Room
The New MartSuite 611(213) 489-0796 info@room.io
For Room showroom’s owner, Marilyn Rodriguez, it was time to change focus.
Rodriguez opened her showroom in 2005 as a place to sell designer fashion labels. Over the past year, however, the economy weakened and she shuffled her showroom’s lines in order to stay in front of consumer demand. “Designer labels are what I love, but I needed to give retailers something different,” she said.
So she parted ways with three designer lines she carried at her showroom this summer. She started a search for boutique-style fashions, specifically for lines that were priced below her former lines’ entry wholesale price points of $300.
Her search for new lines took her to Spain this summer, where she signed Madrid-based label Raasta in July. Wholesale price points range from $90 to $110 for dresses in the casual contemporary line. In Spain, she also picked up label Suzie Wong. The line’s sequin and beaded dresses are wholesale priced from $220 to $500.
The search for designer looks at more-affordable price points also brought her back to Los Angeles. This summer, she signed Alms, a Los Angeles–based label that offered evening-inspired silk dresses and knit tops. Wholesale price points range from $120 for tops to $160 for dresses. Designer looks remain important with her continuing lines, Italian line Nolita, Lebanon-based Milia M and Australian label Marnie Skillings.
All are housed in Rodriguez’s elegant, spare showroom. The 1,300-square-foot space features white walls and mod plastic lamps and chairs from Italian furniture designer Kartell. “The focus is the clothes,” she said. —Andrew Asch
