California Apparel News

Retailers had a lot of ground to cover during the recent run of Los Angeles Fashion Market with new shows, concurrent events and, for some of the showroom buildings in LA’s fashion district, an early start.

The California Market Center and the Gerry Building opted to open market on Sunday, Oct. 13, and run through Wednesday, Oct. 16. The New Mart, the Cooper Design Space and the Lady Liberty Building all started market on Monday, Oct. 14, and ran through Thursday, Oct. 17.

The temporary trade shows—Designers and Agents, Select, Coeur and Brand Assembly—followed the same schedule as their locations (The New Mart, the CMC and the Cooper, respectively).

This season also saw the launch of two new menswear-focused events in the fashion district. The Los Angeles Men’s Market Initiative was held at the CMC’s Area 4, as well as area showrooms Flagship, The Foundation and The Park, all located in downtown Los Angeles outside of the CMC. And Men’s Fashion Week Los Angeles debuted at the CMC Penthouse.

CMC’s early start a hit with showrooms

The California Market Center experimented with its schedule by adding an extra day, Sunday, to the Los Angeles Fashion Market, which ran Oct. 13–16, and some showroom owners did anything to accommodate the new schedule.

Alex Um, owner of the Korner Runway showroom in suite B507, came into the showroom after partying at both a birthday and a wedding the night before. “I went straight to work,” Um said of the all-night, event-hopping revelry. “I wanted to see what was up with it. … I’d rather make money, even if I am hung over.”

Um liked what he saw. “It was the first time that it opened on a Sunday,” he said. “I didn’t expect much traffic. But Sunday was one of the best days of the market.”

He estimated that 80 percent of his clientele was new customers. Many of them represented boutiques from across the United States, and he said many were on their first trip to Los Angeles. Many of Um’s former customers go to the San Pedro Wholesale Mart. “Customers would rather go there and get a better price. It’s cheaper,” he said.

Don Reichman of the Reichman Associates showroom in the CMC’s suite A287 estimated that his sales for the recent market increased 20 percent compared with the LA Fashion Market in October 2012. However, he noted that showrooms have to work for their sales. “Stores are careful with what they are buying,” he said. Velma Reichman, also of Reichman Associates, said that many stores are not automatically going with proven, tried-and-true brands. Rather, they want brands that offer the best of both worlds—brands that can sell and provide fresh, new styles.

The CMC devoted new energy to a new showmanship during the recent market. For the 11 showrooms on the second floor of the CMC’s “A” building, two models were hired to display outfits from the wing’s showrooms and greet buyers throughout the market.

Buzzing at The New Mart

There was definitely an air of optimism at The New Mart, where buyer traffic for many showrooms was up over last year.

“The traffic has been good,” said Michael Cohen of the Work in Progress showroom, which carries labels such as Cotton Citizen, So Low Sport and Tag Elemental. “People are very upbeat.”

He said it helped to have five of his eight lines made in Los Angeles because more specialty-store retailers were eager to stock “Made in USA” goods.

Michael’s daughter, Ainsley Brooklyn Cohen, who runs the Nine O Seven showroom in the same suite, said buyers were looking for new resources to add an edge to their merchandise, especially in denim.

At the LIT Studio showroom, Sheila Oliver was selling a lot of resort and beachwear from labels such as Cocobelle. “We’ve seen people from the Midwest and the Southeast as well as Shopbop and Nordstrom,” she said. “June was a great market, and this market has been good.”

In the corporate showroom that houses the casual lines Mod-o-Doc sportswear, True Grit and the Dylan Developed by True Grit womenswear line, brand manager Michael Kofoed said the Fall season is traditionally the strongest market in Los Angeles but the Spring 2014 market this year has also turned out to be vibrant. He thought his traffic was up 20 percent over last year, with half his increase coming from appointments and the rest from walk-ins. “There is a higher level of optimism among buyers this year,” he said, noting that the specialty stores that are around now are the cream of the crop because they have managed their inventory and finances during difficult economic times.

High traffic at Cooper

The lobby hummed with traffic, and the elevators were running full at the Cooper Design Space, where Dena Hanks of the SuiteShop showroom said things were “crazy, crazy busy” for the first two days of market followed by steady traffic on the third day.

“Everyone is buying again. They’re leaving paper; it’s not all notes,” she said. Hanks said retailers from all over the country were shopping the market, including Western, Midwest and Southern states, as well as many of the larger retailers such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Intermix and Nasty Gal.

Particularly encouraging was retailers’ willingness to take a chance on new lines, Hanks said. SuiteShop was debuting two new lines at market, Chalk from New York and Nines from Los Angeles.

Things were equally upbeat at the Cristina Angarola showroom, where owner Cristia Angarola said she was particularly busy on the second day of market, when “everybody seemed to come at once.”

