L.A.'s French Affair
Retailer Galeries Lafayette to spotlight Los Angeles brands
A contingent of buyers from French retailer Galeries Lafayette arrive in Los Angeles Sept. 16 to scour the market for local designers with “the L.A. look.” The weeklong buying trip is in preparation for the upscale retailer’s Los Angeles exhibition event, titled “L.A. Now,” set for April 2006 at several of the store’s flagship locations in France and Germany.
“For next year, we have chosen to emphasize the city of Los Angeles, because we think that this city is a place where new ideas, new products and new cultural events are major,” said Gerard Laffargue, director of the “L.A. Now” event, in a company release
Each year, the retailer fetes a different country, according to Nadie Mansour, the Los Angeles–based agent for Galeries Lafayette. Mansour said recent focus countries have been Brazil, Morocco and India.
For 2006, Los Angeles will take the spotlight.
“L.A. is becoming very famous because of its stars and because of the jeans business,” said Mansour, a former buyer for Galeries Lafayette who now produces her own brand, Los Angeles–based Salomay, a line of contemporary knits trimmed in Calais lace.
“L.A. Now” will be on display at 12 flagship stores in France, including the landmark 1912 Art Nouveau store on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, as well as the company’s store in Berlin.
“We want to focus on what is now,” Mansour continued, noting that featured brands will run the gamut from denim powerhouse Guess? to new contemporary T-shirt label Ed Hardy.
The “L.A. Now” exhibition will also feature in-store shops focused on Los Angeles retailers including Kitson.
Bobby Hines, coordinator with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Downtown Los Angeles Export Assistance Center is helping to orchestrate the buying trip, which will include 12 buyers on the hunt for everything from apparel for women, men and children to accessories, shoes, intimate apparel, cosmetics, housewares and food.
On Sept. 19, Mansour will take several of the Galeries Lafayette buyers to New York to attend Fashion Coterie. The rest will remain in Los Angeles until Sept. 22.
Galeries Lafayette operates 60 stores in France, Germany and on the Caribbean island of Martinique. Labels range from high-end European brands including Prada, Burberry, Viktor & Rolf and Max Mara to American mega brands such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. The store carries several California labels including DaNang, Citizens of Humanity, Joe’s Jeans, Jenny Jen, Raw Seven, Roxy and Quiksilver.
