California Apparel News

Los Angeles Fashion Market in January typically draws a smaller crowd than the city’s market weeks in March and October, but the recent January market exceeded expectations for many showroom owners and reps.

Some reported meeting with local, national and international retailers who were scrambling to replenish inventory. Others said holiday sales were good for retailers who carried higher-end merchandise.

For the second season, the market featured a split calendar, with the California Market Center and the Gerry Building open Jan. 12–15 for market and The New Mart, the Cooper Design Space and the Lady Liberty open Jan. 13–16 for market. Temporary trade shows Designers and Agents, Select and Brand Assembly also had staggered dates. D&A ran Jan. 13–15 at The New Mart, Brand Assembly ran Jan. 13–15 at the Cooper building, and Select ran Jan. 12–14 at the CMC.

 CMC starts off with a bang

For CMC showrooms, the first LA Fashion Market after the Christmas retail season started with a bang but ended on a slow note.

The market started busy on Sunday, Jan. 12, said Don Reichman, co-owner of the Reichman Associates showroom. By Tuesday, Jan. 14, and Wednesday, Jan. 15, the last day of the market, activity had declined. “If it kept up like Sunday, it would have been a record breaker for sure,” Reichman said.

Fueling demand for the market was burgeoning, post-Christmas demand. “Some of the stores were underbought for January, February and March,” he said.

One of those stores was Lisa Z of Redondo Beach, Calif. Lisa Z owner Lisa Zagha said she was so busy with Christmas that she had not had time to shop for her boutique since October.

“I always want something new coming in,” Zagha said. “But I looked at the store, and I thought, ‘I don’t have any clothes!’ I got on the phone,” she said, recalling that she asked showrooms, “Do you have any jackets? Can you ship it earlier?”

With Christmas sales, the Lisa Z open-to-buy budget was slightly larger than it was last January, Zagha said. She ordered lines such as Allen Allen.usa, Hale Bob and Free People.

Most CMC showrooms experienced a similar market pattern of a busy Sunday and Monday and a slow Tuesday and Wednesday. Jerry Wexler of the J.Wexler Sales showroom said most of the buyers shopping the market hailed from Southern California. There was a good representation of boutiques from Rocky Mountain states such as Colorado and Utah, he said. Retailers dropping by his showroom included Holly Hill Urban Style of San Carlos, Calif., and O Koo Ran of Big Bear, Calif., as well as Brackers department store, headquartered in Nogales, Ariz.

He was hopeful that possible business missed at the recent LA Fashion Market could be captured at MAGIC, scheduled for Feb. 18–20 in Las Vegas, and Fashion Market Northern California, scheduled for Jan. 26–28 in San Mateo, Calif.

With a show scheduled at the beginning of the year, possible sales were missed because some samples did not come in, said John Risdon of the Pearlmanrep showroom. “Our lines are European mostly,” Risdon said. “They come in at the end of January. … But the excitement in the showroom was fantastic, and the new lines were well-received.”

Pearlmanrep clients include Darling,headquartered in London; Desigual, which is based in Barcelona; and Louie et Lucie from Amsterdam.

 Newness key at The New Mart

Kathy Kulesh was wandering down a wide hall at The New Mart, peering into glass-walled showrooms to check out the merchandise.

Kulesh, who has five Charmed Avenue stores in the Scottsdale, Ariz., area, was on the prowl for tops that had color and anything made of a comfortable fabric.

She is a die-hard regular at the Los Angeles Fashion Market, season after season, because she wants to make sure she has new items not carried by her retail competitors. “I don’t want stores to have things I don’t have,” she said, noting her market is competitive with regular stores and e-commerce sites.

Even though her customer is more affluent than most, she is still trying to keep her retail price points below $200. “People are still resistant to price and watching their money a lot closer,” she noted.

That means her budget is about even with last year’s. “I think that is about all we can ask for,” she said.

Kulesh was just one of many store buyers checking out the contemporary-clothing showrooms displaying Spring to pre-Fall merchandise inside the 12-story building.

Most showroom reps agreed that this January fashion market was better than last year, but they weren’t quite sure why. Holiday sales were challenging for department stores, and specialty stores had their ups and downs.

