Mayor Bloomberg with Evelyn Lauder at the Fashion Group International's 'Night of Stars' award ceremony (AP)

Despite only owning six pairs of loafers, Mayor Bloomberg has always had a warm relationship with the fashion industry. The man might not have invented Bermuda shorts, but he certainly wears them like he owns the place (which he may...). Now, Bloomberg is trying to revive NYC's flailing fashion industry with a new six-point initiative. Could we be inching closer to free Bermuda shorts with every MetroCard purchased?

"We've identified New York City's fashion industry as a potential area for growth over the next decade," Deputy Mayor Robert Steel told the 14th annual Women's Wear Daily CEO Summit in Midtown. They came to these conclusions after a yearlong study of the $55 billion industry, which employs 165,000 people, accounting for 5.5 percent of the city's workforce and nearly $2 billion of its tax revenues each year. Among the initiatives are:

• NYC Fashion Fund (to help fund new emerging designers)
• Project Pop-Up (annual competition to promote new retail concepts)
• New York City Fashion Draft (annual event to recruit college students to study fashion in NYC)
• Fashion Campus NYC (business seminars by industry experts)
• New York City Fashion Fellows (recognizes 30 "rising stars" in business-related fashion management)
• Designer as Entrepreneur (helps emerging designers boost their business skills)

Bloomberg's programs will especially help to promote the business side of fashion, and will be run with the same ethos and efficiency with which he tries to run every facet of the city—and yet, he still can't get Fashion Week to give any money to the city.