Angarola said very few retailers were looking for Immediate goods. “Everybody was very positive about Spring,” she said. “The lines we have are retailing right now—and that’s always a good thing.”

Growing at the Gerry Building

Buyers walked the floors of the historic Gerry Building, where most of the showrooms have updated misses and bridge lines.

Many buyers were playing cautious with their budgets, noting that customers are still watching their bottom line. “Right now, everyone is price-point sensitive, still,” said Holly Hill, whose self-named, 1,800-square-foot specialty store is located in the Silicon Valley town of San Carlos, Calif. With most of her items fetching under $200, she has been selling a lot of skirts, leggings and tunics to her customers, who range in age from 30 to 65.

With that formula, her business has grown 5 percent to 7 percent over last year, she said.

With buyers such as Hill, business was steady for showroom owners, but some felt the debt-ceiling battle and government-shutdown issue in Washington, D.C., was holding buyers back from committing their entire budget. “We had been hearing good things about the economy until this government thing happened,” said Arlene Henry of the Arlene Henry Showroom.

Neetu Malik, who has a showroom on the same floor as Arlene Henry, said the market was going very well. “Our customers have had a good season, and their business is picking up,” she said. “We carry a lot of ‘Made in USA,’ and customers are supporting that.”

Vibrant D&A

Designers and Agents had a well-curated show that represented everything from cashmere sweaters to hand-crafted baubles. Bright colors seemed to be everywhere for Spring 2014.

The 100 booths representing 135 lines occupied two rooms on the third floor of The New Mart.

Ed Mandelbaum, co-founder of Designers and Agents, said exhibitor attendance was up 8 percent over last year and buyer attendance during the first two days of the show increased 10 percent. “It has been a positive experience. I think retail business is better than it has been in a while,” he said. “There is a positive mood and people are shopping.”

At the extra-wide booth occupied by Matta, salespeople were busy helping customers wade through the vast collection of vibrantly colored tunics, dresses, scarves and tops handmade in India. The company is well-known for its cotton, silk, linen, wool and cashmere fabrics, which make up the label’s clothing. Wholesale prices range from $60 to $93.

The New York–based Matta consistently shows at the Designers and Agents show in New York, which was very busy last September. “This show is steady but not as consistently busy as New York,” said Desislava Zhivkova, a Matta sales associate.

She said Matta representatives were able to see many of their West Coast and California clients and were working to develop new clients.

LAMade, a line of T-shirts made in Los Angeles as well as sweaters made overseas, was making a new appearance at the show after a two-year hiatus, said Regional Sales Manager Carly Martinez. “It has been good for us so far,” she said, noting she was hoping to open new store accounts at the show. “Traffic has been steady.”

While the main room of the Designers and Agents show buzzed with activity, the second exhibition room next door was decidedly quieter. Vendors there felt they were missing out on all the action in the main room.

“I don’t feel the traffic as much over here,” said Samantha Sung, whose eye-popping prints made her dresses, which wholesale for $189 to $249, stand out in her corner booth. “I remember when it was much better.”

Sung—whose self-named label is long on color she develops for her fabrics, has printed in South Korea, and cut and sewn in Bali, Indonesia—hadn’t attended the Los Angeles version of D&A for a few years. But she was disappointed in the traffic and felt the New York show was much busier.

The colors in her booth should have attracted any curious buyer. But by the second day, Sung had seen only five buyers, and three of them she already knew.

This was Kimberly Sherer’s first foray into the Los Angeles version of Designer and Agents. After two days, the designer and co-founder of the Jordan Louis contemporary label of separates thought buyer traffic could have been more robust. “We had a great show with D&A in New York, where we opened 30 new stores, and we thought we’d try it out here to expand to the West Coast,” she said. “But there is not a lot of traffic, I don’t know if it’s this room or what.”

Coeur co-locates with Brand Assembly at the Cooper

This season, the Cooper hosted two shows on the 11th floor, upscale accessories show Coeur, now in its fifth season in LA, and Brand Assembly, which officially bowed in June.

This season, Coeur featured 100 brands, including lines from France, the U.K., Australia, Norway, Italy and Canada, as well as San Francisco, New York, Portland, Seattle and LA, said show organizer Henri Myers.

“It was the busiest Monday we’ve had so far,” Myers said. “And they’re writing [orders].”

Retailers shopping the show included Saks Fifth Avenue, Holt Renfrew, Ron Herman, Bluefly, Shopbop, Isetan, Elyse Walker, Clover, Amazon.com, MGM and Wendy Foster.

First-time exhibitors Mark and Donna Schons from Louisiana were at Coeur to build West Coast business for their Johnny Loves June collection of jewelry handmade in the U.S.

“Thirteen of our stores are in the LA area,” Mark Schons said.