John Meyer, owner of Complete Clothing in Vernon, Calif., which has lifestyle brands Willow & Clay, Matty M, Search for Sanity and Max & Mia, said the market had been busy.

His representatives were swamped, seeing buyers from Nordstrom and Von Maur, among others. “The first two days were very strong. It has been mostly a two-day market,” he said.

He felt store budgets were pretty even with last year. “Holiday was tough at every level,” said the former investment banker turned apparel maker, who keeps up on all things financial.

Because of budget restrictions, Meyer said his lines were helping retailers keep their price points under $100. Matty M, a more misses line, had wholesale prices of $22 to $34, and Willow & Clay, made for a younger market, had wholesale prices of $24 to $36.

Buyers were looking for basic bodies with novelty fabrics, which were proving to be the best sellers. “Textured wovens and knits have been key,” he said.

At the Rande Cohen Showroom on the 11th floor, sales representatives were busy with customers looking at the 10 lines carried at the space. They ranged from PJ Salvage loungewear to Old Gringo boots to Peace Love World, a lifestyle line. “Stores were pretty upbeat. It was a very positive feeling,” Cohen said.

Her showroom was doing well with T-shirts for Spring and Summer and even selling some cashmere for the pre-Fall season. “Everyone is looking for color to brighten the mood,” she noted. That meant that one of her lines, Crown Jewel, which offered T-shirts in 60 hues, was having a good season with wholesale prices between $20 and $26.

At the Coast to Coast Showroom, a pop-up space that carried up-and-coming lines as well as some more-established brands, Melanie Schwartz said buyers were trying to freshen up their merchandise to draw customers through the doors. “I feel people are tired of old stuff,” she said.

She pointed to one of her more novelty lines, Vallarino Saltonstall, which does hand-painted silk blouses. It was doing well.

 Bustling at the Cooper

Showrooms at the Cooper Design Space bustled with activity as buyers turned out for what many expected to be a typical January market.

“January market is usually slow, but yesterday was nuts,” said Brand Equity’s Brian Stark on the second day of market.

Out-of-town retailers from as far away as Canada, as well as “a few from New York,” and local buyers were shopping Brand Equity’s collections, including Antony Morato, Eleven Paris, Superdry, Topo Ranch, Kennington and Fresh Brand.

“Eleven Paris has been getting crazy attention, Antony Moreto, I’m sold out of everything until Fall, and Superdry consistently does well,” Stark said.

Stark said his retail accounts were reporting a strong finish to the year.

“Most people did well toward the end of the season—the last week before Christmas,” he said. “November was not bad. December was great.”

Jillian Kirk was putting the finishing touches on her new showroom at the Cooper building on opening day of market. But she reported a good turnout and positive response to her newly opened Core Showroom.

“It’s been really busy—lot of local [buyers, but] mostly out of state,” she said. “I’m happy I made the move. I love my neighbors.”

Katherine Marinaro, owner of 27 Miles Malibu, also reported a good turnout as well as an upbeat mood among buyers.

“There’s a surge of business that’s coming back,” she said. “They’re coming back, and they are leaving paper for 3/30, 4/30 and 5/30 [deliveries].”

Retailers who carry higher-end lines and have loyal customers are doing well, Marinaro said. “They have that customer base; they service their customers. They had a really good year.”

The cashmere knits line launched a year ago in Malibu, Calif., and has grown to 400 stores, Marinaro said.

 Lady Liberty draws traffic from NY

For Jennifer Dermer, owner of the Bloom Showroom at the Lady Liberty Building, January was her best market yet.

“I’ve been down here since April, so this was my first January market. I didn’t have a lot of appointments, but the people who said they were coming came. Overall, it was my best market so far.”

Bloom carries jewelry lines Linda Marie, Keelin Brett, Fotini Designs, Amanda Jordan Designs, By Natalie Frigo, Naarstick and Joanna Morgan Designs, as well as a resort collection of apparel and accessories for mother and daughter called Etsi.

Dermer said she landed orders from three stores that usually shop in New York. The retailers— based in Seattle, Arkansas and Nebraska—said they skipped New York because of the cold weather and opted instead to come to Los Angeles.

In fact, as of the third day of the show, Dermer had not seen any of her Southern California retailers but said she expected to meet up with them between markets. “I’m going to see my Palm Desert stores next week,” she said.

