Friday, September 24
CFA Seminar Covers 'Tariff Engineering'
Apparel quotas may be going away in 2005, but tariffs and duties will still be around....
Local Manufacturers to Urge Extension of TPL
A group of U.S. manufacturers are planning to meet on Sept. 29 in Mexico City in an attempt to reinstate a tariff preference program under the North American Free Trade Agreement....
Ferragamo Hosts Custom- Shoe Event
It looks like a measuring device used at any shoe store, but Salvatore Ferragamo’s shoemakers would like you to know that this device makes footwear of exquisite beauty....
Surf Group Gets New Executive Director
The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association, the trade association in San Clemente, Calif., that represents more than 700 surf industry suppliers, has named Sean Smith executive director, rep...
Rate Hike
The Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate a quarter percentage point to 1.75 to keep the economy on an even keel but indicated that the economy was healthy and the threat of inflation was abat...
Avery Acquires Label Maker
Pasadenabased Avery Denison Corp. has completed its acquisition of German woven label maker Rinke Etiketten for undisclosed terms. Rinke’s 200 employees will continue to work in the company’s facility n...
Gerber's New Motto: In China We Trust
Tolland, Conn.–based Gerber Technology Inc. is putting its future in China. The maker of cutting-room equipment, CAD/CAM software and product development applications acknowledged Ch...
Gap's New Concept
San Francisco– based retail giant Gap Inc. will test a new store concept aimed at women over age 35. The company will open 10 stores in two different U.S. regions beginning in the second half of 2005, ...
Counterfeit Seizure
Nearly $1 million in counterfeit apparel was seized in a raid of a North Carolina trading company, according to Atlanta-based Oxford Industries Inc., owner of Tommy Bahama apparel and other brands. ...
Laundry's Bridesmaids
Vernonbased Laundry by Shelli Segal is getting into the bridal business with a new collection of bridesmaids dresses. ...
Ralph Heads to O.C.
Ralph Lauren opened a 5,700-square-foot store on Sept. 22 in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza. The store—decked out with antique fixtures, a limestone fireplace and a crystal chandelier—will carry the Ralp...
K2 Relocates HQ
Carlsbad, Calif.–based K2 Inc.—which markets equipment and apparel for snowboarding, skiing and other action sports—is moving its international headquarters to the Carlsbad Corporate Ce...
True Religion Denim Settles With Contractor
True religion Apparel Inc., a Los Angeles company that makes True Religion Brand Jeans, announced on Sept. 21 that it settled a lawsuit with its contractor, The Indigo Group USA Inc. True R...
Founder of Hot Topic Launches Concept Store
Orv Madden gambled that urban, punk fashions would captivate suburban mall rats when he opened Hot Topic Inc. 15 years ago. Now he is betting consumers will embrace another downtown ...
Southern California Ports Struggle With Boost in Wal-Mart Freight
The Holiday shipping season is turning into a lesson in patience....
L.A. in N.Y.
West Coast labels
The Show Goes On at Surf Expo
ORLANDO, FLA.—Hurricane Ivan tried but could not crash the party at Surf Expo, held Sept. 17–19 at the Orange County Convention Center. The storm, the third of four that batte...
Cherokee Renews Mervyn's Deal
Van Nuys–based Cherokee Inc. announced Mervyn’s has extended its licensing deal for Cherokee’s Sideout brand for another three years through January 2008. Sales of Sideout merchandise at Mervyn’s have rea...
Friday, September 17
Indra to Help Redsand With Order Processing
Lifestyle brand Redsand has automated its order-processing operations with San Diego–based Indra Technology Inc.’s Escape software system....
Target Launches Web Site for Custom Orders
Target Corp. is getting a piece of the made-to-measure business. The retailer has launched Target to a T, a Web venture that allows visitors to order custom-fit clothing....
Goldschmied Remains in L.A., Plans to Launch Sportswear, Denim Line
Italian denim designer Adriano Goldschmied, who recently left denim maker Koos Manufacturing Inc. in Los Angeles, plans to launch his own line of sportswear and denim for the Fall 2005 season...
Los Angeles Becoming a Mecca for Premium Denim Makers
When Chris Gilbert was casting about for top-notch sewing facilities to shape his high-end blue jeans, the president of Paper Denim & Cloth in New York decided the East Coast would not be...
NuBra Maker Sues N.Y. Innerwear Co.
Intimate apparel maker Bragel International Inc., based in Pomona, Calif., has filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against Staten Island, N.Y.–based NY In...
Action-Sports Retailers Find Confidence Is Up
SAN DIEGO—When Volcom employees dressed as clowns started juggling balls, riding around on unicycles and tossing stickers from their company’s booth, the tone of the Action Sports Reta...
Dirtbag Clothing Aims at Music Industry
San Rafael, Calif.–based Dirtbag Clothing Inc. has launched an apparel line called Dimebag Hardware with former Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abb...
Mall Rats
Shopping center developer Rick Caruso, who developed The Grove in Los Angeles, won voters’ approval to build a $264 million mall on city-owned land in Glendale, Calif. The open-air center will be adjac...
Tag It
Avery Dennison Corp. is revving up its identification business. The company, based in Pasadena, Calif., said it is forming a new unit to manufacture and market low-cost radio frequency identification ...
Prospecting on Ventura Boulevard
Gary Friedman felt like a pioneer in 1991 when he opened fashion boutique Dungaree on a stretch of Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, Calif., that was lined with banks, not retailers....
Credible Contemporary
Fashion industry veteran Sheri Drobnick unveiled her new women’s contemporary line, Credibility by Sheri Drobnick, on Sept. 8 at the Los Angeles Apparel Mart in d...
Holiday Cheer
Things are looking pretty bright for holiday retail sales. Ernst & Young is predicting that holiday sales for November and December will be up 6 percent to 7 percent, compared with a 5.7 percent i...
Court Rules That Seven for All Mankind Owes Former Partners More Than $55 Million
Los Angeles manufacturer Peter Koral, maker of the high-end blue jeans label Seven for All Mankind, is weighing his options after a court ruled he must pay his former partners $55.5 ...
World of Fashion Design Has New Challenges
Los Angeles fashion school graduates are facing a new set of challenges thanks to growing global competition and the bright spotlight currently on the city’s fashion scene....
Alternative to Fashion Week in the Works
The ranks of independent Los Angeles Fashion Week shows will expand even more when Avant Garde Fashions enters the fray....
Industry 212 Postponed Indefinitely
Organizers of the Industry 212 trade show, originally scheduled for Nov. 1–3 in New York, said the event has been postponed indefinitely so that producers can “reshape” the show,...
Safeguard Measure
The American Apparel & Footwear Association of Washington, D.C., joined by three other trade groups, has written the U.S. Department of Commerce to object to any considerations being made regardin...
Tukatech Forms Software Alliance
Los Angeles–based CAD/CAM provider Tukatech Inc. has formed a partnership with Baltimore-based Polygon Software to market Polygon’s business management software applications under the ...
Name Game
Federated Department Stores Inc. is planning to change the name of all 184 regional department stores in its five-chain group to the Macy’s nameplate early next year. Federated is the parent company of 239 Macy’s stores, as well as Burdines- Macy’s in Florida...
Friday, September 10
Port Congestion Only Gets Worse
A lingering labor shortage, increased shipping traffic and the Labor Day holiday have all contributed to a major traffic jam at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif....
Lyon, Mode City: Providing an International Connection for Lingerie and Swim
LYON, FRANCE—When Southern California lingerie designer Diane Samandi went to France 12 years ago to attend Lyon, Mode City, she was a rare species: an American with a booth at the lingerie an...
Roka Signs Software Deal
Jacksonville, Fla.–based innerwear maker Roka Apparel Products LLC has signed on to use New Generation Computing Inc.’s RedHorse enterprise resource...
Ross Launches Lifestyle
Los Angeles retailer Tracey Ross has entered a licensing partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to produce a high-end line of T-shirts featuring Looney Tun...
Gap Law
This year, San Francisco–based Gap Inc. canceled contracts with 42 of its clothing manufacturers in China, stating that the companies breached the retailer’s labor standards. Gap recently announced the changes ...
Wholesale Venture Brings Clothing to Tall Women
Simpatico LLC has opened up its tall women’s clothing business to wholesalers....
