California Apparel News

With much of the country shoveling snow and de-icing their sidewalks, the fashion industry is heading to the desert for a week of fashion, footwear, accessories and sourcing trade shows in Las Vegas. At the center is the massive MAGIC Market Week, the multi-show lineup taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. In addition to serving as editor-at-large for InStyle magazine, penning several fashion books and designing his own collection for HSN, Hal Rubenstein is also guest fashion director of WWDMAGIC and has a front-row seat for all the trends found on the show floor.

In the days before WWDMAGIC opens on Feb. 18, California Apparel News Executive Editor Alison A. Nieder caught up with the very busy Rubenstein, who was navigating snow, icy and freezing temperatures to get to the New York Fashion Week shows. “I’m a native New Yorker and it’s winter and I should be used to used to it,” he said. “But between the ice, the 10 inches of snow that is coming tomorrow and the fact that it’s 10 degrees now, my Uber bill is unbelievable.” Still, Rubenstein said, the shows go on. “The fashion group may whine a lot, but they’re an intrepid bunch,” he said.

What Fall trends should buyers be looking for at MAGIC?

What you’re seeing more than anything else is accessibility—especially from American fashion. The customer now sees fashion at the same time the retailers and editors do. (Designers say they don’t think about it, but they’re also active on social media.) If the consumer is seeing fashion at the same time we are, they’re not going to wait four months for you to explain it to them. Everything happens so much faster now. If an influential designer—if someone like Celine—sends out a plaid coat last season for Fall, well, there’s plaid everywhere within three months because the technology is available. Look, I have a line of clothing on HSN [Hal Rubenstein Collection for HSN], and I know how fast I can get something done. So suddenly everybody is showing orchid for this Fall. Why? Because purple was everywhere last season. You’re going to see a lot of orange and blues the following season because there seems to be a lot of it on the runway here. People can turn things around that quickly. If you look at Fashion Week, it gives you a sense of where things are going simply because the consumer is looking at it that way. The speed with which everything happens is something the consumer is very aware of, and they don’t want to wait.

But for Fall, there’s a huge emphasis on outerwear—which I’m thrilled about because it’s 15 degrees out. In the past, [when consumers bought a coat, it] had to last a couple of years. So they bought something all-purpose. You would buy that neutral coat, the camel-hair or the gray flannel. That’s ridiculous. At this point in time, everything you wear should make a statement—especially outerwear. When you look at the winter that most people in America have had, there is no one who got through winter this year without buying a coat. Especially if you live in a walking city. San Francisco; Chicago; New York; Philadelphia; Austin, Texas—these are all walking cities. You see as many people walking down the street as you would inside a building.

I think also people are looking for fabrics that have movement, that have some kind of stretch or give. That’s the influence of activewear. It used to be considered a trend, but activewear’s influence on sportswear is not a trend anymore, it’s just a reality. People lead a very active life. Most people who work for a living (and when I say work, being a mother is working, as far as I’m concerned), what you wear in the morning is what you’re still wearing at 7 o’clock at night. You have to have clothes that are convertible and more importantly clothes that you don’t want to rip off your body when you go home at 9 o’clock at night. I think people are getting much more sophisticated in understanding fabric and understanding how fabric moves against your body, fits on your body and, more than anything, feels on your body.

Is there a difference between West Coast and East Coast fashion?

If you’re saying between New York and LA, I say yes. If you’re saying truly West Coast and East Coast, probably not. Remember, it’s a long coast. Seattle is the West Coast, Portland is the West Coast, San Francisco is the West Coast. Do I think LA is a world unto itself? It is, and it should be. You can get away with a great leather jacket a T-shirt, a $300 pair of jeans and a fabulous pair of sunglasses. I think you do dress differently when the sun is constantly shining. When it comes to eveningwear or something special, do I think there’s a big difference? No. If Givenchy is popular in New York, it’s popular in Los Angeles. If Zara or Jessica Simpson is popular in New York, they’re popular in Los Angeles. In how people put things together, I think there’s a difference.

I don’t think it’s about East Coast/West Coast. Every city has a personality. It’s not about East and West and North and South. San Franciscans, for the most part, are chic dressers, but they’re actually fairly conservative dressers. Washington, D.C., is very, very buttoned up, literally and figuratively. Atlanta is very showy. In Miami, you can’t wear a skirt short enough. If you could make a belt in a lighter fabric and add two inches, there you go. Austin, Texas, has a really cool vibe. If there were five more cities like Dallas in America, we’d never have a recession. [There is a] joy of buying and the desire to show off. Chicago is very put together but kind of businesslike. It’s a myth that everyone in New York wears black. Maybe people in fashion do, but even in New York, there’s so many different groups because it’s such a world city; you see so much on the street. They may sound like generalities, but they’re realities. I travel all around the country, so I see it.

