CLAD Refocuses As L.A. Fashion Week Begins
The Coalition of Los Angeles Designers (CLAD) has refocused its mission against the backdrop of an emerging fashion week in Los Angeles.
The two-year-old non-profit designer organization compiled the fashion week calendar including fashion shows and events during the Nov. 2–6 Los Angeles market.
Los Angeles is hosting a dress rehearsal for what is hoped will be a full-scale fashion week tentatively set for spring 2002. The current fashion week, which kicked off on Nov. 1 with Gen Art’s Fresh Faces in Fashion Show, will feature 17 fashion shows, featuring the work of more than 100 designers.
Securing the fashion week calendar may be a high-profile coup for CLAD, but the group has other plans in the works. Among them are the following:
bull; A seminar series organized under the California Fashion Association (CFA) banner beginning Nov. 8. Some of the topics include collections, marketing, healthcare and human resources and labor law.
Speakers for the first seminar, titled “Improve Profitability: Dealing with Chargebacks, Markdowns and Collections,” include Lynne Sperling and Diane Hileman of the Sperling Hileman Group, Robert Prather of A/R Management Services, Michael David of National Collections and Dave Ryan of Applied Solutions Management.
bull; The formation of a board of directors including members from all sectors of the apparel industry. Current directors include Ilse Metchek, executive director of CFA and LA by Design; Karen Eways, designer segment manager for DuPont; Carmeron Silver, owner of Decades boutique; and Jaime Blakely and Lash Fary of the Distinctive Assets showroom.
bull; Adding more menswear designers to the membership rolls.
bull; An effort to become more involved in local charity organizations. “We’d like to do joint fundraisers with different charities that are somehow related to fashion,” said Lee Trimble, director of the organization.
bull; The continuation of the CLAD boutique at Divine Design, the annual shopping benefit to raise funds for AIDS charities, and monthly sample sales featuring members’ items.
“We’re repositioning ourselves as an educational resource and a community resource for designers,” said Trimble. The move is not a radical departure from CLAD’s original intent, but it indicates a shift to a more clearly structured organization, Trimble noted.
“Before, [CLAD was] a forum for designers to talk about their businesses and share information,” she said. “Now, instead of designers giving each other advice, we’re getting industry professionals at the top of their field to provide designers with advice.”
The organization currently has about 20 members, including St. Vincent designer Cynthia Vincent, John Cherpas and Kellie Delkeskamp of Fever Jeans, Josephine Loka, Jewels, Standard and Riche, Corey Lynn Calter, Talking to Angels, Eisbar, and Bessie Guthrie.
