Afterburn Sales
California Market Centersuite B1189(213) 629-2235
The showroom look is industrial. The clothes are young contemporary with a hint of urban at the Afterburn Sales showroom, opening at the California Market Center just in time for the April 1–6 run of Los Angeles Market Week.
Rushing to pull all the elements together, owner Callie J. Wilson checked out paint colors and listened to interior design suggestions from Carl Smith, who applied streaks of gray paint to a divider wall to give the space a hard-edge ambience.
Rusty spikes decorate the walls. Clothes hang on rusty rebar racks. Sheets of industrial plastic break the showroom into different sections. “I wanted to do something fun and exciting,” Wilson said.
Afterburn is moving from an office/showroom in the Atwater Village area of Los Angeles to the CMC’s newly decorated 11th floor in the B wing, which is being given an urban look to accommodate street couture and young contemporary showrooms as well as the Agenda show.
Wilson said she hopes her move generates more buyer traffic for the four young contemporary lines she represents: Fluffer, Subterranea, Krush Clothing and Ex-T.C.
Fluffer, designed in Hollywood by Michelle Morgan, is a 3-year-old line comprising rockabilly- style skirts, dresses and tops. The line targets 20-something women who shop in such places as Torrid, the large-size chain started by Hot Topic Inc.; Playmates on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles; and Electric Chair in Huntington Beach, Calif. One of the line’s top sellers is the “Carmen” skirt, a tight pencil skirt with a curved ruffled hem that comes in red or pink with black polka dots. It wholesales for $20.
Subterranea was started by John Besanceny, who works out of Glenn Dale, Md. The menswear and womenswear line is manufactured in Turkey. The look is a cross between Goth and Renaissance that appeals to everyone from teens to 50-year-olds who have a penchant for things with a Renaissance flair. Men’s frock coats made of twill, brocade, tapestry or velvet wholesale for $80 to $90. A long taffeta “Contessa” dress, with D rings inside that pull the fabric for a ruched look, sells for $95.
Krush Clothing is a Los Angeles menswear line that was launched six years ago by Joseph Bass, who has been in the fashion business since 1979. The jeans and pants in the line have a slim cut with a flared leg. Bottoms wholesale for $30 to $40. Shirts, which also have a slim cut, wholesale for $20 to $30. The line sells at Macy’s, The Lounge in New York’s SoHo district and The Bon Marcheacute;.
Wilson’s newest line is Ex-T.C., a young contemporary women’s line of novelty knit tops with a new wave influence. Launched by Anthony Diez in Anaheim, Calif., it is designed by Laurie Costa. —Deborah Belgum
