California Apparel News

The fashion community in California and beyond is still in shock over this week’s terrorist attacks in Washington, D.C., and New York, and though still focusing on the devastation left in the aftermath, retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and the like are beginning to wonder about the possible effect on business in the coming weeks and months.

Most companies contacted by the California Apparel News this week expressed outrage and sadness over the suicide aircraft attacks that destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and sections of the Pentagon in Washington and left an untold number of fatalities in their wake.

Among those losing their lives in the New York crashes were seven TJX Cos. merchandise executives who were aboard American Airlines Flight 11 en route from Boston to Los Angeles. Ann Taylor also maintained an Ann Taylor Loft unit in the World Trade Center.

The events took place as many in the industry were traveling to orjust arriving in New York for Fashion Week, while others were in Miami for the Material World textile trade show. The incidents left thousands stranded as airline traffic came to a halt in all domestic airports due to the fear of further terrorist threats—while leaving many of those same stranded fearful about flying home when air traffic did resume.

The question of how business will go forward remains on everybody’s minds. At press time, the dates of the upcoming Fashion Coterie show in New York, for example, had just been changed.

West Coast Executives Stranded

California Mart executive marketing director Trish Moreno and Los Angeles-based marketing company MAG.LA’s John Montgomery were among those stuck in New York trying to get a flight back home.And of course they weren’t alone. Most buyers had expected to stay for the entire week, but many were uncertain whether flight schedules would return to normal by the weekend.

On the West Coast, markets were desolate on the day of the attacks. Those who showed up at the Cal Mart were told around noon to return home. Indeed, most of downtown Los Angeles was shut down, including government buildings, retail outlets and commercial properties. SWAT teams were out and the entire city was placed on high alert.

“A lot of businesses were closed and as far as security goes, we were on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. We also assisted the police with helping [move] their vehiclesthrough the streets, but it was a pretty quiet day in the Fashion District,” said Fashion District director of operations Joe Germain.

Kit Marchel, executive vice president of marketing and business development for the Cal Mart, said that security around the buildings had been heightened and that the mood around the showrooms was one of sadness and devastation.

“Everybody knows somebody or knows somebody who knows somebody affected by this. There’s a lot of pain and suffering right now.”

Across the street at the New Mart, the mood was similar.

“We’re shocked and sickened by this act of war,” said general manager Ethan Eller. “Our building was initially open but about halfway through the day we closed our offices. For the most part, it was like a ghost town around here.”

As showroom personnel began to trickle in on Wednesday after Los Angeles chief of police Bernard Parks and other city officials assured the community that Los Angeles had not been threatened by an attack, Eller figured that most people, like himself, found it difficult to concentrate on work.

One Cal Mart vendor, who declined to be named, said she felt a little guilty coming to work while the country was reeling from the events in New York and Washington, but noted that orders had to be processed.

“It was too devastating to come to work, but you have to think of your customers too,” she said.

Likewise, Jeff Lubell of Los Angeles-based Hippie Jeans said it was tough to concentrate but that his accounts were waiting on reorders.

“It’s horrible about what happened. I just hope the U.S. government can apprehend and punish these terrorists. As for business, there’s a lotof speculation about this putting us into a recesssion, but I’m not buying a lot of it. People don’t know everything about what really fuels business. We believe in what we’re doing,” Lubbell said.

Others weren’t so confident. Danny Paurat, principal of Los Angeles-based Isis, said he is seeing a fear factor result from this week’s incidents.

“I’ve already received four order cancellations this week. People are scared. I haven’t been able to ship because the trucks aren’t moving and the East Coast accounts are holding back,” he said.

Fashion Week Postponed to October

Following the terrorist-related disaster, 7th on Sixth organizers canceled New York’s fashion week.

“7th on Sixth has cancelledMercedes Benz Fashion Week due to the tragic events of today,” said Fern Mallis, executive director of 7th on Sixth, in a statement issued at 1 p.m. EST on Tuesday. “We are in constant communication with the designers and looking into alternatives to assist the industry with shows and venues in New York City at the appropriate time.”

Mallis announced that Fashion Week has been provisionally rescheduled for Oct. 22–24, which was the general time slot for the event until 1998.

According to Mallis, 7th on Sixth is leading an initiative to address the inability of designers to present their Spring collections due to the disaster.

Among those was a group of West Coast designers, including Michelle Mason, Magda Berliner, Alicia Lawhon, Grey Ant by Grant Krajecki and Jared Gold, whose debut in New York was organized by Los Angeles public relations firm SPR under sponsorship from car maker Audi. Only Lawhon and Gold were able to show before the disaster.

