California Apparel News

Retailers are betting on feminine styles for the upcoming Fall II/Holiday season, snatching up all things girly at the Los Angeles Fashion Market, which took place June 9–13 at the California Market Center, The New Mart, the Cooper Design Space and the Gerry Building. Adding to the mix were the Brighte Companies show at the CMC and the Designers & Agents Annex show at the Cooper and The New Mart, which both ran June 9–12.

All shows reported increased retailer attendance, which could be confirmation that the Holiday season continues to be important despite the June market being traditionally smaller than the Fall I and Spring markets.

“Holiday shopping has proven to be a key area of growth for the L.A. Fashion Market, and we are looking into new ways of fostering that business for the next June market,” said John Kim, the CMC’s general manager.

Retailer Fred Levine concurred. “It is an important season,” said Levine, co-owner of the chain of 22 M. Fredric stores in Los Angeles County. “People are going to more parties, and it is a time they want to look their best. As a retailer, you better be loaded up with fresh merchandise.”

For many retailers, that meant opting for dresses over jeans. After a more than two-year period, when premium denim dominated the market, it may be giving up some market share to dresses, according to Janine Blain, West Coast director for retail consultancy The Doneger Group.

“There is no way denim is going away; it’s part of our lifestyle,” she said. “But it might have peaked, and the fashion customer wants something different now.”

Blain said her clients have reported an increased popularity of shirtdresses and tunics.

Shorts also are enjoying new consumer attention, Levine said. “Bermuda shorts, capri and cargo shorts are selling like crazy,” he said. “I’m considering going through Fall and Holiday with short-length pants.”

Far-traveling buyers

CMC officials said overall attendance at this Los Angeles Fashion Market was up 9 percent over last year’s show. Coinciding with the market were the Kids on 6th show, which ran June 9–13 on the CMC’s sixth floor, and the Transit Shoe Show, which ran June 11–12 on the CMC’s 13th floor.

The June market typically is one of the smaller weeks, and showrooms and exhibitors reported business as usual. However, some were surprised by the amount of orders being written and the distance that buyers traveled to attend.

“This is usually more of a local show for us. But this time, nearly half of our sales came from East Coast buyers,” said Lucy Thompson, co-owner of the Nikki & Lucy showroom in the Gerry Building.

Designer Yana Khromova, who showed her contemporary line Yana K. in her showroom at the CMC, sold to buyers from Hong Kong and the Dominican Republic, as well as stores all over the United States.

Exhibitors reported seeing buyers from Patricia Field in New York, Cake in Seattle, E Street Denim in Highland Park, Ill., and Ketchum Dry Goods in Idaho, and from as far away as Saudi Arabia, Australia and Italy.

“There were a lot of new buyers,” Khromova said, noting that her dress business accounted for 60 percent of the market’s sales. “The market is moving away from denim. Buyers want more girly clothes, finer fabrics—just more fashion,” she said.

Khromova, who offers five collections in different fabrications each season, debuted her newest collection, Audrey, at the market. A collection of upscale gowns and dresses that wholesale up to $1,000, Audrey is targeted at upscale merchandisers such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Exhibitors at the Gerry gave mixed traffic reports. “It hasn’t been the busiest market, even for June,” said Jenny Foy, sales manager of the Fornarina showroom.

“Traffic needs to develop in the building.”

But Thompson said the Nikki & Lucy showroom had its best market to date, with business coming mostly from new accounts. “You just have to do your homework. We work hard to set up the appointments before market and get people in,” she said. It may have helped that the showroom also sold its lines at Brighte. “It’s like killing two birds with one stone,” Thompson said. Other Gerry-based lines also took space at Brighte, including Jak & Rae and Emphasis.

D&A on growth spurt

The D&A Annex show has often been considered small when compared with the giant Spring and Fall D&A shows. However, a reported increase in retailer attendance put the Annex on a profitable growth spurt, according to show co-producer Ed Mandelbaum.

“It’s the biggest Annex we’ve ever had in terms of retailers,” he said. The show hosted 112 vendors, which represented more than 200 companies. That was a 10 percent increase over the 2005 Annex show. Traffic for retailers increased to more than 2,100 people—20 percent more than the previous Annex, which drew 1,686 retailers.

Mandelbaum credited the increase to growth in D&A’s key market: More boutiques are selling young contemporary fashions. Across the board, Annex vendors said they were pleased with the caliber of retailers.

