California Apparel News

The Los Angeles Majors Market at the California Market Center kicked off on April 7 for its three-day run with a flurry of activity as many buyers began their visit with the Directives West runway show (see related story, page 6) and a trend presentation by the Barbara Fields Buying Office (see related story, page 7).

The market drew buyers from department stores and specialty chains including Macy’s, Target, Kohl’s and Nordstrom to Forever 21, Ross Dress for Less, Dillard’s, Von Maur, Soft Surroundings, JCPenney, Rue 21, Pacific Sunwear, Nasty Gal, The Buckle and Revolve.

The CMC’s third and eighth floors were buzzing with buyers crammed into permanent and temporary showrooms to view the Fall 2015 collection of juniors, young contemporary and misses lines.

At the Stony Apparel showroom, company President Dean Wiener said the Los Angeles juniorswear company had scheduled 60 appointments with retailers coming from Macy’s, Target, Kohl’s and Nordstrom to Forever 21 and Ross Dress for Less, which has a huge buying office in the CMC building. “We always have a good market,” Wiener said, sitting at one of the many tables inside the packed showroom where a delivery of Chinese food from New Moon had just arrived to feed the crowd.

About 60 percent to 65 percent of Stony Apparel’s business these days is private label while its Eyeshadow juniors label is still strong. There is a wide assortment of styles whose wholesale prices range from $7.50 for tops to $15 for dresses. “We do a lot of dresses,” Wiener said.

In another section of the building, the Just for Wraps showroom was filled with buyers looking at the various updated young misses, juniors and girls’ lines made under a wide array of labels that included Wrapper, A-List, Paper Doll, Love Squared and 2-Hip. “The market is not that strong, but the appointments we have made have been on the plus side,” said Vrajesh Lal, the company’s president, who was surveying the showroom activity with his brother, Rakesh Lal, the company’s executive vice president. “Some people are coming next week, such as Dillard’s.”

The decades-old company, based in Commerce, Calif., had already seen buyers from Pacific Sunwear and Ross Dress for Less. Just for Wraps also regularly does business with Macy’s, T.J. Maxx and Burlington Coat Factory.

Lal said buyers were looking for novelty items and specialties that are not on their store racks. “For us, dresses have been doing better than in the past,” he said, noting his wholesale prices range from $7 to $11 for tops and $10 to $16 for dresses.

The company used to manufacture only clothing for the juniors market, but as that category became more competitive and several juniorswear stores closed or went bankrupt recently, Just for Wraps has expanded its girls’ line to where it now makes up 50 percent of revenues.

Nearby, the new showroom for Endless Rose and English Factory wasn’t quite as busy as everyone else’s, but there were visits from Nasty Gal, Forever 21, The Buckle and Revolve Clothing. The online shopping site Ideel made an appointment for the following week.

“Forever 21 just walked in and picked out some styles. They wanted some things to elevate their mix,” said Danielle Corona, the company’s sales representative.

Endless Rose is only a few years old and has a more glitzy, glam look while the recently launched English Factory goes for a day-to-nighttime look. Both cater to the 20- to 30-year-old woman with wholesale prices ranging from $20 to $30, Corona said.

The showroom for young contemporary brand Lunachix was buzzing on the first two days of the market. The Los Angeles–based company recently introduced a misses collection called Ivory Love, which is designed for a young misses customer with boho-chic details such as lace trim, asymmetrical hems and foil-print graphics. There are tops with drawstring ruching on the sides and others with mixed fabrics and mineral-wash finishes. Cold-shoulder silhouettes proved popular among buyers. Much of the line is produced domestically, although the company manufactures some pieces, such as sweaters, overseas. Domestic production can be turned in five or six weeks, while larger orders can be outsourced to China, Vietnam or Mexico, said designer Melissa Garsen.

Wholesale prices are in the “mid-to-high teens,” said sales representative Gail Lee, who said customers had been asking the company for a novelty misses line.

We’ve seen Von Maur, three divisions of Dillard’s and Soft Surroundings,” she said. “This has been a really wide misses market.”

Lee said buyers were upbeat and receptive to newness.

“We’ve had on-spot purchase orders,” she said.

Opening day was busy at YMI Jeanswear’s temporary showroom off the CMC’s main lobby, which was expected, said Ira Spiegel, YMI’s sales director, who said typically the first day of the Majors Market is the busiest. The Los Angeles–based company has been doing well with its shaping jean, the WannaBettaButt, and was promoting the style with signage that covered the CMC entrance on Ninth Street.

“It’s an all-appointment show,” Spiegel said, adding that a few buyers who were scheduled to come on Wednesday arrived a day early at market. Spiegel said the market is a good opportunity to show the collection to buyers and management at the same time.

“Generally, the mood is good,” he said, adding that the unseasonable weather has had an impact on many retailers. “Business got off to a slow start in the first quarter, but people are getting back on plan.”

While the cold weather in much of the country put a dent in many retailers’ business, David Auren, Web and marketing director for downtown Los Angeles–based Boulevard Apparel, bet that outerwear would be a big seller in 2015. He made a Majors Market debut at the recent show by showing Boulevard Apparel’s Special One outerwear line for women and Rock Revolution outerwear line for men.

“Outerwear has been very good for us,” he said. “It’s why we expanded our line.” Boulevard Apparel’s Rock Revolution line started in 2002 with making pants. Special One started production last year.

Special One offered fur-lined vests and jackets that had a quilted, motorcycle-jacket style. Wholesale price points ranged from $14.50 for vests to $16 for jackets.