California Apparel News

The Holiday/Resort market has traditionally been one of the smallest markets on the calendar, but buyer traffic was particularly low during the most recent Holiday/Resort event according to many sales representatives who reported turnout from primarily local retailers.

Buyers who did turn out for the Aug. 10–14 Los Angeles Fashion Market had plenty of merchandise to choose from among the showrooms of the California Market Center, The New Mart, the Cooper Design Space and the Gerry Building, as well as temporary trade shows Designers and Agents and Brighte Cos.

While some vendors reported good business during the market, many agreed that traffic was impacted by uncertainty in the U.S. economy and by an increasingly crowded tradeshow calendar.

Holiday/Resort has always fallen between two New York events: Intermezzo Collections in early August and Fashion Coterie in mid-September. The August market also falls two weeks before the massive MAGIC Marketplace and its ever-growing coterie of satellite shows in Las Vegas.

Many contemporary resources at the Los Angeles market said buyers were holding off until the Project Global Trade Show, which will run Aug. 27–29 in Las Vegas. Project got its start as a contemporary menswear and streetwear show, but last February the trade show added a women’s section, which includes many contemporary and designer collections. Some exhibitors said the Aug. 15–17 Trafik Trade Show in Miami was also drawing buyers away from the Los Angeles market.

A glut of trade shows prompted boutique owner Laura Abeyta to limit her spending at the Los Angeles market.

“I still have to go to Project, Pooltradeshow [in Las Vegas] and Coterie,” said Abeyta, who owns the (H)armonie boutique in Los Angeles’ Venice neighborhood. “If I spend a lot at this show, I don’t have any more money to spend at Project and Coterie.”

She forecast that relaxed denims with a light wash would sell well in the next few months. Another item gaining popularity has been dresses cut with more form-fitting silhouettes, a break from the looser baby-doll dresses, which have been a fashion favorite recently.

Boutique owner Jeanette Chivvis also bought less at this market than the same time in the previous year. She said that the Holiday/Resort season has not been important at her Los Angeles–based store, Sugar On La Brea, where casual day dresses have been popular recently.

Last-minute buying at CMC

Many reps at the CMC weren’t expecting a strong August market. “We all go into this market with our eyes wide open. It’s a slow market, and retail has been soft,” said Herlinda Ellis of the Studio III showroom. But this year the market seemed especially quiet, confirmed many of the building’s contemporary and missy tenants.

“Resort used to be a very nice market for [missy] seven or eight years ago,” said Emmalena Bland of the Salt & Pepper showroom, which reps several missy collections. “Now we just touch on it lightly.” Buyers in the showroom passed over Resort in favor of add-on buys for Fall and Holiday, said Salt & Pepper’s Sandra Volpe.

Ellis, who showed four Resort/Pre-Spring collections, said her business was comparable to last year’s August market. “The few buyers who did come were ready to write,” she said, but most of her buyers opted to make appointments to see her later this month in Las Vegas. “I know Las Vegas is going to be a fabulous market,” she said.

Low buyer turnout isn’t due to loss of interest in Spring or Resort, Bland said. “There are just too many markets. Please cancel this market!” she said.

Contemporary showrooms in the building also reported sluggish traffic. At the Sue Wong showroom, which has made a big push for the younger set with fun dresses, traffic was slow, but reps were unfazed. “We’ll see [buyers] at the other markets or take the collection to them,” said one rep. For Resort, buyers placed orders for cocktail and maxi-length dresses in black-and-white prints.

Declining traffic at The New Mart

Attendance has consistently increased at every other market at The New Mart. Not so with Holiday/ Resort. Registered attendance was 637 buyers, according to Ethan Eller, the manager of the building. Attendance has declined every year for this market. It was 800 in 2004, 720 in 2005 and 680 in 2006.

“Holiday/Resort just doesn’t make sense,” Eller said. “It’s a market whose time has passed.”

Eller said he polled New Mart tenants to gauge their interest in continuing holding a Holiday/Resort market. Half of those responding to Eller’s poll said they wanted to cancel the market. Yet 50 percent wanted to continue with the market because they wanted to chase as much business as they could.

