Wednesday, November 30
Art Meets Fashion in an Abandoned Medical Center
The “Human Condition” art exhibit, which concluded on Nov. 27, was housed at the abandoned, 40,000-square-foot former L.A. Metropolitan Medical Center. The exhibition featured 80 new and established artists ranging from painting and drawing to sculpture and performance installations.
American Apparel Factory Workers Given Notice of Layoffs, Hope for a Reprieve from New Owners
Hundreds of workers inside the American Apparel factory near downtown Los Angeles have been given written notice that they will have jobs until Jan. 7 and then they will be laid off unless the new buyer of the company decides to continue manufacturing in the building.
New Look Planned for Hawthorne Mall
The vacant Hawthorne Plaza shopping mall in Hawthorne, Calif., is slated to get a new look—its first makeover in 17 years—which will incorporate retail, entertainment and housing in an open-air format.
Tuesday, November 29
H&M Wishes You a Wes Anderson Christmas
To get people in the holiday mood, H&M enlisted Wes Anderson to create a short film filled with Anderson-esque elements mixed with a bit of Christmas cheer.
Monday, November 28
Black Friday Shopping Up, Deals Abound
More people shopped on Black Friday, but spending per person was down, according to the National Retail Federation trade group, headquartered in Washington D.C.
Bomb Threat at Hollywood & Highland
Retail
Bomb threat called into Hollywood & Highland on Monday morning.
Friday, November 25
Style Fashion Week Palm Springs
Style Fashion Week
Style Fashion Week is adding to its lineup of cities, which already includes Los Angeles and New York, with the addition of an event in Palm Springs, Calif., held in a tented venue at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
Carbon38 Pops Up on Robertson
Carbon38
Temporary store showcases diverse mix of brands including Carbon38’s own Made–in–Los Angeles collections and designer collaborations.
Phase 1 for Westfield Century City Remodel: Bloomingdale’s
Bloomingdale’s
Construction on the more than $955 million remodel of Westfield Century City in Los Angeles’ Century City neighborhood has been underway since 2013, but the luxe center recently observed a low-key debut that will be key to the center’s new look, said William Hecht, Westfield’s chief operating officer.
See It Buy It Plans To Cut M-Commerce Clutter
Technology
Joe Monastiero wants to clean up online shopping.
Holiday Lights on Rodeo
Holiday Lights
Bright lights illuminate Rodeo Drive almost every night of the year. But the iconic shopping district turned the lighting even higher with its 30th Annual Beverly Hills Holiday Lighting Celebration on Nov. 20.
Super DJ Aoki’s Garmento Heart
DJ Aoki
Steve Aoki makes a mint every time he deejays at a Las Vegas mega-club or at a giant concert, but the guy has demonstrated that he has a garmento’s heart, and he’s upping his ante for the fashion game.
CFF & TALA Holiday to Host Party for Downtown LA Kids
Events
For nearly 70 years members of Los Angeles’ textile and apparel community have joined forces to host a holiday party for children from local after-school programs.
Catalog Retailer Distinctive Apparel Picks Up Two New Catalog/Online Brands
Retail
Distinctive Apparel Inc. (DAI) has acquired catalog and online retailers TravelSmith and Chasing Fireflies from Cornerstone Brands, a division of Home Shopping Network.
Alice + Olivia, AG Opening at Fashion Island
Retail
A 2,000-square-foot boutique for Alice + Olivia by Stacey Bendet opened its doors for business Nov. 18 at the Fashion Island retail center in Newport Beach, Calif.
Thursday, November 24
Lululemon Opens on Melrose
LA’s newest Lululemon store hosted its grand opening on Nov. 22 on Melrose Avenue—just in time for Black Friday (Nov. 25), when the company will debut its new limited-edition Featherlight collection.
Trend Watching at DesignerCon
DesignerCon, the annual design and art convention held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, Calif., showcased more than 350 vendors and custom-design shops in the collectible toy and designer goods in the pop, urban and underground world.
Tuesday, November 22
Chiara Ferragni Pops up at The Grove
The Grove is part of Caruso Affiliate’s portfolio of lifestyle centers, which also includes American at Brand in Glendale, Calif. Both venues have several new features to get shoppers through the holiday season.