Do you have any advice for buyers going to MAGIC?

I’m a person who plans. I plan when I go shopping. I plan when I go on vacation. I plan when I give a speech. I don’t believe in winging it. This is the thing that makes MAGIC so much easier now. First of all, look at the floor plan. Pick the 10 key places that you’re used to and build parts of your day around that. You can’t cover that thing in a day—or even two days. You’re just going to run pillar to post. If there are names of [lines] that sound intriguing, you have wireless in your hotel room (or for that matter, even before you go), just Google them. Everybody’s company has a website. You can even preview before you go to MAGIC online. Do a little homework before you go. It’ll make it so much easier for yourself.

No. 2, give yourself a route of how to travel, so you’re not playing Chutes and Ladders. I’m not saying you have to follow it to the letter. If you find something intriguing, don’t say, “I’ve got to come back to that.” Take the time now. [Also] bring an iPad with you. If you see something intriguing and you really can’t take the time, write down the name, write down the location, take a bunch of pictures. It’s never been easier to do this stuff. Download your little note app. Otherwise, you’ll never find it again. Use all the technology available to make it easier for you to navigate MAGIC.

How can new and up-and-coming brands stand out?

There’s no magic science to this. It depends on how much the buyer or retailer is open to new. Before you go, ask yourself a question: What is your store about? Even H&M and Zara and Uniqlo, those huge stores have very specific focuses, which is why they’re a success. Zara has a very chic minimalism, Uniqlo has well-made utilitarianism, and H&M has a sort of what-the-f* sense of fashion—like, “We’re going to go for it. If you throw it out in six months, who [cares].” That’s why you go there. You know what you’re going to get.

Decide what your store is about. Nobody should sell anything they don’t love—because I can spot it in a minute if you’re not crazy about the product you’re selling. Things that sell well are things that you’re willing to get behind, things that you’re willing to stake your reputation on. Things that made you happy. If you see a sweater and you say, “I love this,” that’s just how you will sell it to a consumer. If you buy a sweater and you say, “I think this will sell really well,” you will hawk it to a customer. There’s a big difference.

Know what your store is about and keep your eyes open. I’m not saying not to go to the tried-and-true [brands] that sell. If Free People is a big seller in your store, or Desigual, go right back. But you have to take one part of one of the days just to seek out the places you’re not familiar with—because that’s how great things get discovered. So many people now sell so much stuff. So many people sell too much stuff. My biggest complaint with stores these days is they’re not edited strongly enough. When you look at stores that really changed the landscape, like the original Scoop, [it] was such a tightly edited store. Yes, there was a possibility that you would walk in and say, “This is not me,” but if you walked in and said, “This is me,” you were there every two to three weeks to see what else they had. And that’s how you build a customer base; that’s how you build sales. Nobody has the time to go schlepping all over the place to go shopping. No one’s going to walk one end of the mall to the other. But if you can create a store that has personality where someone walks in and says, “Here’s my perfect closet,” that’s what you should be aiming for—to turn your store into someone’s dream closet.

Is sounds like you’re saying buyers should be walking through MAGIC with the eyes of a consumer.

You have to walk through with the eyes of a consumer because that’s where these clothes will eventually wind up. If you walk through as a retailer, if you walk through counting the beans, then no. Because so many people do that, you’re going to wind up buying the same thing everybody else buys. And then [customers say,] “So why am I coming to your store? I’ll just go to the other store that’s a little bit closer. Or I’ll go back and forth and see which one’s cheaper.” You’ve got to sell something that’s fresh and new. Remember, you’re also competing against online sales, as well, which is the laziest way in the world to shop but also incredible effective. Most major brands have a huge online presence. Forty percent of my HSN sales are done online. Instead of shopping hoping to meet your numbers, I really think you should go shopping with your gut and your passion. Find the thing that makes your eyes dance. My guess is you went into this business because you love clothes. And if you really love clothes, then it’s time to exercise that passion and that excitement and that thrill of seeing clothes that are wonderful. People should get excited getting dressed in the morning. It should make you happy to put something on that looks good. If you can excite your customer, you have a customer. λ