Afingo's Fashion Forum Highlights West Coast Fashion
New York–based Afingo, a social-networking resource and event producer for the fashion industry, focused on the West Coast fashion scene during its May 5 Fashion Forum at the California Market Center in Los Angeles.
The event, an all-day workshop, covered topics ranging from sustainability and philanthropy to West Coast style and how to launch a line. Those attending included fashion designers, retailers and marketers.Fashion-industry panelists included John Moore, creative director and president of The POP Studio; Shaun Tomson, former pro surfer and founder of Instinct and Solitude Sportswear; Derek A. Sabori, head of sustainability and corporate social responsibility at Volcom; Eviana Hartman, founder of Bodkin; Pamella Protzel Scott, designer and creative director of Ella Moss; Lori Tesoro, vice president of the HL Group; Melanie Bromley, West Coast bureau chief of US Weekly; and Rory Edelman, president and designer of Rory Beca.
During the “Sustainability & Philanthropy” workshop, panelists examined the balance of incorporating eco-friendly and socially responsible initiatives into their fashion businesses without losing sight of aesthetics, image or the bottom line. The panelists, who included Jesse Kamm, designer of the recently relaunched Jesse Kamm brand, and Scott Mackinlay Hahn, co-founder of the Loomstate and Rogan brands, said consumers generally don’t care about a garment’s sustainability.
“They don’t care yet—but if we sit around waiting for customers to demand [environmentally responsible fashion], we’d be sitting around all day,” said Volcom’s Sabori. “It needs to start with us.”
Hahn said there was a danger in using “green” as a marketing tool. Authenticity, quality and “cool” factors are far more important for purchases than an eco-friendly label. “Consumers will pay more for cool but not more for sustainable product,” he said.
At the same time, consumers have become accustomed to buying inexpensive, poorly made and non-environmentally friendly garments from mass and big-box retailers—making selling pricier green garments a bigger challenge.
Tomson, who used Patagonia as an example of a brand that has successfully pioneered environmentally friendly clothing without decreasing consumer demand, urged brands to pursue environmental efforts in a way that is authentic to their brand. Patagonia, he said, committed something close to “economic suicide” when it decided to use organic cotton exclusively. “They took a huge hit [on margins],” Tomson said, but Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia’s founder, believed that doing good is good for business. “And, ultimately, it was good for business,” Tomson said.
Kamm, whose line of contemporary dresses is made in Los Angeles, mainly from hand-printed and dead-stock fabrics, said she never set out to be a “green” fashion brand. “It is not a marketing strategy,” she said.In her case, sourcing her fabrics and production locally, eliminating or recycling waste, and opting for environmentally friendly processes makes sense. “Because Jesse Kamm is a luxury product, I can share my costs with my customers,” she said.
On the topic of West Coast style, executives from major Southern California surf brands—including Quiksilver, O’Neill, Vans and Reef—discussed the unique role California plays in their design process and as inspiration for the larger fashion community.
Surfing, which has become synonymous with the California lifestyle, continues to influence not just action-sports brands but designers and retailers from the mass market to the designer runways. Currently, the surf-apparel category is experiencing a welcome uptick in business, said Randy Hild, executive vice president of collaborations and partnerships at Quiksilver Inc.
That is due in part to increased consumer exposure the category is receiving from celebrities sporting “beachy” fashions and possibly the strong debut of “Soul Surfer,” the bio-pic about Bethany Hamilton, the young surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack.So far, the movie has taken in $37 million at the box office and prominently features products from sponsor Rip Curl. The last time a surf movie did well at the box office, sales went up for all surf brands, even if their logos weren’t prominently featured on the big screen. “Rising tides lift all boats,” Hild said.—Erin Barajas
