit."
My thought was "This lucky Chinese immigrant will live to 100, his kids will go to Harvard and end up going to Crossfit to stay in shape with their white collar jobs in finance and medicine."