The company, which launched last year, is already in 42 states, as well as Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Also new to the show was Marmol Radziner Jewelry, the unisex collection from the architecture firm of Leo Marmol and Ron Radziner, whose work includes the restoration of the Kaufman Desert House in Palm Springs, Calif., as well as a residential project for Tom Ford.

In the works for two years, the jewelry line officially launched in March, according to Sonia Huang, director of sales, who said the collection is unisex but does slightly better with men. So she thought she would try a trade show with predominantly women’s offerings.

At Coeur, Huang said she met with several Southern California stores that already carry the line. “We have a big following with museum stores,” Huang said, adding that the company was hoping to meet with some of the fashion retailers who shop Coeur. “I did pick up a couple of stores we’ve been wanting to work with,” she said.

On the Brand Assembly side of the room, Black Halo was working a full schedule of appointments. The Los Angeles company recently took sales in house and was represented at the show by Richard Baker and Megan Flynn.

“Because we’re based in LA, the dresses are made in LA and have that strong West Coast feeling. The feedback has been amazing,” Baker said.

The company is expanding its dress offerings to give the customer something she can wear to different occasions, Baker added. Maxis, jumpsuits, fit and flare cocktail dresses were all doing well.

Brand Assembly was the first West Coast show for Los Angeles line Sjobeck. Chief Operating Officer JesseRay Vasquez said he liked the intimate feel of the show but was persuaded to exhibit when he heard which retailers were attending.

“You have every store you can think of on the West Coast—and also New York—attending,” he said.

Strong debut for Los Angeles Men’s Market Initiative

New trade event Los Angeles Men’s Market Initiative attracted high-marquee retailers to its debut Oct. 14–15. The event was held at Area 4 of the CMC, which is located on the fourth floor of the CMC’s “B” wing, as well as in showrooms Flagship, The Foundation and The Park, all located in downtown Los Angeles outside of the CMC.

Retailers American Rag, Revolve Clothing, Active, Zappos, Tilly’s, Tradition, Attic and Kitson browsed the men’s streetwear and lifestyle brands. High-profile brands such as Obey, Stüssy, Comune, Kill City, Slvdr, 10Deep and Brixton rented temporary space in Area 4 for the show. Trade show co-producer Kellen Roland, who also serves as president of The Ntwrk Agency showroom, said that 100 buyers dropped by the event, where 90 vendors showed their brands. About 65 percent of the vendors worked out of temporary showrooms.

Vendors said the new event brought a fresh buzz of excitement to Area 4. “I’ve seen more traffic in two days than I can remember in four years at the CMC,” said Jason Bates of Derelicte showroom. Bates ran Derelicte in Area 4 from 2009 but moved out in May. He is currently headquartered in New York. At the Men’s Market Initiative, he debuted contemporary men’s line The New Standard Edition, which also is headquartered in New York.

Shawn Swanson of the Wellen brand said that he saw buyers he would not see at other prominent streetwear and fashion trade shows. “I opened two Japanese accounts and one Hawaii account. It was unexpected,” he said.

Vendors showed Holiday and Spring ’14 lines. Adam Ahdoot of Flagship said most of the show’s business was immediates. Retailers were looking to fill in gaps in their merchandise mixes for holiday. “The main question was, ‘How soon can I get this?’” he said.

Michael Pieters, sales chief for Kill City, said the show helped draw traffic to Area 4. “It hasn’t added business, but it was cool because it added excitement to the floor and made it a destination,” he said. “The energy has been amazing. We haven’t had anything like this.”

Roland plans to make the show a biannual event, which will specifically offer fashions for Holiday and Summer. He hopes it will continue to bring retailers to downtown Los Angeles showrooms. “There is such a high concentration of brands and retailers in Los Angeles, he said. “LA Men’s Market is the first step in bringing consistent foot traffic to West Coast showrooms. It’s similar to what we see in New York and Paris,” he said of the fashion districts where, he contends, showroom traffic is high.

Men’s Fashion Week bows

Men’s Fashion Week Los Angeles debuted at the CMC Penthouse, where event producer Pamela Williams organized runway shows by emerging men’s brands such as Krammer & Stoudt, NoRal Apparel, My Vice Sweats and Control Sector. The packed shows attracted more than 1,000 people to the penthouse, Williams said. More than 50 retailers visited the show. Also appearing at Men’s Fashion Week Los Angeles was a showroom for men’s stylist Gentleman’s Closet. The new fashion week also offered a market where some of the brands presenting runway shows took orders from retailers. Other brands never took the runway, but they exhibited at the market. Los Angeles–headquartered accessories brand Pocket Square Clothing exhibited at the event, as did The Finer Things, a novelty socks brand headquartered in Anaheim, Calif., along with five other brands.

