California Apparel News

NEW YORK—Undaunted by the curveball thrown by Mother Nature, buyers turned out for Fashion Coterie, Designers & Agents and The Train despite a blizzard that dumped 2 feet of snow on New York City.

“I’m a firm believer that the show must go on,” said D&A show organizer Ed Mandelbaum.

Mandelbaum said opening-day traffic was one-third the norm, but total retailer attendance Feb. 12-14 matched the 1,750 figure from last year. Exhibitors, who numbered 192 at this show, reported a high level of retailer attendance with strong international and out-of-town buyers.

The Train, held at the Terminal Stores on 11th Avenue, kept moving too despite the avalanche of snow. Organizers reported that more than 2,300 buyers turned out for the high-end trade show organized by the French Federation of Women’s Ready-to-Wear (FFPAPF), owner of the Precirc;t-agrave;-Porter Paris and Atmosphere shows. The juried show, in its fourth season, included 105 brands from 17 countries.

For Fashion Coterie, which opened two days later and ran Feb. 14-17, the blizzard affected people traveling to the show. Some people were delayed and others didn’t make it, but final attendance figures totaled 15,000, matching September’s attendance figures.

Traffic was slower on the first day, but attendance was more evenly distributed over the three-day show. “We are thrilled to death with Coterie because this was kind of a scary one because of the snow,” said Elyse Kroll, executive director of ENK International, organizers of Fashion Coterie.

This season, Kroll pushed the dates up to follow New York Fashion Week and changed the opening day from Sunday to Tuesday.

Exhibitor numbers were at an all-time high with 1,260, counting the shoe exhibitors that participated in Sole Commerce.

Designers & Agents’ new looks

D&A drew in retailers who were looking for fresh, new contemporary offerings.

Fall fashions shifted toward more refined clothing that included luxe fabrications, Victorian looks, lace and dresses.

Barbara Kramer, co-founder of D&A, said she noticed more feminine styles, shirtings, longer dresses, belted looks, metallics and layered pieces such as tunics and long T-shirts to pair with jeans.

Kramer said she and her partner had been hunting for great new dress collections for this season’s show. “We feel like that’s a category that’s kind of getting life again,” she said.

Companies such as Jenny Packham, Arc Angel, Tufi Duek and Los Angeles-based Tree and Harkham all displayed strong dress lines at the show.

“I think it’s always that there’s a sense of discovery with D&A because we haven’t been around for so long,” Kramer said.

That was the case for Wendy Fink and her sister, Becky Lynn Buford, owner of Seattle-based contemporary boutique Les Amis. “We shop all of the shows, but we find D&A is getting more important,” Buford said.

She and her sister were looking for coats, jackets, 1940s style dresses, and well-fitting clothing with structure and attention to detail.

That focus helped designers such as Katherine Deane, owner of Arc Angel. She chose to attend D&A because of the show’s emphasis on new lines.

Her emerging line of Edwardian/Victorian-style dresses made with fine European fabrics, French lace and antique styling received a great response from American and international buyers.

Fashion Coterie focuses on refinement

Fall fashion at Coterie placed an emphasis on new silhouettes and sophisticated looks.

That was true for L.A.-based designer Robert Rodriguez, who started a new better contemporary line two years ago with partner Nicola Guarna.

Guarna said this season’s success is due to the new designer focus of the line, new price points and the special look given to each piece.

He said buyers were interested in details but not necessarily embellishments. “It was more about the details of the way the garment was sewn together—the seaming, pleats and the raw edges on skirts,” Guarna said.

For Velvet’s new line, Graham & Spencer, the focus was on fabrication and a new level of sophistication. The novelty trend is over and buyers are looking for a replacement. Designers Jenny Graham and Toni Spencer are creating luxurious but easy-to-wear clothing to fill the gap.

For the reps at Sanctuary Clothing, straight legs were key to the Fall season. Sales Manager Shannon Martin and Sales Rep Erica Enoch also cited shorts, striped tops, jackets, blazers, ruffled shirts, vests, English-riding looks and gray and black denim as popular styles.

Buyers like Missy Tuber-Davis, owner of Active Endeavors, a contemporary boutique with four locations in Chicago, were hunting for L.A. casual looks and high-end denim.

Many of Active Endeavors’ lines already include Los Angeles-based companies such as Velvet, Wyeth, Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, Rachel Pally, and C&C California. “You have to have the right line,” the Chicago retailer said. “If people want Johnson shorts and J Brand jeans, you’ve got to have them.”