California Apparel News

Fewer exhibitors attended the Feb. 2–4 run of the Westcoast Exclusive (WCE) in Los Angeles compared with previous WCE shows. The diminished attendance was caused by a tight trade-show calendar that placed competing menswear shows—including the New York Collective, MAGIC International and a second show—within weeks of the WCE show, said Larry Hymes, the show’s co-founder.

The Collective ran Jan. 26–28 in New York. MAGIC is set for Feb. 18–21 in Las Vegas, and the Las Vegas showing of the WCE will take place Feb. 16–18 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.

“Some of the people who normally come to the L.A. show opted to skip this show and go to our Vegas show,” Hymes said, adding that the WCE will schedule the August show in Los Angeles with more time between it and other shows.

Still, Hymes said the recent Los Angeles show drew nearly the same number of lines as the last California show. This time, however, it took up less space at the W Hotel.

“We had four floors last time and three this time with 140 exhibitors, and we picked up 22 new accounts,” he said. “When it was all said and done, we were pretty close to last year.”

The show drew about the same caliber of retailers as in past years, including Nordstrom, San Diego-based Brady’s, both Fred Segal locations, Beverly Hills-based Theodore’s, Los Angeles-based Ultima Moda, Barney’s of Japan and Culver Citybased Alandale’s.

Exhibitors at the Los Angeles WCE acknowledged the drop in participation and its effect on the show’s traffic.

“This show is slow, especially with the New York show being so close,” said Richard Potapow, a representative for Forte Cashmere, a 2-year-old line with headquarters in Massachusetts and offices in New York. “People have just enough time to pack up there and head out here for this one. Last year, we had a two-week span between shows, and this year, there was only a couple of days.”

“There were a lot of people who made it last season who just weren’t coming this time,” added Bob Feinstein, a sales rep for Spanish label Mirto.

Feinstein said his appointments were showing even though he was seeing some drop in traffic.

“The traffic has been slow, but even some of the people who wouldn’t make appointments stopped by,” he said, adding that some were placing orders while others were just taking notes.

Even with a downturn in traffic, buyers turned out for the scheduled events, which were held in the hotel. The opening-night party featured a celebrity fashion show, sponsored by Ted Baker, benefiting Parkinson’s Disease research. Tommy Bahama also sponsored a Martini Lounge on the second night of the show.

Fill-in buying, browsing for new styles

Buyers such as Bob Carriere, owner of Carriere Fine Menswear in Westlake Village, Calif., were shopping the show and placing orders.

“We have a store to fill up, so we’re shopping all of the sportswear lines for the new season,” he said. “We want to make sure we don’t duplicate our competition.”

Carriere said that he also plans to go to Vegas and shop both WCE and MAGIC to see exhibitors who did not show in Los Angeles.

Still, some buyers were using the Los Angeles installment of WCE primarily for taking notes before shopping in Las Vegas.

“We feel it’s very beneficial for us to help support the show because it is in Los Angeles, even though we don’t buy a lot here,” said Stevan Hill, vice president of Bernini’s, who was on the hunt for sport shirts.“We’ll see items and then make appointments for Las Vegas.”

John Sarney, assistant sportswear buyer for Nordstrom, was also focused on checking resources, with very little browsing for new manufacturers.

“I’m going to set my appointments and go to specific vendors, checking some things out,” he said. “Typically, most of the appointments are to review products and go back to the offices to put things together and plan what I will do. I do most of my show walking at MAGIC, where everybody’s out in the open and I can get a better taste of things.”

Still, there was some browsing going on at the show, according to Brooke Fisher, a sales rep for Joseph Abboud.

“Most of our traffic came from stop-bys, who mostly sat down to write [orders]—either to fill in their basic program with key fashion pieces or to get a taste of who we are,” she said.

Joseph Abboud had been showing at WCE since its inception, but the company opted out the last two seasons while it searched for a new West Coast rep. Fisher said that she returned to the show to establish relationships with West Coast retailers in a setting that allows more one-on-one time with buyers.

More face time

WCE’s relaxed atmosphere is a welcome break from the hustle of MAGIC, several reps said.

Terry Moore, rep for Arnold Brant, said that the show’s focus on better goods and better retailers allows him to showcase all his lines, which include Golden Bear, Stephen Gold, Loro Piana and C. Joseph.

“This is the only opportunity I have to show all of my collections at once, rather than putting it in my truck and driving around, which I will do after MAGIC,” said Moore. “If someone is buying product ’A’ and they see product ’R’, you can show more of a diverse product mix. In Las Vegas, the companies pay for the shows, so you have to show those lines separately.”

The show also provided menswear manufacturers access to West Coast boutiques. That was the case for Dennis Preston, the recently hired Western regional sales rep for Coppley Apparel Group, which is looking to expand its quick-turn suit business on the West Coast. The Canadian company offers standard deliveries of three weeks and a fast-turn delivery of one week.

“Because we haven’t developed our customers in this region, it’s an uphill battle,” he said.

Preston, who reps nine western states, said that since his core buyers are from independent stores, he has to be focused on the way they need to do business. He said that he uses WCE’s Los Angeles show to access them in a manner that is otherwise unavailable.

“It’s so difficult for the independents to break away from their stores, so I make sure to have swatches for them here, and if they have questions, they can see me in Vegas,” said Preston. “If they won’t be in Vegas, I can hit them right after. But if it weren’t for this L.A. show, some of them would have to wait six weeks until I’m finished with the show cycle before I could get to them.”