California Apparel News

The NPD Group has announced the winners of its inaugural Denim Retail Performance Awards, acknowledging top-performing brands in key areas of the denim market based on U.S. sales revenue in 2021. Denim jeans generated $18.4 billion in sales in the U.S. in 2021, an increase of 36 percent over 2020 and 9 percent over 2019. Sales grew across all demographics, with women’s jeans up 9 percent and men’s jeans up 12 percent over 2019. The best-selling jeans brand in the U.S. was Levi’s. “Jeans were among the first clothing items to rebound after 2020 as consumers sought a wardrobe refresh and craved the latest fashion trends to make their debut back into public life,” said Susan Merrill, president of fashion apparel for NPD. “Offering a variety of styles and options catering to consumers’ demands for comfortable clothing that can be dressed up or down, jeans manufacturers continue to be leaders in innovation.”

Kornit Digital Ltd. has announced the London edition of Kornit Fashion Week, set to take place May 15–17 at the Freemasons’ Hall in London. The company is aiming to continue its momentum after successful shows in New York, Milan, Tokyo, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv. Kornit Fashion Week is conceived to demonstrate how fashion and textile producers and creators are using Kornit’s suite of technologies, which facilitate a more sustainable, on-demand production process. Kornit Fashion Week London will continue to connect the virtual and digital worlds in an effort to dress “you and your avatar” and demonstrate how the limits of virtual fashion are tested.

Curve, the curated lingerie and swimwear show, has brought back its Pitch Off competition. The “Shark Tank”–like design competition afforded the opportunity for 10 new designers to give an elevator pitch and showcase samples from their collections. Eight judges from the intimate-apparel industry listened, asked questions and gave feedback, with the winning designer getting the chance to have his or her designs available at a prominent retailer. Attendees were also entered for a chance to receive the winning designer’s collection to sell in their stores. The winning brand was Zhe by Karyn Elizabeth, whose collection will be available online at Journelle.

The OFFPRICE Show launched Sustainable Style on Earth Day 2022, pledging to promote circularity in the fashion industry. “Our show offers overruns, overstock and clearance items the chance to recirculate in the economy. Although known for our lower-than-wholesale pricing, sustainability has always been a quiet partner of the products seen at our show. And with today’s buyer, repurposed, recycled and secondary market goods are taking their share of the consumer’s closet,” said Executive Director Tricia Barglof. Tarsus Group, the parent company of OFFPRICE, has also done its part in helping foster a more sustainable fashion industry. The company has a signatory pledge to produce net-carbon-zero events and has implemented sustainable practices at its shows such as sorting recycled materials before they leave the property and reducing the use of vinyl in banners by 55 percent.

“Making the Cut” has been renewed for a third season in search of the next global fashion brand. The show will continue to be set in Los Angeles with runway locations including Rodeo Drive, Vasquez Rocks and a rooftop of one of DTLA’s skyscrapers. Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn will also return to host the new season as well as executive produce. Nicole Richie and Jeremy Scott will serve as judges on the show with additional guest judges throughout the season. “I am excited for ‘Making the Cut’ to return this summer for its third season,” said Klum. “I was so happy to be reunited with Tim, Nicole and Jeremy as we searched for the next great global fashion brand among our most talented group of designers yet. This season’s fashion far exceeded our expectations, and there are so many amazing looks that I cannot wait to wear myself.”

Los Angeles Apparel has launched SWAP MEET, a resale marketplace powered by Archive that features pre-loved items as well as one-of-a-kind samples. As a natural extension of Los Angeles Apparel, SWAP MEET allows customers to sell authenticated Los Angeles Apparel items for cash or earn credits toward new items, or they can shop for pre-loved items and keep them from becoming waste. The resale market continues to grow as more consumers are looking for additional ways to practice sustainability. The resale market is expected to double in size to $77 billion in the next five years.

DeSL has partnered with Higg, a sustainability-insights platform, to strengthen its suite of tools to help fashion and other consumer-goods industries manage their corporate goals regarding sustainability, climate change and compliance. As an end-to-end PLM solution, DeSL will be able to scale with Higg’s tools offering accessibility to a wide range of companies. It will also be able to deliver Higg’s social and environmental sustainability insights to designers and developers from the beginning of the development process, allowing brands to see value-chain data in one solution and deliver the visibility of the environmental impact of all design and sourcing decisions. “The ability to predict the likely sustainability and carbon-footprint effects of product and sourcing-partner choices will enable brands to make better decisions when it comes to balancing margin requirements with corporate sustainability goals. Integrating with the Higg platform will bring a new level of trusted and transparent data to help with these decisions,” said DeSL CEO Colin Marks.

BASF has announced a new collaboration between its e3 sustainable-cotton program and the United Nations–hosted Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network with the aim of collaborating on and accelerating the implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The key objective of the network is to mobilize expertise, innovation, technology and resources toward a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The e3 cotton program provides field-level traceability, and farmers who are part of the program commit to tracking eight sustainability measures on all of their eligible cotton acres, ranging from water use and pesticide management to soil conservation and a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions.