California Apparel News

There was a lot going on at the March 23–27 run of the Fall ’07 market in Los Angeles, with plenty of exhibitors, crossmerchandising opportunities, satellite trade shows and parties to entice buyers to visit.

And, by most accounts, retailers turned out in force to shop the showrooms of the California Market Center, the Cooper Design Space, the Gerry Building and The New Mart, and the temporary exhibitors showing at Designers andAgents, Brighte Cos., Boutique Lingerie and the Transit shoe show.

There were also cocktail parties hosted by showrooms, the return of fashion shows at the CMC and a well-attended kickoff party hosted by The Intersection (a group comprised of the CMC, the Cooper Design Space, The New Mart, the Gerry Building, D&A and the Los Angeles Fashion District Business Improvement District).

Whether all that activity will translate into a strong Fall ’07 season remains to be seen, but, for many retailers, this market was a time to spend.

Retailer Fred Levine estimated that he spent more than $50,000 on the first cashmere sweaters designed by Los Angeles–based Ed Hardy. “The name of the game for market was cashmere,” he said. Levine, who co-owns the 21-store M.Fredric chain, based in Agoura Hills, Calif., also placed orders for cashmere sweaters from Los Angeles companies such as Co2 Cashmere and Raw7.

Kathy Shawver, a partner and buyer for the Diane Merrick boutique, also made orders for sweaters but was placing bets on dresses continuing to be strong sellers for Fall. “I never sold as many dresses in my life,” Shawver said. “Los Angeles wants to wear beautiful dresses and beautiful cashmere sweaters to wear on the dress.”

Good business at CMC

In addition to the permanent showrooms at the CMC, the building hosted the return of the Transit shoe show, held March 23–25 in the 13th-floor penthouse, and ENK’s contemporary showcase, Brighte Cos., held March 23–26 in the Fashion Theater and main lobby. In addition to fashion retailers, home and gift buyers also roamed the building’s showrooms, leading the CMC to dub the market the March L.A. Fashion, Gift and Home Market.

In addition to the Intersection party (see related story this page), the CMC was the venue for three fashion shows for local buying office Directives West (see here) and contemporary lines Yana K. and Carilyn Vaile (see here).

The result, according to the contemporary showrooms on the CMC’s second and fifth floors, was an influx of new faces and an uptick in traffic during the market. “This building is becoming more and more important,” said Shun Hong, a sales rep at the Agent Icon showroom. “This season the building made a huge effort, and the marketing and shows brought buyers back.” Buyers from key domestic accounts, including Los Angeles–based Hillary Rush and Neiman Marcus’ Cusp, were joined by a parade of international buyers, including Bezar and Loveless from Japan.

The CMC doesn’t release attendance figures, but Karli Heineman, the building’s public- relations manager, did say that attendance for the young contemporary category grew by 51 percent from last market. “We are utilizing all avenues to bring a freshness and energy to our markets with everything from hosting more events and fashion shows to employing a more aggressive communication strategy,” Heineman said.

Rebecca Bacon, owner of the Rebecca Bacon Inc. showroom, tipped her hat to the CMC’s management this season. “There were far more new stores and new faces here that I’ve never seen before,” Bacon said. The Mart’s proactive marketing built on California’s already-strong contemporary offerings, she said.

Michael Gae, owner of the Rep et Trois showroom, agreed. “The California market is strong because we have all of these resources— Brighte, D&A, the shoe show—and we have the best contemporary product. The fashion shows and parties [in the building] can only help that,” he said.

Gae, who estimated his showroom fielded visits from 350 buyers, said the market was a good one, outpacing his sales at the MAGIC Marketplace and the recent New York and Dallas markets.

Jenn Ripley, a buyer for Luxe in Atlanta, made her first visit to the CMC this market in search of up-andcoming contemporary brands. Ripley, who usually shops the Cooper Design Space and The New Mart, said she found plenty to like in the building.

Dresses draw interest at Brighte

Exhibitors showing at Brighte Cos. said business was sporadic during the March 23–26 run at the CMC, where buyers shopped among the growing and established contemporary apparel and accessories brands.

Los Angeles contemporary dress label Voom by Joy Han drew a crowd, thanks to positive reviews from Han’s March 18 runway show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, Calif.

“People were calling and placing orders just from looking at the press shots,” Han said.

This season, the designer left the bright bubble-gum colors behind in favor of more classic, vintage-inspired looks featuring creamy and more neutral colors for Fall. She featured candy stripes and medallion prints and expanded with heavier wool pieces. One look featured a baby doll and capelet.

“Everybody is doing printed dresses now, so we are trying to stand out with different fabrications and adding pants and suits,” she continued. “We take unique ideas and keep them simple.” Prices for were at $109 and up for silk and $69 and up for cotton pieces.

Another dress line from New York–based Blue Plate was also gathering looks at Brighte. Like Voom, Blue Plate specializes in one-of-a kind prints, and the company was featuring bold and bright themes in various cuts from baby doll to keyhole.

“We were seeing more bookings for immediate deliveries,” said the company’s sales manager, Alina Perez.

