California Apparel News

This season, the Los Angeles International Textile Show was sandwiched between two market weeks, opened during dramatic thunderstorms and ran concurrently with the runway shows of Los Angeles Fashion Week. Even so, the show earned passing marks from textile representatives who said that despite slower-than-expected traffic, the designers and buyers who came to the show came ready to order.

“There were less looky-loos and more orders,” said John Marshall, representing French lace maker Solstiss. Marshall said designers were opting for his higher-priced beaded fabrics rather than less-pricey laces.

The show, held Oct. 17–20 at the California Market Center, typically draws a wide range of local designers and manu-facturers, as well as representatives from companies across the West Coast and Southwest. And often, the show draws a small number of companies from the East Coast and the Southeast.

This time, many reps reported a higher-than-usual number of New York companies shopping the show, perhaps looking for an alternative to the International Fashion Fabric Exhibition (IFFE) show in New York, which has been indefinitely postponed by organizers MAGIC International.

“I saw a bunch of people from New York—and they buy from us in New York,” said Hal Kaltman, owner of Hal Kaltman Textiles and president of the Textile Association of Los Angeles.

Among the designers spotted walking the show were Kevan Hall, MartinMartin designers Eric and Diane Martin, William Beranek, Corey Lynn Calter and City Girl’s Nancy Bolen. Priya Saraswati and Yugala Priti, designers of San Francisco–based Saffron Rare Threads, flew in for a day to shop the show.

The show also drew representatives from Monique Lhullier, Bebe, Laundry, Couture, the Clothing Co., Juicy Couture, 7 for All Mankind, Poleci and Lucky Brand.

“The whole Disney costume department was here,” Kaltman said.

Still, many reported that familiar faces were missing from the crowd, and some speculated that Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios, running at the same time in Culver City, Calif., was keeping some of the contemporary designers away. Others said some manufacturers and designers were too busy preparing for the upcoming Los Angeles Market Week, set for Oct. 21–24. And still others blamed the rain for keeping the local buyers at home.

“I think the weather has something to do with it,” said Patricia Brandt, whose Los Angeles– based Patricia Brandt Co. represents color-systems provider Pantone, as well as color, fabric and trend information services and several international print studios. “I’ve seen a lot of new clients from out of town and not that many of my regular clients, but the people who are here are very focused.”

“We’ve been busy here today,” Brandt said on the second day of the show. “They weren’t five-deep like at some shows. But they were looking for artwork and prints and embellishments for Fall.”

The CMC does not release attendance figures, but organizers were pleased with the turnout at the show.

“Despite the rain and its tendency to keep L.A. residents homebound, a majority of the key exhibitors mentioned that the Monday turnout was the best they have seen to date,” said Adrienne Sulaver, the new textile show manager for the CMC.

“As I have been informed, many of the attendees who did brave the rain were the ’serious’ buyers who were looking to place substantial orders. Additionally, many exhibitors affirmed the quality of the attendees/buyers that trafficked the show this year.”

Business was brisk at the Wimpfheimer Fabrics showroom, according to Representative Ron Rose. “We were busier than I think a lot of the rest of the show,” he said, adding that this was his 28th time exhibiting at the L.A. textile show. Designers showed interest in Wimpfheimer’s novelties and cotton velvets, said Rose, who agreed that many of the local designers and buyers did not come to the show this season. Instead, he said he saw buyers from Texas, Oregon, Chicago, Denver and Alabama.

Not everyone agreed that the busy calendar detracted from the show.

“Having the fashion shows at the same time adds value because the stylists and buyers are in town from different areas,” said Rossana Ciraolo, manager for apparel, textiles and footwear for the Italian Trade Commission, which produces the TexItalia exhibition of Italian fabric and trim representatives in the CMC fashion theater.

Santino Rice, a designer with Los Angeles–based Pegah Anvarian, turned out at the show two days after helping Anvarian produce her fashion show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios.

“After a fashion show, you get all this extra energy to come look for new fabrics and new treatments,” he said.

Rice said he was looking for ideas that would work into Anvarian’s color palette.

“Pegah works with a lot of color; for Fall, we’re looking at more of the dark, muted colors with accents of brightly colored or metallic thread.”

“I come here every season,” he said. “It helps designers come to see what’s available locally and what’s available internationally.”

Designer Leyla Safai was racing around the show preparing for the launch of her new line, Maude for Ladies, at Los Angeles Market Week.

“I’m looking for denim and lace because a lot of my stuff has lace details or Lurex,” she said. Safai has outfitted an ice cream truck as her mobile showroom and is planning to drive it around the Fashion District showing her line and handing out ice cream during the market.

The Los Angeles–based designer, who said she’s been creating the uniforms for many of Los Angeles’ hipster hotels, including The Standard, the Mercer and Chateau Marmont, said she’s been coming to the textile show for the last seven years.

TexItalia looking to expand

There were 14 fabric and trim exhibitors showing at the TexItalia exhibition in the CMC fashion theater, including Cotonificio, Veneto, Frangi, Gruppo Fedora, Guest, Limonta, Mapel, Moessmer, Ricci 1925, Ritmotex and Teseo, but the organizers are looking to expand the section.

“We need to have at least 20 or 25 companies here,” said the Italian Trade Commission’s Ciraolo, who noted that there are several Italian mills exhibiting in other areas of the textile show but not participating in TexItalia.

Ciraolo said that although many Italian mills participated in the biannual European Preview trade show in New York, there are still many opportunities for them in Los Angeles.

“With all the new designers, L.A. is more and more interesting,” she said. “Even if they show at European Preview, they are not going to skip Los Angeles.”

The show featured two new exhibitors, including Howard J. Strachman, president of New York–based Strachman Associates, which represents vertical textile maker Limonta, based in Costamasnaga, Italy.

Strachman said his company already has several West Coast accounts but decided to attend the show to expand its California client base.

“The two or three people we intended to see and we wanted to see, I’ve seen,” he said, adding that he met with several new companies, including some start-ups.

“You have your serious companies and you have designers who are just starting out,” he said. Most of Strachman’s accounts are larger companies, but he said he occasionally works with smaller companies if he sees potential for them to grow.

“We’re not a resource for someone looking for 50 meters, but if we believe in someone, we support them,” he said.

Once again, TexItalia hosted a trend presentation at the show, where more than 80 people turned out to hear trend forecaster Angelo Uslenghi present Italian fabric directions for Fall/Winter 2006/2007.

French hold designer soiree

In the French Pavilion on the CMC’s 13th floor, 13 returning French mills and one new exhibitor set up their wares.

The Pavilion included Deveaux, E.S.F., Goutarel, Henitex, JB Bernard, Sofileta, Soieries Chambutaires, Springtex, Trouillet & Cie and new exhibitor Albert Guegain.

On opening night, the French Embassy Trade Commission in Los Angeles and Lyon, France–based Espace Textile, which organizes the French Pavilion, hosted a cocktail party to introduce guests to the exhibitors in the pavilion.

The party was held in a trend forum near the entrance to the French Pavilion. In addition to fabric trends, the forum also featured an exhibition of Los Angeles designers’ creations using French fabrics, including Kevan Hall and Tadashi. Hall, fresh off his Los Angeles Fashion Week runway show at Smashbox the night before, mingled with guests and textile reps at the cocktail party.

This year, organizers also hosted their first textile trend presentation, on Oct. 18 at the CMC, hosted by Agnes Elisabelair, head of the international division of Espace Textile.