D&A to Increase Menswear Presence in L.A.
The Designers & Agents Annex trade shows in Los Angeles have been the domain for women’s fashions for their 9-year history, but co-producers Ed Mandelbaum and Barbara Kramer announced June 12 that they would formally add menswear to two of their three L.A. Annex shows. The menswear presence will be part of the August and January exhibitions but not the June show.
“Los Angeles used to be such an important city for menswear,” said Mandelbaum, noting the city’s history as the birthplace of the MAGIC Marketplace. “We’re going to help build it again.”
Their team also produces Designers & Agents shows in New York and the Designers & Agents Lab in Tokyo. The Tokyo show is composed of 60 percent menswear vendors, Kramer said.
More D&A vendors have recently started producing menswear and selling it at the Los Angeles Annex shows, Mandelbaum said. He and Kramer decided to invite men’s vendors to the August and January shows because they saw that the category was enjoying greater market interest. The decision was based on intuition and requests from show vendors, not formal market research, he said.
The shows will be held at the same venue—the 11th floor of the Cooper Design Space (additional space may be added on the Cooper’s 8th floor, if needed). No decision has been made as to whether a separate space will be devoted to menswear.
Mandelbaum did not forecast how many menswear vendors would be invited to the shows. However, he and Kramer said they would be selective. They are looking for new contemporary lines such as Converse by John Varvatos, which exhibited its women’s line at the June 9–12 show.
The D&A co-producers decided to increase the size of the shows because they believed they were in a good position to take on more responsibility. They have strengthened their team since last year, promoting MaryAnn Taurino to production manager, Tim McGoldrick to operations manager and Einaz Adir to show manager.
Retailers would welcome more opportunities to buy for menswear, said Lara Dean Fernandez, co-owner of The Assembly, based in San Diego. “Menswear still seems to be an afterthought for many manufacturers,” she said. “A new show may bring menswear to the forefront of people’s minds.” Dean Fernandez said her store had 87 percent sellthrough of men’s clothes.
—Andrew Asch
