ROMANTIC LOOKS: Designer Inga Nataya has been doing very well with her Nataya line, which has romantic looks and a certain “Downton Abbey” feel to them.
TRADE SHOW
WWIN is a Winner
A certain buzz of activity permeated the Women’s Wear in Nevada (WWIN) trade show, which caters primarily to misses and updated contemporary clothing exhibitors selling to specialty stores.
Almost every vendor that was packed into the various ballrooms and exhibition spaces at the Feb. 17–20 event, held at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino, was doing brisk business. Retailers were so confident about the economy, they were ordering Fall items rather than Immediates.
Salespeople were extremely busy, yanking items off the racks so quickly it was as if you were in a fast-food restaurant.
“The first day we were swamped,” said Ferruh Lermi, founder and owner of LBisse, a 2-year-old New Jersey clothing company that manufactures all its apparel in Turkey.
This was Lermi’s second year at WWIN, and she was quite pleased with the outcome. Lermi said her knit palazzo pants that come in 20 different prints were selling well. Another hot item was maxi skirts that draped nicely and looked easy to care for.
The line’s wholesale prices ranged from $20 to $45, which proved popular with the retailers Lermi saw from Texas, California and Nevada.
Not far away, the sales team that represents Nataya, a Los Angeles line of romantic dresses created by Inga Nataya, was gushing about the event’s success. “We’ve had a phenomenal show,” said Sharon Alcazar, the company’s sales manager. “The last time we were here, there were a smaller amount of orders and we had to work three times as hard as we are working now.”
She said retailers were placing orders for Fall and buying more than they have in the past. Nataya even picked up some new accounts for the collection, which is rich in color and embroidery. A particularly popular item was the velvet winter dress coat that could be worn for a night out at the symphony or to work.
It probably didn’t hurt that the line of dresses, tops and jackets had a certain “Downton Abbey” feel to them.
Business was equally vibrant at the IC Collection booth, where owner Connie Kye was surrounded by salespeople showing retail customers the jacket-driven line, which wholesales for $59 to $110. “I’ve been doing excellent,” said the apparel maker, who has a cutting factory and headquarters south of downtown Los Angeles. “Oh my God. This show has been packed. It was packed yesterday.”
One booth that didn’t seem to be having as much success as its neighbors was the Zen Knits resortwear-line booth. “Traffic has been down quite a bit,” said Antonnia Martinez. She felt the lack of customers was because the sales team brought mostly Spring/Summer items for Immediate sales and didn’t’ expect so many retailers to be interested in Fall items.