Charlotte Russe Stocks Slide After Revised Forecast
Stocks tumbled more than 20 percent on Sept. 9 for San Diego–based young women’s clothier Charlotte Russe Holdings, Inc. after Chief Executive Mark Hoffman reported revised guidance for the company...
Krafka Exits Red Tiger Trading Co.
Fast-growing Red Tiger Trading Co. Ltd. has named Maurice “Corky” Newman as president, replacing Joe Krafka, who has left the company to pursue other opportunities....
Ailing Innovo Group Names New President
Innovo Group Inc., which produces Joe’s Jeans, has promoted Chief Financial Officer Marc B. Crossman to president, replacing founder Pat Anderson, who recently resigned....
Goldschmied Exits Koos, Heads Back to Italy
Italian designer and denim maverick Adriano Goldschmied is leaving his namesake company AG by Adriano Goldschmied, launched three years ago by parent company Koos Manufacturing Inc...
Saltzman to Guru
Mark S. Saltzman, former chief operating officer of Joie Jeans, is now the chief operating officer of Guru Denim Inc., a subsidiary of Los Angeles–based True Religion Apparel Inc., which distributes True Relig...
Pulse: Trends for Spring 2005
With the move of WWDMAGIC to the Las Vegas Convention Center, this year’s contemporary fashion show combined the sass of womenswear with the pizzazz of menswear....
Hot Trends Sizzle in the Hot Desert
LAS VEGAS—If you had to take away just one trend from the recent apparel shows here, it would be this: blazers....
XOXO Founder Jumps Back Into Juniors
Some people only get one shot at success— but not Gregg Fiene, who has a track record of capitalizing on and producing juniors fashion trends for the mass market....
CMC Gets Market Editor
Donna Maria Duarte has been named market editor for the California Market Center in Los Angeles. In this newly created position, Duarte will identify outstanding fashion, gift and home products from the cent...
The Retail Revolution
As arguably the most profound information- technology advancement of the past decade, the World Wide Web continues to affect the future of retailing in new ways....
Verdi to E!
Tastemaker and style authority Robert Verdi has been named the official fashion and style expert for Los Angeles–based E! Networks. Verdi’s first order of business will be to host E! Entertainment Television...
Soaring Deficits
The U.S. budget deficit will hit $2.3 trillion over the next decade and may reach nearly double that amount if tax cuts are renewed as President Bush has requested, said a report issued by the nonpartisan Con...
Frances' Wake
Hurricane Frances has taken its toll on the lives of Florida’s residents as well as the state’s retailers. Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores Inc. is among those affected. The operator of Burdines, Bloomingda...
King of Kitsch
With a hot dog–shaped Oscar Mayer Wienermobile parked out front, the Paul Frank Store opened at Las Vegas’ Fashion Show Mall on Aug. 31 with an event that rolled out the red c...
OptiTex Names New Vice Pres.
Natan Mossak has joined CAD/CAM company OptiTex Ltd. as vice president of sales and marketing....
August '04 Brings the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
August was downright breezy for some specialty stores and department stores that deal in luxury and fashion. The Neiman Marcus Group Inc. of Dallas posted a strong same-stor...
Third Street Yankees Come to Town
What does a New England girl like Danielle Kays do after she moves to Los Angeles? She opens a boutique that reminds her of her wild college days....
QRS Ends Merger Deal
Talk about getting cold feet at the altar....
The Young Contemporary Lines
Vernon, Calif.–based BCBG Max Azria Group—maker of women’s ready-to-wear, evening and bridesmaid dresses, denim, eyewear, swimwear, footwear, accessories and fragrances—announce...
Friday, September 3
Italian Connection
Well-dressed Italians and Italophiles turned out to hear Italian-born designer Elisabetta Rogiani show a few of her Spring ’05 fashions and talk about her recent work on A...
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Hieros
Hieros menswear designer Roger Alan sent about 25 models down the
Oscar on Madison
Oscar de la Renta is heading to New York’s tony Madison Avenue, where the company will open a 3,000-square-foot boutique. The shop will be the company’s first free-standing U.S. store....
Wet Seal Defendant in Shareholder Lawsuit
A class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 26 charged The Wet Seal Inc.’s executives with misleading shareholders regarding the company’s prospects in order to inflate stock prices....
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Collen Quen Couture
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising graduate Colleen Quen opened the week with her
WTO Levies Tariffs
The United States may have to pay an estimated $150 million per year in punitive tariffs because it neglected to eliminate a corporate subsidy on U.S. goods after the World Trade Association ruled the...
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Zilda by Flavia
The look at the Zilda by Flavia show recalled the 2002 Maggie Gyllenhaal film “Secretary” with ladylike puffed-sleeve blouses and curve-hugging pencil skirts. Brazilian-born Sa...
Back in Stores
Consumer spending bounced back in July after a drop-off in June, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, which reported an 0.8 percent rise in personal spending among consumers in July, after an an...
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Liz Bang Swimwear
Metallic fabrics, layered looks and intricate lacing made up the looks in the
ASR: Thinking Locally, Acting Globally
The Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo in recent years has expanded its juniors offerings, launched a Back-to-School show and taken its action-sports concept overseas....
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Rock & Republic
Rock & Republic’s bad girls finally got some guys of their own. The Los Angeles–based denim label unveiled its men’s line at the show with a “Fight Club...
Fashion Police
The editors of Vice magazine appointed themselves fashion police more than 10 years ago, when they started publishing their frequently hilarious, always sarcastic “Dos and Don’ts...
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Christina Hurvis Couture
Bridal and eveningwear designer
Bebe Sport Changes
There are changes afoot at Brisbane-based retail boutique chain Bebe Stores Inc. Barbara Wambach, president and chief operating officer for Bebe Sport, is now chief administrative officer of Bebe Stor...
True Religion HQ Relocates
True Religion Apparel Inc. has relocated its headquarters to a new facility just east of the Los Angeles Fashion District....
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Lily Samii
It was all sparkle and glamour at
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Besnik
There was a rock ’n’ roll edge to the
Tukatech Goes 3-D With New Sim Tools
Los Angeles–based CAD/CAM company Tukatech Inc. has rolled out a new series of 3-D tools aimed at speeding up apparel product development. The E-Fit Simulator and the 3D Moti...
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Saffron Rare Threads
Suits and other tailored looks dominated the
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Art Institute of San Francisco
Student looks were on the runway at the Art Institute of San Francisco show. Monica Navarro showed lace and satin evening looks, including a sleek off-the-shoulder lace top over a brocade skirt. Chia-Yin Wu’s black d...
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Evarize
Evarize designer Erica Varize seemed to be channeling that era of ’70s style during which designers were channeling the ’30s. Liquid jersey pants and cowl-neck tops were accessorized with gold...
Handcuffs Sues Nike
New York–based Marshall Gobuty International USA Inc., which founded and produces Handcuffs Sweatshirts, has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Beaverton, Ore.–based Nike Inc. charging that the footwear giant ...
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: FIDM Alumni Show
The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising hosted an
Check Your Head
Art-driven T-shirts captured the imagination of fashionistas during the past couple of seasons, but is the world ready for the art-driven hat?...
San Francisco Fashion Week '04: Fornarina
It was all ’80s-inspired fun at the
Hiltons at Retail
Just as sister Nicky Hilton introduced her new apparel line, Chick, at MAGIC International in Las Vegas, Paris Hilton is launching her own jewelry line on Amazon.com. The Paris Hilton Collection will ...
New Humidity- Control System for Textile Cos.
Thousand Palms, Calif.–based MicroCool Inc. has developed a high-pressure humidification system for the textile industry....
Mossimo Seeks CFO
Santa Monica–based Mossimo Inc. announced that Mali Shrinivas has resigned as chief financial officer to pursue other interests. The company is currently searching for a replacement....
New Venues Help Boost Business at Las Vegas Shows
LAS VEGAS—The decision by MAGIC International to consolidate its shows under one roof paid off at the Aug. 30–Sept. 2 run of the semiannual apparel trade show in Las Vegas....
S.F. Fashion Week Debuts With a Spotlight on New Names
SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco hosted its first fashion week organized in one central location at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre Aug. 26–29....