Steeve Bohbot was one of The New Mart showroom proprietors who felt that continuing with the market was a good idea. “It was slow, but we opened more than 25 accounts. It was better than not doing it at all,” said Bohbot, a partner at The New Mart’s Julian showroom.

At Cooper, Spring is the thing

“Traffic [at the market] has been steady but nothing to write home about.It's an August market,quot; said Mona Sangkala, director of leasing for the Cooper Design Space. “Resort isn’t as big for local stores. Most brands in the building don’t have Resort collections. The brands that were busy were those who were showing Spring.”

Odd Molly, the Swedish line of eco-friendly contemporary apparel, opened its U.S. headquarters and showroom in the Cooper building just in time for the Resort market but showed Spring/Summer 2008 instead. “I think they’re just happy to see something fresh and new at the market,” said Meredith Powell, Odd Molly’s director of sales. Powell, who won’t be taking Odd Molly to Las Vegas, said several contemporary buyers told her they too would be skipping Las Vegas this season. “There are just too many shows. Project, which used to be the place to find those specials finds, has gotten so big and overwhelming. It’s not conducive to being creative or being focused and investing wisely,” she said. “Like us, they’re choosing to focus on smaller shows to find new resources. The tide is shifting.”

At the Riot showroom, Vanessa Impiciatorre showed no Resort, instead using the market to write last-minute orders for Holiday and focus on Spring. There, too, buyers who shopped Spring tended to write orders. “They’re not waiting until Project; they’re ready to write now,” she said. Buyers from Planet Blue, Fred Segal and Capricorn shopped the showroom for sophisticated streetwear for men and women from Los Angeles– based Cassette, and metallic blouses and dresses from her international brands.

Designer Robert Rodriguez greeted the Resort market with a timely collection he has labeled Pre-Spring. It is one of two new collections Rodriguez will design for his eponymous line of chic dresses, pants and separates. Packed with cotton voile dresses, washed organza frocks, high-waist trousers and buttery lambskin bomber jackets, the line is pure jet-set femininity. “It’s all about beautiful skirts with volume and perfect travel dresses,” Rodriguez said.

At Tricot, owner Vivian Patao said Southern California contemporary retailers don’t have much use for Resort deliveries. Despite the light traffic that plagued the market, buyers at Tricot showed interest in dresses with novelty details for Holiday. “There was no interest in basics,” Patao reported.

And, despite the light traffic and scattered buying pattern, the Resort market drew some unexpected heavy hitters. Sarah Rutson, the influential fashion director of Hong Kong–based department store Lane Crawford, was spied shopping for accessories at The Style Assembly.

Gerry traffic slow

Nikki Young of the Nikki & Lucy showroom at the Gerry building said she knew from the beginning that business would be slow for the August Resort market. “August is always slow. It’s the smallest market of the year,” she said. “When we called our core customers, many of them said they were skipping this market and going to Vegas. But this market is the slowest August I can remember,” she said. Still, orders for early Spring deliveries and Immediates helped the showroom reach a similar sales volume as the prior August market.

Still shopping for the feminine styles that have driven sales since this summer, buyers looked for girly silhouettes from Super Lucky Cat, Hype and Lovestruck. “Sales weren’t as bad as I thought once I added them all up,” Young said.

Small show, good feelings at D&A

Buyer attendance increased by 2.5 percent at the Designers and Agents show, held Aug. 10–12. Approximately 1,150 buyers browsed through the wares of 84 vendors at the show, according to show co-owner Barbara Kramer.

“Most of the people had a good show. They went home happy,” she said. “We all talked about how it felt like traffic was down. These August markets feel like in-between markets. It becomes a regional show.”

High-profile Los Angeles boutiques, including American Rag, Fred Segal Flair and Traffic, shopped the show.

The show surpassed expectations for Mattie Ilel, co-owner of Los Angeles–based label J.P. & Mattie. She estimated that her sales had doubled compared to last August’s show. The designer credited the strong sales to the debut of her clothing line’s hand-crafted sandals.

Los Angeles–based label Morphine Generation also reported increased buyer traffic. One reason for the increased interest was that the label gave buyers a full look at its Spring 2008 line, called “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” said Morphine designer and owner Erik Hart.

