California Apparel News

NEW YORK—“Spring” was the buzz word at the Designers & Agents and Fashion Coterie trade shows in New York. Aisles were crowded with buyers hungrily viewing the newest looks for the season.

Thunderstorms and heavy rain opened the Fashion Coterie, held Sept. 28–30 at the Show Piers. For some trade shows, bad weather might have meant bad news, but according to Elyse Kroll, president of show producer ENK International, it was the perfect storm.

“Everybody is here. Everybody came,” Kroll said. “It was one of those good ones, despite the weather.”

By the end of day two, Kroll reported that 300 new buyers had registered at the show.

“We always have very steady, good traffic, but this is above and beyond our typically strong traffic,” she noted. “This has been very powerful attendance.”

Final attendance figures were reported at 14,000—2,000 more than the attendance reported at last February’s show. The number of exhibitors remained near the 1,200 mark.

Kroll added that the show’s focus, new lines and exhibitors, as well as the presence of shoe show Sole Commerce, contributed to the event’s success. “I think we’re very focused. We’re very easy for a store to shop because [everything] is categorized for them,” she noted.

Petro Zillia designer Nony Tochterman turned in sales reports that were as spectacular as the show’s attendance reports.

“It was the best show we’ve ever had,” Tochterman said. “It seemed to me that there was a lot of traffic and people were willing to write. The energy was really positive.”

Others, such as J. Glenn Kay, executive director of Los Angeles–based Mandalay, said they were so busy on the first day that they had to ask people to come back.

“Retailers must be selling because they’re buying,” Kroll said. “It seems like more stores are opening up again instead of closing up.”

Most boutiques shopped for Spring, searching out the latest looks in denim, T-shirts and casualwear and the hottest colorful fashions.

Samantha Mittelman of Samantha Inc. in Chicago said she was shopping for new items and lines that are not already in Chicago, noting Los Angeles–based line Common Thread by Rozae Nichols as an example. She said business is good and people want to buy more now.

Eve Austin and Shala Daniel, the motherand- daughter buying team of high-end boutique La Femme of Seattle, were looking for mid-range items to complement their other products.

“I’m pretty excited about Spring,” Daniel said. “We’re really hopeful. I think people are excited to see new colors.”

Boutiques and department stores attending the show included Coco Pari of New Jersey, Oxygen of Bal Harbour, Fla., Blue Bee of Santa Barbara, Calif., The Ritz-Carlton, Cacheacute;, Nordstrom, Selfridges of London and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Although Mandalay’s Kay primarily met with the company’s East Coast accounts, he said it was good to see West Coast retailers turn out for the show. Some finalized Holiday orders while others shopped for Spring.

“They didn’t want to wait the five weeks until L.A. market,” Kay said. “They wanted to jump on it now. They’re really excited about shopping for Spring.”

Newness is key

Designers & Agents ran Sept. 27–29 at the Starrett-Lehigh Center in New York’s Chelsea district, opening the day before Fashion Coterie. The New York event, which has built off the success of the original Los Angeles show, has earned a reputation for being the place to find new designers. There will be even more resources in the future, according to co-producer Ed Mandelbaum, who said D&A will expand by 50 percent in both New York and Los Angeles next year. The Tokyo show will double in size during its Oct. 20–22 run.

“We’ve been in L.A. seven years, and this is the beginning of three years here,” Mandelbaum said. “We’ve had a big head start in L.A., but we are growing at a more rapid pace here.”

Mandelbaum said that while the recent show had the same number of exhibitors as the past two D&A New York events, the show producer keeps improving the quality of companies exhibiting. “We’re always like a retailer, trying to keep the show fresh,” he noted.

Visitor attendance was up at the show. There were 2,200 attendees, compared with 1,600 at the last show.

“Retail business in the contemporary market is very good, so that always makes it a great market,” Mandelbaum said. “Spring is always fun—it’s so colorful and happy—so it’s a great season.”

Anooshka Zakarian, head buyer for SX in Irvine, Calif., said she went to D&A to find upand- coming designers and edgy looks. Joeanna Purdie of Sweetie in Seattle said she was also looking for new designers and “cutting-edge pieces you don’t see everywhere else.”

JW Los Angeles, a new division of Johnny Was, met with great success during its launch at the trade show, according to sales rep Jennifer Cohen. The feminine, funky new line gained accounts with several Los Angeles–area stores, including Spirituality on Larchmont Boulevard and Fred Segal Santa Monica, according to Cohen, who said Nordstrom Savvy and dress buyers for Macy’s West also stopped by.

Trend spotting

With stores ready to shop, key trends became clear.

Color seemed to be the priority. After the success of color last Spring and Summer, retailers can’t seem to get enough. That was good news for Petro Zillia’s Tochterman, whose latest collection again demonstrates the designer’s deft hand at color play.

“It has always been my niche,” Tochterman said. “I’m happy that the fashion world is finally welcoming it.”

Many designers embraced the return of feminine dressing. Feminine dresses were a hit at Cynthia Rowley, especially those with accents of color. Feminine details— including ruffles, embroidery and lace—decorated tops, tees and accessories.

Floral prints in bold colors on suits and jackets were strong at Saja and Edward An. Old-fashioned, pioneer-prairie and Western styles looked fresh at Anna Sui, and antique looks were on display at Ghost.

Vintage is still strong, especially in the ladylike ’50s-inspired skirts, dresses and suits seen at Lafayette 148, Easel and Sue Wong. Bohemian styles were everywhere, including on the many New Yorkers browsing the shows or traversing the city streets. Sage, Sanctuary Clothing, Plenty and Samantha Treacy showed their own versions of the look.

“There is so much great product in the market now that you really have to come up with something that’s going to wow them and really make them stop dead in their tracks,” said Mandalay’s Kay.

Home-crafted and artistic items seemed to answer that demand. Pretty Punk Royalty, Susanne Rehnstromand Fancy Pony Land captured the hand-crafted look. Gold accents, silver sequins and embellishments kept clothing fresh for Spring.