California Apparel News

Los Angeles Fashion Week has been criticized throughout its history for not attracting enough buyers and not producing enough shows for high-profile designers. For Kelsi Smith, director of Los Angeles Fashion Council, a community organization for fashion designers, what the fashion week needs is better organization.

On July 30, Smith announced that she will partner with Jen Uner to relaunch the FashionWeekLA.com service. It will offer a calendar of events that Smith and Uner hope will tame the often sprawling fashion week schedule. “There is a need for a united front,” Smith said. “People will understand that there is no one official LA Fashion Week, but there is no reason why we cannot provide a united front while remaining autonomous.”

The upcoming FashionWeekLA.com will provide free listings for runway shows provided that producers meet certain standards. Events must fall into a one-week period, Oct. 6–12. Otherwise, it will not be considered a fashion week event. Instead, those listings might be listed as off-market events. “It will narrow LA Fashion Week down to a week. It won’t be a month,” Smith said.

The site also will offer a space where attendees can register for shows and get information on events. It also will offer public relations and production services to eligible productions. Entrepreneurs will charged for the public relations and production services. The entry price point starts at $1,000.

Mike Vensel produces the prominent Concept LA Fashion Week shows during LA Fashion Week. He has listed his events at FashionWeekLA.com in the past. He did not anticipate big changes coming from the service. “Better organization always helps, but I think over the past few seasons people have come to know the major players and how to find out about shows. I am not sure how what they are planning to do will impact the calendar or other shows,” he said.

Smith also announced that her upcoming Los Angeles Fashion Council’s Los Angeles Collections shows will run Oct. 7–9 and will partner with Maker City LA for shows at The Reef, formerly the LA Mart, a showroom building at 1933 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.