Santa's Flight Academy Takes Off at Taubman
Last week, an amusement park style installation, Santa’s Flight Academy, took a bow at 12 Taubman shopping centers across the country.
Crooks & Castles Revs Up Holiday 2016 Collection
Adventure was mixed into the design for the recently released Crooks & Castles' Holiday 2016 collection. On the label for a woman’s beanie “Down for Whatever.”
Reynaldo Aquino’s Ninja Style
For L.A. area indie designer Reynaldo Aquino, warriors don’t come in camouflage or olive green.
Monday, November 21
Vans, Dior Homme, Stella McCartney to South Coast Plaza
Vans, Dior Homme and Stella McCartney are on their way to opening boutiques at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif.
Thursday, November 17
What’s Checking on West 3rd Street
What’s Checking
Loyal longtime customers and heavy foot traffic continue to make West Third Street a retail destination in Los Angeles. Retail owners recently saw a street-wide hike in rent but still report steady business on the thoroughfare runway between La Cienega Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in the heart of Los Angeles.
Burlington Taps TJX Exec for Board
Manufacturing
Burlington Stores Inc., the Burlington, N.J.–based discounter, has named Ted English, former president, chief executive officer and director of The TJX Companies Inc., to its board of directors.
Avery Dennison Collaborations Take RFID to the Design Room
Avery Dennison
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has found a home along the apparel-industry supply chain from factory to distribution center to retail sales floor. Some designers are looking to introduce the technology at the very beginning of the chain by incorporating RFID into the design of garments and accessories.
Infor Lands $2 Billion Investment from Koch Equity
Technology
Koch Equity Development LLC, the investment and acquisition subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc., which also owns Lycra parent company Invista, will invest more than $2 billion in Infor, the New York–based provider of cloud-based, industry-specific business applications in a bid to help Infor accelerate innovation and expand distribution.
Tukatech Looks to Tap New Business With Tuka3D Enterprise Edition
Technology
Los Angeles–based apparel software and equipment maker Tukatech has introduced a new Enterprise Edition of its Tuka3D to make the 3-D computer-aided design software accessible to more apparel makers.
Department of Labor Blasts So Cal Factories for Wage Theft
Manufacturing
Eighty-five percent of Southern California garment contractors operated in violation of wage laws and were guilty of wage theft in the 2016 fiscal year, according to an investigation of the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.
Wolk Morais: Always Independent
Wolk Morais
Wolk Morais designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais explored 1930s Hollywood in their latest collection, which recently bowed in West Hollywood, Calif.
How Would the End of NAFTA Affect the LA Apparel Industry?
Import/Export
Ever since the presidential elections ended, people such as Daniel Barcenas have been fielding calls from Mexican apparel companies asking what is going to happen to free trade under a Trump administration.
Meet The Lemonade Millionaires
Until recently, it was blazing hot in Southern California, and a week before Thanksgiving, it is still warm, good weather for lemonade. Enter the Lemonade Millionaires.
Wednesday, November 16
Fashion and Fur Friends at the CMC
Sample Sales
The CMC and with Wags & Walks dog rescue organization will host a charity sample sale and dog adoption fair on Nov. 18 at The Pavilion on 10B, the CMC’s 10th-floor event space in downtown Los Angeles.
Tuesday, November 15
Changes in LA for Shinola Detroit
Shinola Detroit's new boutique in the Arts District in DTLA is just one of the changes underway for the American-made accessories company.
Taco Bell's Fashion
Want to represent your favorite fast food taqueria? Taco Bell has a look for you.
Phillip Lim Hosting Annual LA Sale
Phillip Lim is hosting its annual sample sale Nov. 18-20 at the 3.1 Phillip Lim boutique in West Hollywood.
Monday, November 14
Bailey44 Kicks Off Holiday at Lido Marina
LA contemporary brand Bailey44 is hosting a holiday shopping event on Nov. 17 at its Lido Marina Village store in Newport Beach, Calif.
Runway Show Raises $2.1 Million for Down Syndrome
With the help of Oscar winners Jamie Foxx and Hilary Swank, the Global Down Syndrome Foundation produced the 2016 Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion show in Denver Saturday. The event raised awareness and funds for medical research for people with Down Syndrome.
