California Apparel News

Los Angeles–based interlining company Security Textile Corp. has revamped its look with a new logo, a new Web site and a new design for its delivery trucks.

The company’s new look is part of an ongoing effort to align itself with Los Angeles’ young designers and up-and-coming fashion brands.

“We have retooled our company over the last few years to embrace the design community,” said Brian Weitman, president of the company. “We need to appeal to the contemporary designers and explain how we make fashion take shape. A lot of the products we sell require imagination—we sell a commodity product.”

STC’s Web site, www.securitytextile.com, outlines the company’s many products, including fusible and non-fusible interlining, pocketing, lasting, bra cups, tricot linings, tear aways, shoulder pads, fusible buckram and 1x1 baby rib.

The site includes fashion sketches, which show where each product is used. The site also features an illustration of STC’s newly designed delivery trucks, which have been digitally wrapped with the company logo and an image of the downtown Los Angeles skyline.

Weitman plans to expand the site to be more interactive and is looking into providing a secured section for online ordering.

STC’s changes come at a time when there are fewer interlining suppliers for the local market. German interlining giant Freudenberg & Co. has exited the market, and its main competitor, QST Industries Inc., has picked up the business as the exclusive U.S. distributor.

“My business used to have seven to 10 healthy competitors seven years ago,” Weitman said. “Today I have one. It’s left the consumer with two choices—the big guy or us. I can’t compete with QST on a global scale. We’re making changes to improve our service to let people know that we’re the creative alternative.”

STC offers services such as free local delivery and free garment testing.

“We’re letting the market know that we’re committed to reinvesting in our market and in our future,” Weitman said.

New opportunities

One way Weitman is reinvesting in the market is by launching related companies, such as Security Sourcing.

Weitman opened the company two years ago when he began importing 1x1 baby rib, and eventually the venture evolved into fullpackage T-shirt production. Now the company is expanding into fullpackage garments.

“There’s a big void out there in urban, contemporary and surf markets—there’s a need for the service I’m providing,” Weitman said. “We’re working on that sweet spot of the medium-sized manufacturer.”

At Security Sourcing, T-shirts are printed, labeled or relabeled, tagged, bagged and prepared for shipping. An in-house sewing department also helps with relabeling the T-shirt blanks.

The company has an in-house production team. Weitman hired Jamie Coblentz, formerly with American Apparel, as vice president, and Adrianne Grant, whose experience is in the action-sports business, as production manager.

To appeal to his contemporary and streetwear customers, Weitman even added a lounge area with a large-screen projection television, a Sony PlayStation and a state-of-the-art kitchen where customers can get fresh cappuccinos and other snacks.

The business has taken off enough to justify adding an in-house printer. Weitman had been looking to buy his own silk-screen equipment to do some of the smaller print runs. When one of his printers, who had been exclusively working on STC orders, said he would be willing to relocate his business, Weitman offered him space in the STC headquarters. By next month, the printer will be in-house. “He’ll do quick-turn samples for us, he’ll do big jobs and small jobs, but he won’t do all my printing,” Weitman said.

The in-house printer will be particularly important in the weeks leading up to large trade shows such as MAGIC International, Weitman said, noting that the in-house printing “is more of a service function than a cost-saving function” for the company.

Garment sourcing is still in the early stages for Security Sourcing, but already Los Angeles–based streetwear line Kik Wear Industries is trying out the service. Word is spreading about Security Sourcing.

The company is not actively soliciting new business, but it has been fielding phone calls from prospective new customers, according to Weitman, who said he plans to add five to 10 people over the next few months.

“It’s a good complement to my other business, working with a lot of the same customers,” he said.

Local partners

Another Security Sourcing customer is Beverly Hills–based Eisbar, which started using Security Sourcing for its Spring 2004 collection. Eisbar, which manufactures T-shirts and jeans for the contemporary men’s and women’s market, had already used STC’s pocketing and trims. Security Sourcing is now producing all of Eisbar’s novelty screen-printed and embellished T-shirts, and the label is considering turning some garment production over to Security Sourcing, as well, according to Eisbar owner Bobby Benveniste.

“The less we have to worry about, the better,” Benveniste said. “We’re growing so much, I’m able to focus my energy on strategy and opening new markets.”

Eisbar, which has distribution in Japan and is looking into European expansion, has recently signed on with a Canadian distribution agency, Agency 1 in Toronto, which also handles Los Angeles label Da-Nang.

Benveniste said he was particularly pleased with the level of quality and attention Security Sourcing paid to his company. And the fact that Security Sourcing is in downtown Los Angeles is convenient for Benveniste, who said he is not interested in producing overseas at this point because he prefers to keep a close eye on his production.

“We’re not a huge company, but our quality is of paramount concern—they understand that. They have all the resources under one banner,” he said.

Leveraging opportunity

Security Sourcing is not the only venture Weitman has launched recently—although it is the one he is particularly excited about.

About three years ago, Weitman started a side business for the beauty supply industry after he learned that one of his pocketing products, a cotton sheeting, could be used as part of the depilatory waxing process. He researched the market and decided to launch his own brand, Pinky Waxing, which he sells to distributors and beauty supply stores nationwide. Pinky Waxing is available in cotton muslin or nonwoven fabric and is die-cut in house.

As with his Security Sourcing business, Weitman found that he could use his existing resources at STC to branch into new business. “We try to find creative ways to leverage the business I’m in to find more customers,” he said.

This is not just a strategy to expand his operations, but Weitman is quick to point out, “I’ve always been in a position where I want to grow my business.”

The new businesses are also a hedge against changes in the local industry as large manufacturers continue to move their businesses offshore.

“The marketplace has slowed down to where we can’t grow the sector,” Weitman said. “The market forces are out of my control. Change is imminent, and I’ve got to change, too.”

Weitman looked at the relationships he had already forged with some of the smaller contemporary and streetwear brands in Los Angeles and looked for expansion opportunities that would complement those existing customers’ needs.

“I had these phenomenal relationships with all these manufacturers in town,” he said. “I thought, ’How can I leverage these relationships and bring them value in other areas that benefits both of us?’ I want to be in a business that I can grow.”