Brighte and quiet

Exhibitors at the Brighte Cos. show, held Aug. 10–13 inthe CMC’s Fashion Theater, reported lackluster traffic over the four-day event, which featured contemporary apparel and accessories.

“We’re hearing from all the lines that summer is a little slow right now for the retailers. They’re buying for late Fall and Holiday and then looking ahead to Spring,” said Carrie Cummings, owner of Beverly Hills–based Devotion Takes a Trip, which showed custom-rock hoodies featuring album-cover art from The Beatles, Bon Jovi, Elvis Presley and other iconic performers from the past.

The show, as usual, featured plenty of tops and dresses, which fits in with current trends.

“Spring is going to be about color and bold prints,” said Hamid Derak, who represented New York–based Flora Kung at Brighte. Kung, big in the 1980s, has resurfaced with a line of silk knit jersey tops and dresses in varying lengths featuring colorful Pucci-esque prints in geometric patterns.

Newcomer Michael Gorsen of FeelGood T-shirts, based in El Segundo, Calif., showed tunics and tops lightly embellished with Swarovski crystals and prints of symbols such as stars and flowers, priced from $24 to $50.

“We met a lot of buyers here. Anyone who looked at the line likes it,” said Gorsen.

One of the busier booths was the new Ed Hardy Knits collection, featuring cashmere and blended tops with Ed Hardy tattoo art priced from $65 and up.

Rep Valerie Hammond also reported some quiet periods at the show. “I think everyone is gearing up for MAGIC and the Las Vegas shows,” she said.

Hammond said the 8-month-old knits line has been selling through at impressive rates.

“It’s been selling out at almost all of the South Beach [Miami] stores. It’s doing amazing,” said Hammond, adding that one-week sell-throughs have not been uncommon.

And Anise Rawji of New York–based Joolay said sparkly embellishments are back for Holiday and Spring.

“Everybody is tired of just plain blacks. They want sparkles again and some color,” she said, showing silk chiffon dresses decorated with beading and sequins from $68 and up.

Denim played a minor role at Brighte. One resource reported a “horrific” show, saying that denim has become a price-point game.

Exhibitors and show representatives confirmed that Brighte Vegas, originally slated to return to Las Vegas later this month after a two-year absence, has been cancelled. Show organizers did not give a reason for the cancellation. The next Brighte L.A. show is scheduled for Oct. 26–29 at the CMC.

Boutique Lingerie show

Sandwiched after the Spring 2008 Lingerie Americas and Boutique Lingerie trade shows in New York, which ran Aug. 5–7 and just weeks before the CurveNV and Lingerie Americas trade shows in Las Vegas, exhibitors reported a quiet Boutique Lingerie in Los Angeles.

Boutique Lingerie’s Los Angeles show ran Aug. 10–13 and drew mostly local retailers, according to show producer and lingerie designer Samantha Chang, who said retailers Lulu’s in Manhattan Beach, Calif., LF Stores, Fred Segal Silk and East 13 in Pasadena, Calif., were among the attendees.

Many exhibitors just returned from New York and credited the slow traffic to the new lingerie shows in Las Vegas. “[All the buyers] are waiting for Vegas,” said Vivian Baril of Lavit, who wrote orders with her existing accounts.

Lesley St. James, vice president and general manager of Luxe Lingerie in Beverly Hills, attended the Boutique Lingerie show in New York but wrote her order for Chang’s line at the Los Angeles show. “I like the fact that [the Boutique Lingerie shows feature] companies that you don’t find elsewhere,” said St. James of the “edgy” lines she buys at both the New York and Los Angeles editions.

Massachusetts-based Adea sleepwear showed its microfiber basics, which wholesale for $16 to $45, for the first time at the Boutique Lingerie show. The company also had a booth at the Brighte show in the CMC. Jackie Durkee, Adea’s head of sales, said she “definitely” saw different buyers than those that attended the Brighte show. Basics were the bestsellers, such as an Italian microfiber lowrise thong that wholesaled for $10. Buyers were also interested in Adea’s loungewear and underwear, made with SeaCell, a patented fiber made from seaweed.