California Apparel News

The fourth installment of the Urban Suburban trade show, held March 25–27 at the California Mart, opened to better-than-expected traffic, with buyers focused on immediate and Fall items in the young men’s urban category, as well as the categories of kids, juniors and footwear, all of which were new to the event.

“I’ve had two days with really nice orders, almost unexpectedly,” said Jim Hieronymus of Los Angeles-based clubwear line YMLA.

“They’re looking for immediate; they’re looking for whimsical; they’re looking for the fun things,” he said. “In my market, which is boutique [young men’s—but like the junior market], they don’t want to see the cookie-cutter stuff.”

That sentiment was echoed by such buyers as Tre Ryan of Jagged Edge, an urban apparel outlet with stores in San Diego and Las Vegas.

“I’m looking for a little bit of everything,” said Ryan. “Pretty much the hottest in hip hop gear. I’ve seen Phat Farm, Baby Phat, Roc-A-Wear, Outkast and a few more. I’m looking for Fall and immediate—whatever is available. I have mostly immediate, so I’m really looking for Fall, but whatever else they’re showing.”

Karen Mamont, marketing and public relations for the Cal Mart, said that the show is still growing and gaining momentum with each new edition.

“It’s always a struggle to start something new, especially this category,” said Mamont. “The first Urban Suburban show [in 2000] was quiet, but the resources appreciated it. Now, with this show, there were buyers in the rooms and traffic in the halls.”

Mamont also said that having the show in the Cal Mart is helping to bring more new lines within the urban category into the building as permanent tenants.

“We acquire more new permanent resources each time,” she said. “Now, we’re acquiring new junior resources such as J.Lo, Ecko, Baby Phat, Calvin Klein and Johnny Blaze Flame. The fourth floor is now a thriving urban floor for young men’s and juniors. All the major urban lines are covered in the building.”

Some exhibitors said they expected slow traffic at the show but still saw it as a valuable arena for garnering prime West Coast exposure for new launches.

One such exhibitor was Scott McCrorie, the West Coast sales rep for New York-based Pony, which has re-launched the brand over the last six months.

“We’re re-launching the old-school stuff, which is huge again, but it’s a crossover market,” said McCrorie. “It’s the white kid in Orange County, but it’s the urban kid too. The old shoes are banging.”

Pony was showing old-school footwear and apparel from the label’s height of popularity in the late 1970s and early ’80s, including mesh jerseys with perforated leather appliqueacute;s, velour athletic suits and wristbands. McCrorie had a few appointments from small Los Angeles shops, including Hip Hop Connection and Sporty LA, but said he was hoping to land new accounts at the show.

“The guys out here [on the West Coast] want to see your faces,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll open up a dozen or so accounts over the next few days.”

Another newcomer to the show was Raw Jeans, a 6-month-old junior line based in Atlanta. Melody Griffin, national sales director for the company, said she learned about Urban Suburban after calling the Cal Mart for information about leasing a showroom. “We were excited about it,” said Griffin. “It was a good idea, because we’re getting to network and meet local reps. [The show is] kind of slow, but we’re getting exposure, which is good since we’re from Atlanta.”

Don Welborn, of Don Welborn and Associates, which was showing Tommy Hilfiger and J.Lo junior labels, said he was delighted that the show finally opened to juniors, since that segment is “probably the fastest-growing business out there.”

Welborn had sent out a pre-show mailer to the buyers on the list provided by the Cal Mart, and he said he had “good walk-up traffic, with most people looking for immediates.”

Belinda Pina, assistant sales rep for New York-based FUBU Ladies, reported that the collection was “booking really good numbers for Fall” thanks in part to walk-in traffic.

“It wasn’t as busy as we hoped it would be,” said Pina. “We set up appointments, but some of them didn’t show up. Thank goodness we had walk-ups who did place orders.”

West Moore of the Urban Apparel Association, a new tenant in the Cal Mart representing Isaac Charles and H. Fashions for men with tops and bottoms in denim and velour, was delivering new looks to Hip Hop Connection as well as Los Angeles-based Bernini’s, Washington, D.C.-based Up Against The Wall, Lakewood, Calif.-based Focus and Carson, Calif.-based Designer’s Collection.

“Our styles are different with reconstructed sport tops and thin, lightweight sweaters for California Fall,” said Moore. “Our line is European-styled with an urban feel.”

Moore said that he was seeing walk-ins but was still trying to make appointments during the show.

Muhammad Lopez, marketing director for Hip Hop Connection, an urban apparel store with three locations in the Los Angeles area, said he came to the show for specific lines as well as new resources such as Isaac Charles.

Lopez said new lines bring “a new flavor, to give the customer something new when they come in [to the store].”

Smaller shows such as Urban Suburban are important because buyers there can concentrate their attention more on trends, according to Lopez.

“There’s always flavor that you miss when you go to the big shows, but the smaller shows help you focus and get a better understanding of urban fashions,” he said.

Ecko’s Rob Ghosn, who helped found Urban Suburban with the Cal Mart, reported that the show was successful for the urban segment and said that even with generally slow traffic, as was seen at the show, the retailers will come to buy from well-performing lines.

“If the retailers are going to come [to the show] and your line is doing good for them, they’ll come [into the showroom],” said Ghosn. “We’ve had a good show, with a lot of pop-ins. We’ve had regular appointnments, but people we don’t usually see—like Bernini’s—popped in.”

Ghosn said that the strong lines on the floor bring the retailers and the strength of the show has brought more quality urban lines. The entire fourth floor of the Cal Mart houses men’s apparel, but many urban lines have permanent space in the “C” wing of the floor, where Urban Suburban is held. The Cal Mart is currently re-merchandising the complex under a new management team.

“Ever since we started this thing, more people are moving into the building, like Triple Five Soul,” said Ghosn. “Hopefully, they’ll keep [urban men’s] on this floor with the remodeling of the building.”