 Good turnout at Gerry

Showroom owners at the Gerry Building were pleasantly surprised by the turnout of store buyers. “It was actually pretty good,” said Jerry Neckanoff of the Nek-Enuf? showroom. “I think it was a little more consistent than the traffic has been in the past. There were new accounts that came in, and good customers are still buying fairly solidly.”

He noted that store budgets are up a bit, but retailers are still cautious but upbeat. Orders placed were for Spring/Summer items with a few nibbles at pre-Fall pieces.

Neckanoff said he had three main lines that did well: Lysse Leggings, which wholesale for $25 to $44; Gretty Zueger, a Peruvian line of cotton and knit tops that wholesale for $41 to $70; and Paparazzi by Biz, a collection of vegan-leather jackets and easy-fit tunics with wholesale prices of $26 to $38.

Jamie Prince of Jamie Prince Sales also had a good fashion market. “Last January was okay, and this one showed a nice little improvement,” she said.

Most of her brands are European lines, which make up seven of the 10 brands she represents. She found most of her buyers were looking for closer-to-the season items. “It was all about February, March, April delivery,” she said.

One of her brands that did the best was Inizio, an Italian line of linen dresses that wholesale for $56 to $60 and come in many colors. “A lot of people this year were coming in for that,” she said.

 Traffic good at D&A

Down on the third floor of The New Mart, the Designers and Agents trade show was smaller than its other shows, but this is typical because the major Las Vegas trade shows are in February. Nearly 40 lines were registered in the trade show directory.

Denise Sheedy—national sales manager for Letarte, a line of luxury swimwear, coverups and cashmere tops—said the show had been good for her. “It seems there is more traffic,” she said.

Exhibitors noted that buyers who couldn’t make it to the New York trade shows in early January were finding their way to D&A. “The traffic is good, considering the size of the show,” said Julie Watson, who works with MA + CH, formerly known as Marika Charles, a tops company based in Schenectady, N.Y.

 Immediates at Select

The Select contemporary trade show took place in the CMC’s Fashion Theater on Jan. 12–14, and veterans of the show said that business was not good.

For Yukiko Kawabata of Beagle House NY, sales declined 30 percent compared with the Select show that took place in January 2013.

“January is my best show,” Kawabata said. Business at other shows had been subpar during the past couple of weeks, she said. “New York was bad because of the weather,” she added. “I’m trying to find out what happened here.”

Select veteran Gillian Julius also forecast that sales, compared with the January 2013 Select, would be down slightly for her self-named Gillian Julius brand. She felt that the timing was all off.

A lot of retailers are still busy with wrapping up Christmas business in early January. For those boutiques that placed orders, more than 65 percent were writing orders with “Immediate” deliveries, such as Jan. 30 and Feb. 28.

Retailers dropping by Select included Blue Eyed Girl from Laguna Beach, Calif.; Q Boutique from Beaver Creek, Colo.; and Zazen of Coronado, Calif

 Edited lines, retailers at Brand Assembly

The Brand Assembly show returned to the top floor of the Cooper Design Space with a tightly edited mix of designer and contemporary apparel and accessories brands, including returning exhibitors Sachin + Babi, Tibi, Faith Connexion and Black Halo, as well as newcomers Rebecca Minkoff and Lina Noel Jewelry.

On the third day of the show, co-founder Hillary France said the show had already drawn about 200 buyers, and exhibitors were reporting good business.

New exhibitor Lina Mati was showing her New York–based jewelry line, Lina Noel, for the first time on the West Coast.

Mati praised the organizers for the quality of the retailers shopping the show and the assistance with backend operations provided by Joor, the online fashion platform that allows retailers and designers to access the wholesale buying process online.

For returning exhibitor Mara Hoffman, the turnout was good at Brand Assembly, but January is an in-between market for the brand, said Stacey Spigel, vice president of sales and merchandising for the New York–based swim and resort collection. “We’re exhibiting Spring and some Summer,” she said. The brand heads next to Swim Collective in Huntington Beach, Calif., for the swimwear show’s Jan. 23–24 run.

Spigel was also enthusiastic about the organization of Brand Assembly, praising the quality of exhibitors. “The brands all feed off each other,” she said.