California Apparel News

Hot California fashions should dominate the normally cool Fall and Holiday seasons, based on the brisk sales that vendors reported at Los Angeles Fashion Market II Holiday 2005, which took place June 10–14 at the California Market Center, The New Mart,the Cooper Design Space and the Gerry Building. Retailers from across the United States crowded showrooms, and buyers from as far as Japan and Italy visited the market.

Sales representatives credited the booming sales to everything from the good economy to the popularity of California fashions. The strong sales report was echoed at Brighte Companies, located in the CMC’s fashion theater, and the Designers & Agents Annex, housed on the third floor of The New Mart and the 11th floor of the Cooper Design Space. Both shows ran June 10–13.

Michael Gae, co-owner of the CMC’s Rep Et Trois showroom, said the market’s heavy traffic confirmed retailers’ confidence in West Coast contemporary looks and designer denim.

Gae said he hosted more than 350 appointments during market week and that the strong business was on par with last year’s. He noted that both years were vast improvements over 2003. “I’ve seen the building jump with contemporary and denim, but the flood gates have opened up this year,” he said.

Buyers from specialty stores from across the Western United States drove traffic, but there was also a strong showing from retailers from the South and the Midwest. Retailers included Nordstrom Inc., Las Vegas’ MGM Mirage Buying Group, City of Industry, Calif.–based Metropark, Seattle’s Zebra Club, Highland Park, Ill.–based E Street Denim and Bend, Ore.–based Local Joe.

There were retailers from Germany and Russia, and a 22 percent increase in attendance from Japanese buyers, said CMC General Manager John Kim, who ushered in a new management team for the building a few weeks before the show.

“While we are excited with the results of the buyer attendance, we are more excited to hear the testimonials from our tenants of an increase of business. That’s what really counts,” Kim said. “We look forward to the next market, during which we hope to have a celebration.”

In the details

Retailers reported that highly fashionable contemporary styles included a bumper crop of embroidery, beading and crystals.Jeannette Chivvis, co-owner of Los Angeles–based Sugar On La Brea, said she was surprised such details are becoming so popular. “I wouldn’t touch crystals two years ago,” she said. “But now they’re everywhere.”

While CMC showrooms reported 40 percent to 50 percent increases in retailer traffic, Brighte Companies’ producers said they experienced a 50 percent jump, compared with the last June event. More than 2,000 retailers browsed the show, at which 65 vendors showed 70 collections.

Cary Marcus of New York–based contemporary woman’s collection Fray said he doubled the sales he had earned during the last June marketplace. Fray said retailers were buying for June 30, July 30 and Aug. 30 deliveries. “Retailers were cautious before in buying, and now they have more money to spend,” he said.

Big draw

If there was a downside, it was that traffic seemed concentrated at the satellite shows. Some CMC showroom owners reported that retailer traffic did not make its way up from the Brighte Companies show and the CMC’s lobby.

But Gae, the co-owner of the Rep Et Trois showroom, said that was just a setback of the show’s success. “The satellite shows do deteriorate time from showrooms, but that’s the icing on the cake we get from providing the different formats that we get from all of the people who come here,” he said.

At the D&A Annex, retail buyers eagerly wrote orders for high-priced denim and flirty, colorful items that coordinate with jeans. The show counted a 15 percent increase in traffic from one year ago. D&A co-producer Ed Mandelbaum said 1,704 companies visited 115 booths. Co-producer Barbara Kramer added that the focus on home accessories is growing. “The fashion retail stores are being more synergistic and adding home to the mix,” she said.

Even though there was an overload of denim, buyers continued to stock up. Stronghold, a 10-month-old selvage denim line that will begin shipping Aug. 1, opened a dozen new accounts and received $250,000 in domestic and overseas orders at D&A, according to partner Michael Paradise. “I wasn’t expecting anything like that,” he said, noting that he originally had thought Stronghold would get one or two new accounts.

Designer Yoo Lee participated in D&A for the first time independently of her showroom. She said buyers wrote orders for Fall, Winter and Holiday for Saja, a romantic collection that emphasizes velvet and gold. “The June show is supposed to be the slowest, and we had the best show ever,” she said, noting that orders exceeded those taken during the March show.

Buying beyond denim

Marking a new beginning was Frenchman Yves Castaldi, who launched his contemporary line, Just Yves, during market at the Nina B. Showroom in the Cooper Design Space. Emphasizing clean lines and a basic palette of navy, white and black, the collection included satin shirts; wool blazers; sateen dresses; zip-up jackets in denim; and wool, twill and light velvet pants modeled after 7-inch-rise jeans. The line, wholesaling from $50 to $200 and bowing for Fall 2005, was created as a contrast to the denim-saturated market, said Castaldi, who also designs a novelty jeans line named People of the World. “You have so many washes—destroyed wash, blah, blah, blah,” said Castaldi, who divides his time among Paris, Milan and Beverly Hills, where his office is located. “You need something new.”

Danielle Bourhis agreed that there was a plethora of denim. Bourhis, who offers high-end contemporary clothing to women and tweens at two Brown Eyed Girl boutiques in San Francisco, placed orders for top-selling Paige Premium Denim, as well as for Theory, Future Paradise, Ascension, Cris and others.

But she had no luck finding dresses while strolling D&A’s booths in The New Mart.“Come Holiday, you need to find dresses [for parties], and we’re having trouble,” she said.But Bourhis dismissed any impact that high gasoline prices might have on the clients who shop at her stores in the tony Pacific Heights neighborhood. “Women aren’t filling the tank and sacrificing a sweater,” she said.

The good market encouraged buyers to search for new resources at the Gerry Building, according to Jane Kwon, a sales representative at the Hank showroom, located in suite 405.“I think slowly buyers are beginning to pick up that there’s another building here,” she said.

Kwon estimated that she wrote 35 percent more orders during this market than during the larger April market, thanks, in part, to an increase in walk-in buyers.

Levi’s Opens Off-Site

San Francisco–based Levi Strauss & Co. is revving up efforts behind its premium line, which retails from $110 to $180. On June 8, it opened the doors to a new showroom on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.

The jeans maker already operates showrooms serving retail buyers in the Los Angeles Fashion District and New York. The new space, however, targets the entertainment industry, which has been making numerous requests for Levi’s to fill production wardrobes and cover celebrities’ backsides, said Amy Gemellaro, director of presence and publicity for the brand.

Open by appointment only, the Melrose showroom employs an in-house tailor who handles alterations. Showroom manager Sheri Timmons said that, to promote the classic 501s, the company will stage a special event in conjunction with Los Angeles Fashion Week in October. Levi’s also plans to open a new store in Beverly Hills in the fall, adding to its current roster of 14 stores in the United States.

Buyer Party

It’s Happening on Third” was the slogan for a June 12 party on the 3B wing of the California Market Center. More than 125 people shook their hips in the atrium to musical duo Tropical Punch. Showroom owners of the 3B wing and some neighboring showrooms hosted the party to thank buyers for shopping and to attract them to their wing.

The 3B showroom owners plan to produce a market party five times each year. Deirdre Mendoza, a representative for the CMC, encouraged showroom owners to host buyer parties. Jonas Walker, retail relations manager, said the center hopes to produce more events.