Tedd Monney of The Finer Things said that he only met with a couple of retailers during the first Men’s Market Week Los Angeles. However, the event paid for itself through spreading the word about the brand. “The social networking has been amazing,” he said of the stylists and bloggers who wrote about the show on various social-media channels such as Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. “So many people are coming through here, and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I got to send this to my friend.’” Mainstream newspapers, TV news and niche magazines also covered the event.

Williams plans to schedule the next Men’s Fashion Week for March 2014.

Extra day, business at Select get mixed reviews

An extra day for Select contemporary trade show at the CMC got mixed reviews.

In the past, the contemporary trade show, located at the building’s Fashion Theater, had been a three-day event. But for its recent run, a fourth day was added. The show opened a day early, on Sunday, Oct. 13. (This season, the CMC opened market on Sunday rather than the typical Monday opening day.)

For veteran Select show vendor Gillian Julius, the extra hours were a waste of time. “Sunday was a bust. The fourth day was a bad idea,”said Julius, who owns and designs her self-named Los Angeles brand, Gillian Julius. The show’s traffic and business became vibrant on Monday. (Vendors did not have to pay for booth space on the extra day, Julius said.)

Mike Farid, the founder of Bgreenapparel of Rancho Dominguez, Calif., agreed that Sunday’s traffic was slow, but he supported the extra show date. It’s generally a good idea to have an extra show date, he said. Buyers just have to get used to the new day.

There were 56 vendors at Select, said Alyson Bender, a representative for the CMC. A wide range of retailers shopped at the show. Retailers included Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Amazon.com and Zappos as well as boutiques such as LF Stores, Wasteland and Kitson.

Some vendors said the show had a slower pace than last October. However, the show was still lucrative. Julius said that her booth typically gets 70 percent new customers at Select and 30 percent returning buyers. At this show, 70 percent of her customers were returning. She estimated that orders were 50 percent bigger than last October. “With a slower pace, orders are a lot larger,” she said. “We get a chance to really work with the clients instead of just being order takers, which usually happens at a faster-paced show.”

Dan Butler of the Lines of Denmark company, which sells Danish apparel and footwear lines in America, said that show business was excellent. “It is a national show for us,” he said. “We pull people from all over [the U.S.].” At the show, he worked with stores from Athens, Ga.; Miami; and Boston.

The show’s vendors were a mix of veterans and novices. Taking a bow at the show was contemporary line In The Black, a Boca Raton, Fla.–headquartered line, and Mamie Ruth of Savannah, Ga. Marilyn Graff of In the Black said retailers gave good comments on her contemporary line, but most were looking for a lower price point. In The Black’s core price points range from $57 wholesale to $123 wholesale.

Emily Bargeron of Mamie Ruth said that the key to her show success was being flexible. One retailer asked to cut the hem of a dress two inches shorter. Another asked to add straps to a dress to make it more modest. While she was taking orders for February to March 2014 delivery dates, one retailer wanted orders delivered in July.

For the Lady Liberty, a New Boutique

It was a busy week for Eric Martin, owner of The Park showroom at the Lady Liberty building.

He not only co-produced the Los Angeles Men’s Market Initiative during the LA Fashion Market, he held a soft opening Oct. 14 for Seven Points, his new retail store at the Lady Liberty.

The 1,000-square-foot boutique is located adjacent to the main entrance to the Lady Liberty. It offers men’s clothing from brands such as Billionaire Boys Club, Jachs and Scotch & Soda. Martin opened the boutique to create an extra revenue stream for his showroom, The Park. Seven Points also will serve his wholesale operations. It will present the showroom’s brands in a boutique atmosphere, which will give retailers a reference point on how the brand could look in their shops.

He reported that business during the market was good because of his participation with the Los Angeles Men’s Market Initiative, which sought to attract more local and national buyers to downtown Los Angeles showrooms. “We saw 43 accounts. The strategy of teaming up with multi-line showrooms really paid off,” he said. Other showrooms participating in the Los Angeles Men’s Market Initiative were Flagship, The Foundation and the Ntwrk Agency.

Other Lady Liberty showrooms reported good business during the LA Fashion Market. “Every day has been really busy,” said Karli Bell, manager of One showroom. She reported retailers such as Revolve Clothing and Nasty Gal as well as some Japanese retailers shopping at the building. The market represented a debut for women’s basics line Rad + Refined and contemporary line Bellen Brand at One.

At L’Atelier showroom, men’s sales representative Reno Calabrese noted that market traffic was fair. He mostly saw existing accounts. These retailers showed high interest in ordering brands that they already stocked. However, he noted that lines with a popular price points did well during the market. L’Atelier’s client Chrldr caught the notice of retailers with its wholesale price points of $18 to $22 for a T-shirt and $34 to $42 for a sweatshirt.

For the complete coverage of Los Angeles Fashion Week '14 Spring, See related story: Los Angeles Fashion Week: Spring Forward.