American Apparel Files 2nd Bankruptcy, Seeking Acquisition
Manufacturing
American Apparel LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in just over a year.
Friday, November 11
Shearer’s Heroic New Book
There’s heroism even in the most grittiest corners. It’s a theme that boutique owner and fashion designer Neely Shearer puts forth in her new book “In Heroes We Trust: Street Artists and Their Heroes.”
Thursday, November 10
Discreetly Green: Handbags for Pot Smokers
With the passage of California’s proposition 64, which legalized the use of marijuana for recreational use, LA luxury handbag company AnnaBis is looking to take the stink out of carrying weed.
The Art and Style of the Dia de Los Muertos
The 7th annual El Velorio—or The Funeral—returned to the Plaza De La Raza in East Los Angeles on Nov. 6.
Trade Show: Shop&Dine
Trade Shows
Traveling to trade shows means three things: making big sales, eating out and discovering a new store to provide a nice pick-me-up. Here are a few suggestions on some of the newer restaurants and fashionable boutiques found in the major cities on the trade-show circuit.
Trade Show Q&A: What’s on the Horizon for 2017?
Trade Shows
As retailers, designers and sourcing executives start making their trade-show plans for 2017, California Apparel News caught up with several trade-show executives to find out what new plans are in store for the coming year. From new locations and new areas of focus to added amenities and expanded educational programs, organizers are pulling out the stops to improve attendees’ trade-show experience.
Cuater: Putting Design Sizzle In Belts
Cuater
The belt has been the wallflower of most people’s wardrobes, said Robbie McKnight, but the humble accessory has design possibilities that few have seen.
Revelation LA’s Runway Debut in Hollywood
Revelation LA
Revelation LA, the new event produced by Parker Whitaker Productions, kicked off Nov. 5–6 with a series of panel discussion, pop-up shops and runway shows at Siren Studios Orange 1 in Hollywood.
Revelation LA Adds Pop-ups, Panels to the Event Lineup
Pop-ups: Revelation LA
Coming at the tail end of Los Angeles Fashion Week, Revelation LA bowed with a concept that blended trade and consumer events.
Ship at Port of Long Beach Picking Up Empty Hanjin Cargo Containers
Import/Export
With some 6,000 Hanjin-leased cargo containers sitting empty in the wake of the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy, the result is that some 6,000 chassis attached to the containers are not circulating throughout the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and stalling pickup times and deliveries.
Steady Increase in Merchandise Arriving at U.S. Ports for the Holidays
Import/Export
As the holiday season approaches, shipping import volumes at the nation’s leading ports are ramping up rapidly.
Gap’s October Sales Dip
Retail
A fire in Gap Inc.’s Fishkill, N.Y., distribution center proved devastating to the retail giant. Because of the Aug. 29 fire, Gap’s October 2016 same-store sales declined 1 percent, according to a statement from the San Francisco–headquartered company.
How Los Angeles Shopping Centers Are Targeting the Millennial Customer
Retail
This summer, Two Rodeo Drive—the tony Beverly Hills shopping destination that looks like a faux European thoroughfare—set up an exhibit with Galerie Michael of 12 Salvador Dali sculptures that attracted hundreds of thousands of people.
Unexpected Biz at ComplexCon
ComplexCon
The inaugural ComplexCon event in Long Beach, Calif., mixed fashion trade-show exhibition business with comic-convention fandom during its Nov. 5–6 run, when the novel arrangement made some of the event’s vendors wonder if this angle on a trade show could turn into a new revenue center.
Wednesday, November 9
Nasty Gal Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Retail
Nasty Gal, the Los Angeles online shopping site founded in 2006 by Sophia Amoruso, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with millions in debt.
Style Fashion Week to Palm Springs
Just a few weeks after producing a week of shows in West Hollywood, Calif., Style Fashion Week is off to the desert playground Palm Springs to produce a set of shows which starts Nov. 9 and ends Nov. 12.
Tuesday, November 8
American Apparel to Wind Down UK Clothing Stores After the Holidays
Retail
After Christmas, 13 American Apparel stores will be closed in Great Britain.
