California Apparel News

Warm spring weather did not distract retail buyers from the April 16–19 run of the Fashion Market of San Francisco, which ran concurrently with events organized by the Los Angeles Contemporary Association and the San Francisco Fashion Collective.

April is traditionally one of the strongest months for the Fashion Market, which is organized five times a year by the Reno, Nev.–based Golden Gate Apparel Association. The Concourse Exhibition Center housed 306 exhibitors and 556 booths and attracted 1,400 buyers. These figures are on par with last year’s show, said Golden Gate Apparel Association Executive Director Dianne Travalini. “I think the word is out that the buyer is very loyal to the San Francisco market,” she said, noting that the majority of buyers came from Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada.

Lori Markman, who owns the Urban Style Showroom and formed the San Francisco Fashion Collective with Mary Joya, said buyers from at least 200 stores visited the seven permanent showrooms that make up the collective in the Sobel Building. Markman said 12 additional representatives from Los Angeles and San Francisco also showed their lines in the Sobel.

The trip to the north was worthwhile for Los Angeles’ Crayola Sisters. The company recorded $80,000 in orders, a fourfold increase from the show held one year ago, for silk skirts and wraps, embellished tees, and other items it brought from its showroom in the California Market Center to the Fashion Market. Crayola Sisters’ Lynne Andresevic said the approximately 60 orders she took were for immediate and Fall deliveries.

“The business is very item-driven right now,” Andresevic said. Hitting the bohemian trend, some of her top sellers included Azmina, Lola, Hanna and Cordelia.While skirts and novelty tops such as dusters and T-shirts are still popular, she said her business is moving toward jackets. “I see the return of the tapestry jacket,” she said, noting that a line called Kindred Spirit ($53–$60 wholesale) was well received.

Andresevic attributed the improvement in business to better merchandise at the show, which “didn’t seem as missy as it usually was.”

Paulette Beto, owner of Morning Glory in Burlingame, Calif., and her sister placed orders with Crayola Sisters as well as with exhibitors at the Los Angeles Contemporary Association’s show, held April 17–19 at The Huntington hotel. Beto said she does most of the buying for her contemporary boutique at LACA because the Fashion Market is too big, with products “from underwear to kids to accessories to handbags to everything.”

Tasha Preston, who owns Tasha’s The Uncommon Shop in Sacramento, Calif., said the Fashion Market could use more updated jewelry and men’s lines. Still, she said she makes 80 percent of the purchases for her tribal/ethnic shop at the Fashion Market throughout the year. Preston placed orders with Crayola Sisters, Tianello Inc., the Betty Bottom Showroom and others. The trend for ethnic fashion is catching up with her. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I am finally in style,” she said.