New York–based Adri.Ac was having more difficulty in luring buyers to its draped tops and dresses in silk jersey, priced at $126. Representative Lidija Pavlovic said that buyers were looking for lower price points, hurting her opportunities.

But Beverly Hills–based Devotion Takes a Trip was doing well, booking men’s and women’s hoodies featuring classic and punkrock band art from the likes of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, the Sex Pistols and The Clash at $110 a pop.

The company prints the art on cotton swatches and then sews them onto hoodies and embellishes the hoodies with wool cutouts in the forms of peace signs and other icons.

“They are a little pricey, but they are made in California and can deliver quicker, so the buyers like that,” said company Principal Carrie Cummings.

Steady as it goes at D&A

Business was steady at D&A, according to the show’s co-founders, Barbara Kramer and Ed Mandelbaum. The numbers of buyers were flat compared to the same trade show in the previous year. There were more than 2,450 buyers shopping 400 brands at 250 booths at the most recent D&A show.

Buyers from retailers such as Kitson, Bloomingdale’s and Anthropologie appeared at the show, but vendors such as Ian Foulke of New York–based Z-Brand said the real retail action happened a month ago at the Project Global Trade Show in Las Vegas.

At Project, Z-Brand saw more than 70 appointments in three days. At D&A, the company saw more than 40 appointments in four days, according to Foulke.

Yet D&A’s more-measured pace also meant that buyers could concentrate more on product, compared to the frenzied action at Project, according to Lisa Gelfman, an account executive at New York–based John Varvatos.

“It’s a good show for us,” Gelfman said “We see potential West Coast accounts that we may not get to in Las Vegas.”

Record-breaking at The New Mart, big crowds at Cooper

The New Mart celebrated one of its biggest crowds during the first Fall market, according to Ethan Eller, the building’s manager. 1,250 registered buyers browsed through the building’s showrooms, compared with 1,140 for same market during the previous year. More than 1,310 buyers visited in March 2005, which was the building’s biggest crowd in its history, Eller reports.

Eller said that just because crowds came did not mean that the buyers made purchases. “We have no way to find out if they leave $10 or $100,” he said.

Increased crowds also walked through the Cooper Design Space, according to Mona Sangkala. She declined to give numbers, but she said crowds of buyers doubled compared to the Fall I market in March 2006.

However, crowds did not guarantee business for everyone. Jason Bates, owner of the Derelicte Showroom at the Cooper Design Space, estimated that business was down 15 percent compared to the same time in the previous year. He blamed the decline on too many trade shows clamoring for buyers’ attention.

Gerry gathering momentum

The Gerry Building gathered a small stream of traffic from the neighboring buildings in the so-called Intersection, but showrooms relied more on appointments for sales.

Stacia Diamond, who previously manned the now-shuttered Jak & Rae showroom, opened a new showroom called Clarity Group, featuring an assortment of contemporary goods.

Diamond is starting off strong, selling Coco Klik’s new knit line, Anna Coco, featuring kimono sweaters, leggings and oversize tunics in cotton Modal and acrylic blends in Fall colors such as purple and neutrals. The pieces were priced from the mid $50s, which helped book a lot of orders, said Diamond.

Diamond said she also placed orders for pinstripe, plaid and tuxedo bottoms by Gal from $60–$88.

“These kind of bottoms went away for a while, but now they’re back and strong again,” she said.

Boutique Lingerie show expands

More than 80 lingerie and ready-to-wear buyers from all over California and as far as Chicago left a paper trail of Fall orders at the Boutique Lingerie show, held March 23–26 across two showrooms in the Gerry Building. New York–based trade show producer and lingerie manufacturer Samantha Chang hosted the largest Boutique Lingerie show yet with 38 brands and an increased offering of sleepwear and niche lines such as Classy Bride, Free People’s new lingerie division and luxury drawer sachet company, Gold N’Dulcinea.

After a busy February of lingerie trade shows in Paris, New York and Las Vegas, buyers were focused on writing Fall. “This is really the market on the West Coast to [fill in buys] for the Fall season,” Chang said.

First-time exhibitor Giovanni D’Amico fromMontreal scheduled only one appointment for his 4-year-old double-mercerized cotton sleepwear line, Lebkoff, and opened up a good number of new accounts through buyer traffic. “They were looking for beautiful high-end luxurious cotton sleepwear,” said D’Amico of his new accounts.

New lines such as Maria Paz Navales’ Undrest sold double time by writing immediate goods for Spring on nearly every order, such as her Brazilian-cut basic underwear, coupled with orders for Fall.

Ready-to-wear buyers stopped in for basics, such as Salomeh Zohouri of Kitsch Couture in Saratoga, Calif. Zohouri placed a reorder for Sheandme’s Modal long-sleeved tee, which she sells as a layering item alongside ready-to-wear lines, including Voom, Hype and Kenzie Girl. “I cannot keep it on the shelf,” Zohouri said of the long-sleeved T-shirt, which retails for $54. She added that after trying out the tee, customers return for Sheandme’s underwear, made with the same soft fabric.