Pam & Gela Contribute to Wear LACMA Collection
Fashion
Pam and Gela, the founders of Juicy Couture, use Japanese-art inspiration for their Wear LACMA Collection.
Monday, November 7
Poketo To Platform
Years ago, Poketo made a splash on the fashion scene with the brand’s art-inspired T-shirts and wallets. On Nov. 5, the Los Angeles-headquartered company opened its third flagship, this one took a bow at Platform, a boutique retail center in Culver City, Calif.
Friday, November 4
Lin Exits American Rag
Retail
Caleb Lin, the executive vice president, buying director, and men’s buyer of prominent retailer American Rag Cie, announced in a Nov. 4 email that he will be leaving the high-end, influential fashion company.
ComplexCon’s First Splash
Reed Pop, a division of the company that produces the Agenda trade show, will run the debut of ComplexCon Nov. 5-6. in Long Beach, Calif. It will be a consumer event featuring major streetwear and sneaker brands and concerts by the likes of Snoop Dogg and Scrillex.
Lucky Brand’s Spring/Summer 2017 Preview
Preview of Lucky Brand's Spring Summer 2017 styles Nov. 3 at SmogShoppe in Culver City, Calif.
Thursday, November 3
Zumiez Sales Jump in October
Retail
A month before shopping officially starts for the winter holidays, some retailers reported that their sales jumped in October.
Designer Eyewear Direct From the Printer
Italian eyewear maker Safilo—which manufacturers prescription frames and sunglasses for brands such as Dior, Hugo Boss, Max Mara and Jimmy Choo—has begun 3D printing its prototypes using a 3D printer from Stratasys.
Forever 21 Closing Hong Kong Store
Retail
After five years, Forever 21 is shuttering its huge store in Causeway Bay.
Industry Voices: Five Things to Look for in a Global Freight Tracking System
Import/Export
The days of calling your ocean freight forwarder every time you need information about your cargo should be long gone. A good global freight-tracking system can save you hours on the phone and help boost your business’s productivity.
Green Light for The Reef’s Expansion
The Reef Expands
The Reef Project, formerly known as the LA Mart showroom building, plans on a major expansion.
Gap’s Chief Financial Officer Is Stepping Down
Retail
After 15 years working at Gap Inc., Sabrina Simmons is stepping down from her job as executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Hot Topic Acquires Her Universe
Retail
Hot Topic Inc., the mall retailer known as a purveyor of music and pop-culture clothes and gifts, announced that it acquired Her Universe, a brand specializing in fashion and accessories for female science fiction and fantasy fans.
Carbon38 Adds CMO
Manufacturing
Carbon38, the Los Angeles–based luxury activewear e-commerce retailer, has hired Lisa Kraynak as chief marketing officer.
Designer Platform Not Just a Label Expands to LA, Plans Outreach Initiative With City of LA
Fashion
Not Just a Label (NJAL), the emerging designer platform launched in London in 2008, has expanded to the United States with the opening of a Los Angeles office by NJAL founder Stefan Siegel.
Trina Turk Marches Forward With New Store and New Looks
Retail
Trina Turk, the contemporary lifestyle designer known for her bright colors and mid-century–inspired prints evoking a resort vacation, is opening her 12th store next February in the Larchmont Village area of Los Angeles.
Denim on the Catwalk
Global Denim Awards
Denim took another turn in the spotlight at the third annual Global Denim Awards in Amsterdam, where an international lineup of designers and denim mills collaborated on collections that highlighted the creative versatility of denim.
Wednesday, November 2
Longshore Workers and Employers Meet for Early Talks on Contract Extension
Import/Export
After a disastrous holiday season two years ago when many ships couldn’t unload their cargo on time at West Coast ports, longshore workers and their employers are trying to head off any similar disaster.
Patagonia Says Get Out. And Vote.
Patagonia wants people to vote—specifically for environmental issues. To encourage voter participation, the company is closing for the day. That includes Patagonia’s headquarters in Ventura, Calif., its distribution center in Reno, Nev., and all 29 retail stores around the country.
Tuesday, November 1
SQN Sport at Malibu Country Mart
Activewear continues to be in high demand. Activewear brand SQN Sport recently opened a store at the Malibu Country Mart by the beach in Malibu, Calif.
