L.A. Shopping Trip
Buyers from Saks Fifth Avenue’s New York office were in town for a buying trip recently meeting with local designers and representatives at the retailer’s “Open See” event at the Saks Fifth Avenue men’s store in Beverly Hills, Calif.
This is the second year Saks has held its open house event, according to Michael Fink, senior market director for Saks, who said that he saw a change in the collections since last year.
“Things are much more sophisticated [than last year],” he said. “We’re seeing things back to being dressed up. And the jewelry is phenomenal.”
Fink, Market Editor Elizabeth Kanfer and Sunny Diego, director of women’s accessories and fashion merchandising, set up appointments to view lines prior to traveling to Los Angeles. Each designer or rep had 15 minutes to show a portion of the line.
Fink said some of the lines were new to the buyers, some Saks had carried in the past and some were collections he had seen on the runway during Los Angeles Fashion Week in April. Fink said he was planning to return for Fashion Week in November and was looking forward to seeing how the event develops, now that organizers such as New York’s 7th on Sixth have begun holding events here.
“I love what’s happening here with the official fashion week,” he said. “People do full collections here—that’s the best kept secret in the business out here. I’m looking forward to seeing how they develop.” —Alison A. Nieder