“This is where you get the upscale buyers,” said Jennifer McKinley, a partner of Plank, a Charlestown, Mass.–based fashion and yoga accessories company. Luxury hotel Montage Resort & Spa, based in Laguna Beach, Calif., made an order for Plank, she said.

Premium boutiques such as Trio of Palm Desert, Calif., the Los Angeles stores On Sunset, House of Petro Zillia, Madison and Jill Roberts, and Newport Beach, Calif.–based Talulah G. walked the show. Vendors said they were getting orders for Fall II/Holiday deliveries of July 30, Aug. 30 and Sept. 30.

Holiday often means showing jeans that to denim aficionados will fit any season, said Peter Lang, designer and owner of Glendale, Calif.–based Farmer Jeans. Or it could mean heavy jackets along with hoodies for the luxury casual brand Ever, based in Maywood, Calif.

Bountiful Holidays at Cooper, New Mart

Fall II/Holiday retail traffic was big, according to Cooper and New Mart management. Retail attendance at Cooper shot up 60 percent, compared with the 2005 June market, said Mona Sangkala, that building’s director of leasing. The volume of the traffic was on par with the larger March market, she said.

Retailers Nordstrom, Dillard’s,Metropark, Fred Segal Flair, Satine and Lisa Kline reportedly browsed through the building’s showrooms.

Retailer traffic increased because the market grew, said Jason Bates, chief executive of the Derelicte showroom in the Cooper. “There’s a lot of new stores opening up,” he said. “And there’s a lot of competition to get new brands and protect territory.”

Bates reported good business, but he said many retailers were biding their time and waiting until the MAGIC Marketplace in August to make big purchases for the Spring season.

New Mart management did not report attendance figures but said retailer traffic increased. The building’s retail traffic improved over the last market, according to Cal McCollum, owner of Los Angeles–based top manufacturer Cali, who recalled that the Fall I market in March was briefly interrupted by an unanticipated immigrants’ rights protest in downtown Los Angeles.

Taking The FifthNew horizons were on everyone’s mind at the June 9 party to celebrate the expanded showrooms on the B wing of the California Market Center’s fifth floor that houses contemporary wear. Four showrooms, Anna Paul, Liza Stewart, Chris Myers and Scrapbook enlarged their spaces while Revelation Showroom was welcomed as a newcomer. Jennifer Cohen (pictured left), president of sales for Anna Paul, and designer Anna Paul stand in their larger showroom that will be able to accommodate more of the Anna Paul line as well as the company’s new casual wear label Blind Monkey, which launches this fall.—Deborah Belgum

Dresses, Frocks and Gowns

The feminine mystique got a grip on buyers shopping for Holiday goods at the Los Angeles Fashion Market.

“Buyers are looking for what’s hot and sexy—lots of cocktail dresses,” said Etta Crisp of Dina Bar-El, the Los Angeles–based line of evening gowns and dresses showing at Brighte Cos. in the California Market Center. “Women need little cocktail dresses for Christmas parties and special occasions,” Crisp said. Prints and saturated colors, from a midnight blue to a kelly green, caught the eye of buyers, as did dresses with higher hemlines and sex appeal.

Dresses and skirts did well for the Los Angeles–based contemporary line Inspira, also showing at Brighte. Empire-waist chiffon dresses with leather trim under the bust stopped buyers in their tracks. “They like the mix of feminine and leather,” said Kari Woodruff, the line’s sales rep. Strapless dresses, coat-dresses and playful frocks also were popular with buyers.

The feminine appeal extended beyond dresses. Inspira sold jersey tops and tunics with chiffon-covered beads and other jewelry accents. Vintage-inspired jackets with shawl collars, tulip skirts and pencil skirts also spoke to buyers. Tie-back scarf tops with plunging necklines and fluttering sleeves were hits for Super Lucky Cat, showing at Brighte and in the Nikki & Lucy showroom in the Gerry Building.

Despite the move toward girly silhouettes, denim manufacturers said they were not feeling the effects.

“We’ve been busy this market,” said Tammy Brown, sales manager for Lucky Brand Dungarees, showing in the CMC. “We’re not the going-out jean, so people buying more dresses hasn’t really affected us,” she said. In fact, some retailers who had dropped the line in recent seasons once again wrote the line—notably denim purveyor Ketchum Dry Goods.

Jenny Foy, sales manager of the Fornarina showroom in the Gerry Building, said despite dresses getting the bulk of attention in the showroom, denim had been a strong performer during the market. Skinnier silhouettes and black washes caught the eye of denim buyers, she said. —E.B.