BURSTING AT THE SEAMS
CALA Doubles Attendance at Show in New S.F. Location
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.—CALA exhibited the latest ready-to-wear Fall 2015 fashions at its new location in the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion, shifting the atmosphere from a hotel-room show to an open-floor format for the first time in its 20-year run in San Francisco.
After holding CALA shows at the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco’s Union Square neighborhood for the past eight years, CALA founder Gerry Murtagh said it was time for a change.
“It was bursting at the seams,” said Murtagh, whose CALA shows in Denver and Seattle also have an open-booth format. “Most of all, this is what the buyers were crying out for. The proof of that shows in our attendance.”
According to Murtagh, attendance nearly doubled from its previous show with 569 buyers. Previously, at the Westin St. Francis, sales representatives and designers showed their collections in their hotel rooms—a setup that offered more privacy but also more pressure to buy, said Relish SF sales representative Harmony Hayner, a first-time CALA show attendee. She brought seven U.S.-made accessories lines, including California brands Lemonade and Camino Brands. Lemonade is a line of sterling-silver and gold-fill jewelry handmade in Oakland, Calif., that retails from $45 to $150. Camino Brands produces leather handbags, also in Oakland, and retails from $22 to $195.
“I wouldn’t have come if it were in a hotel,” Hayner said. “I think buyers would rather walk and browse to see things before they go into a booth.”
The new venue was also well received by retailers such as Carol Patin-Gipe, owner of The Posh Moon in Half Moon Bay, Calif., who placed an order for Los Angeles–based Bed Head Pajamas. The moderate to high-end line of sleepwear and intimate apparel ranges in retail pricing from $34 for children’s pajamas to $410 adult robes.
“We found the hotel intimidating,” said Patin-Gipe, who said she looks for American- and French-made items for her moderate clothing and home décor boutique. “[Before,] you had to go into rooms and if you didn’t order something, it felt awkward. Here you get an overview. The openness is definitely a plus.”
CALA’s move to Fort Mason encouraged Lois Evans, a sales representative for Beverly Hills–based Zynni Cashmere, to exhibit at the show. Zynni is a 100 percent Mongolian cashmere collection of robes, T-shirts, loungewear, cardigans and coats whose retail prices range from $350 to $2,000.
“This is targeted toward a higher-end customer compared to a show like Las Vegas, where you get every different retailer,” Evans said. “I haven’t been at CALA for a while, but I was really happy to learn they have an open-booth format this time.”
First-time attendee Julie Kawahara, owner of Kindred in Santa Rosa, Calif., found what she was looking for: five organic and fair-trade lines to stock her store, including Mar y Sol,a line of wallets, handbags and hats ranging in retail price from $24 to $135; Sseko, a line of handbags, scarves and sandals ranging in retail price from $15 to $245; Indigenous, an organic clothing line ranging in retail price from $150 to $500; 31 Bits, a Uganda-made jewelry line ranging in retail price from $15 to $88; and Mercado Global, an accessories line of wallets and tote bags ranging in retail price from $108 to $328.
“We’re looking for hand-crafted, ethical, fair-trade companies,” said Kawahara, who learned about CALA from Meredith Hazan of the Los Angeles–based Maritime Showroom, which carries Sseko and other fair-trade accessories and clothing brands.
Indigenous attends CALA shows in San Francisco regularly, said Lisa Ward, vice president of sales for the fashion company, based in Sebastopol, Calif. She said CALA draws a high-end Bay Area clientele. Ward said she landed 14 orders during the two-day show—most of them from new customers.
“We always make new business because Indigenous is organic. They get it here in the Bay Area,” she said.
Murtagh booked the more-than- 50,000-square-foot Fort Mason space for the next year to continue to test the waters. The Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason is a large exhibition space with windows overlooking the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Natural light adds to the spacious atmosphere. CALA provided free parking at Fort Mason, catered lunch and a hosted lounge area where attendees could relax and chat.
“This is the evolution of the show,” Murtagh said.