SPR co-owner Sara Stein told a reporter that the group has no current plans to return in October and declined to comment on the group’s planned showings in Los Angeles in November.

In addition to rescheduling 7th on Sixth, Mallis said that the organization is also “exploring how the industry can collectively respond to the humanitarian needs in this time of crisis.”

One of the group’s initial ways was to offer the tents set up for Fashion Week to the rescue efforts. As of press time, the tents had not yet been needed.

Trade Organizations Halt Operations

The war-zone atmosphere around the World Trade Center and the Pentagon sent workers scurrying to safety. Employees of apparel industry organizations were part of the area’s evacuees.

At the National Retail Federation in Washington, D.C., a phone recording said, “Due to conditions beyond our control, the National Retail Federation is closed.”

The 20-person office of the American Apparel and Footwear Association in Arlington, Va., within one mile of the Pentagon, closed around 9:45 a.m., according to spokesman Jack Morgan.

Morgan said the organization had the advantage of reacting quickly due to the office’s close proximity to the nation’s military headquarters.

“We’re on the 12th floor of our building, and I could see the fire at the Pentagon before the story was reported on television,” he said in a phone call from his home in Rockville, Md.

Still, leaving the premises wasn’t easy, and Morgan described the subway scene as “panicky.” “It was like rush hour, except in mid-morning,” he said.

With equity markets reacting around the world to the attacks, Morgan said American businesses will be under a global microscope for some time to come, but that Sept. 11 was a day of more substantive gravity.

“It’s not a positive thing for business, but any economic impact will pale in comparison to the human tragedy [of the attacks].”

Malls Shut Down

As amusement parks, concert arenas, Las Vegas attractions and other large-scale venues shut down their facilities after the attacks, malls nationwide, including those in Southern California, followed suit on Tuesday.

Around Washington, D.C., Tyson’s Corner Center in McClean, Va. was closed.

The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., the flagship property of Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc., was closed, as were the Shops at Mission Viejo, Brea Mall and Laguna Hills Mall, the Orange County, Calif., properties of the nation’s largest shopping center operator.

In Los Angeles, the Beverly Center and Santa Monica Place closed for the day.

South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif., among the country’s largest shopping centers, stayed open, but “customer traffic was light,” according to marketing director Debra Gunn Downing. About half of the 300-store mall closed, but many shops posted signs saying they would open the next day. Except for Saks Fifth Avenue, the mall’s department stores—Macy’s West, Nordstrom, Robinsons-May, and Sears—remained open. Louis Vuitton, Gucci, DKNY and a number of high-end stores with company headquarters in New York closed.

Macy’s West, Abercrombie & Fitch, the Gap and Illumination were among the 90 stores closed at Glendale Galleria, according to a mall representative. The 250-store center closed three hours early, at 6 p.m., for the day.

Show Goes on in Miami

On Tuesday, a group of textile and apparel industry executives gathered around a pair of television sets on the show floor at the Material World trade show at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Fla.

“We had requests from the floor to be informed,” said Tim von Gal, executive vice president of Urban Expositions, organizer of the show.

“We felt it was better since it was dominating everyone’s thoughts and concerns. We thought it was better to have correct information being dispersed.”

Show organizers were asked by the Miami Beach Convention Center and local officials to “operate under a status quo” and remain open until further notice, said von Gal.

In the meantime, he said, show organizers were “doing everything we can to accommodate [exhibitors’ and attendees’] needs and requests,” such as making phones available and helping people secure additional nights’ accommodations at area hotels.

While some exhibitors were packing up and returning to their offices around the country, many said they were debating whether to stay until the airports reopened or find a rental car to drive home.

“I have reservations to fly tomorrow [Sept. 12],” said Ron Rothchild of New York-based software company Aria Systems. Rothchild said he checked that morning to ensure that his family was safe in Long Island. That day his New York office was “shut tight,” he said.

“If the airport even reopens, there could be a 20-hour delay,” he said. “I have a rental car—I may drive back. You’re talking about the entire nation shutting down.”

Time seemed to halt on the morning of the disaster, according to Bernie Gardner of Los Angeles-based Impala Industries. Gardner’s son lives near the World Trade Center in New York, and Gardner said he was unable to reach his son by phone for several hours.

“Thank God he is okay,” Gardner said, adding that his heart went out to the families of the victims.

“I know how they feel,” he said. “I’ve been in their shoes for three hours.”