California Apparel News

Designers and piece-goods buyers arrived in concentrated waves at the April 23–25 run of the Los Angeles International Textile Show at the California Mart, according to textile representatives who reported meeting with focused buyers.

“Everybody is looking for something new, they’re not just browsing,” said Brian McLaughlin, sales rep for Irvine, Calif.-based 50/Sixty.

The first day of the show seemed unusually busy for many of the reps on the 13th floor, which housed most of the textile lines showing. Exhibitors in the Exhibition Hall on the lower level of the building and in the Fashion Theatre said business had picked up by the second day. The mezzanine, however, was particularly quiet. The area is typically slower than other areas in the Cal Mart. But this time, there were only nine exhibitors, several of whom said they were thankful for even the scant traffic they garnered by being near the complimentary cappuccino stand.

The California Mart does not release attendance figures for its shows, but marketing and public relations director Karen Mamont said, “Although the show was buzzing, and there seemed to be an abundance of attendees, the actual registration figures fell a fraction—2 percent—below [last year’s attendance].I can attribute that to the fact that there are often a small percentage that gets through without registering.”

Mamont also confirmed that the Cal Mart plans to proceed with the 13th floor renovation—a $1.225 million project that is scheduled to be completein time for the International Swimwear and Activewear Market (ISAM) Oct. 8–11. The renovation includes a 4,500 square-foot open exhibition hall where the Cal Mart plans to house ISAM exhibitors and a portion of the textile show exhibitors. The building plans to offer the space to Look Show participants as well as approach international groups to create international pavilions within other trade shows, Mamont said.

The softening economy and sluggish retail sales kept piece goods buyers cautious with their dollars at the textile show, according to Shawn Pazooky, rep for Los Angeles-based Textile Secrets International Inc.

“But, at the same time, they are ordering just what they need and they’re swatching more,” he said. By the second day of the show, Pazooky said he had seen primarily smaller manufacturers, although the word around the show was that larger manufacturers and retailers were prowling the halls. Many reps reported seeing designers and buyers from companies such as Bebe, Jessica McClintock, Wet Seal, Abercrombie & Fitch, Fritzi of California, ABS, Billabong and Patagonia.

Many of the sales reps on the floor said the slowing economy was on people’s minds, but many were taking a long-term perspective.“The last time we had a recession, we did pretty well because we were doing a lot of Lycra [at a time when few Los Angeles companies had Lycra/blend fabrics],” said Rebeka Shad, vice president of Los Angeles-based Brayanix International L.L.C.

This time, the company was showing stretch fabrics with novelty treatments such as a gel print in geometric patterns.

There were “more vendors than customers” on Tuesday morning, according to Ramin “Ray” Gabbay, sales rep for Los Angeles-based R.C. Fabrics Inc., but Gabbay said he looks for “quality not quantity” at the show.

“One hundred people could come in and none of them could be for us; or two people could come in and make our whole year,” he said, adding that many of his customers are long-standing manufacturers that have weathered similarly slow economies in the past.

The economy wasn’t having a noticeable effect on business according to Conneacute; Crebbin, sales rep for Los Angeles-based Ragfinders of California, which purchases first-quality, close-out fabrics from mills and manufacturers. But Crebbin said she had noticed more interest in item business rather than full collections.

The company—a longtime textile show exhibitor—set up a booth in the Exhibitor Hall to work with primarily small manufacturers. Crebbin said the company’s “in-stock situation in every category” meant the company could work with both “start-up programs as well as the seasoned designer.”

Italian Mills Hit Their Stride

Business was brisk for many of the Italian mills exhibiting as part of the Texitalia show in the Fashion Theater, according to several reps. Newcomer Luca Valli, sales manager for Tessitura Carlo Valle, said he was pleased with the response to his line.

“In Europe, they are saying designers from L.A. are going up so we want to be ready to show our items,” he said.

Even longtime West Coast exhibitors were happy with the turnout. Francesco Picchi of Picchi SpA said he was meeting with both regular customers and new contacts.

“Price is not the main issue, people are much more open to buy overseas fabric—much more open than a few years ago,” he said.

Driven by Cappuccino

Traffic was particularly light among the nine exhibitors on the mezzanine—although several mentioned that business picked up in the afternoons when the Cal Mart was serving complimentary cappuccinos.

“If this [location] is our only choice next time, we will not be here—even though we got good traffic because of the cappuccino machine,” said Steve Malas, president of Union City, N.J.-based Haymoss Industries, manufacturer of fabric embellished with sequins, caviar beading and glitter.

Robert Ipp, sales manager for Culver City, Calif.-based textile firm From the Ground Up, said the free coffee helped boost traffic on the mezzanine—although he said curiosity about his line of hemp and hemp/blend fabrics also helped bring designers and fabric buyers into the temporary showroom.

“I think we hooked a lot of new people who didn’t know about hemp,” he said.

Searching for Newness

Several designers said they had come to the show with a very specific shopping list.

“The most important thing is price-conscious fabrics that are new and innovative,” said Xay Vongphachanh, designer for bridal and bridesmaids dressmaker Watters & Watters in Dallas. Vongphachanh said he typically shops the show and this time was on the lookout for inexpensive lace to layer under tulle, beautiful buttons and fabrics that took a “new spin on old classics.”

Paula Mattisonsierra, designer for Maximum Mama Maternity in San Francisco, said she was looking for “things that stretch.”

The first-time visitor to the textile show said she spent two days at the show, the first to get acclimated and the second to collect swatches.

“I’m trying to be smart about it,” she said. “I didn’t want to end up sampling something and not using it.”

The show also drew designers from related industries. Rosalia Maciel, a designer for Disguise, a costume house in San Diego, brought six members of her design team to the show in search of novelties and plush fabrics. Disguise holds the licenses for several characters and toys from companies including Mattel, Disney and Nickelodeon, Maciel said.

“I’m definitely finding everything and anything,” she said.