California Apparel News

Reports were mixed at the Oct. 20–24 run of Los Angeles Fashion Market, with some calling it a record-breaking turnout and others saying business was flat. Across the board, however, showroom representatives said the market attracted many key retailers. Several showroom managers and building owners said the market broke attendance and sales records, while some retailers and other showroom owners said business was flat due to conservative buying by some retailers. In addition, some boutiques chose to hold off on big orders in order to buy closer to 2007 delivery dates.

During the fashion market, retailers Fred Segal, Henri Bendel, Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, Kitson, Madison, Aura, Sugar on La Brea, and Satine browsed the California Market Center, The New Mart, Cooper Design Space and Gerry Building. They also shopped the market’s satellite shows Designers & Agents, Brighte Companies and Boutique Lingerie.

Much of the success of the market had to do with an American economy that continues to buzz, said Ethan Eller, general manager of The New Mart. “We have to peak sometime, but it has not happened yet,” he said. He reported record attendance at The New Mart with more than 1,229 buyers registering, compared to 1,150 at the fashion market in March 2006. And that attendance figure may be even higher, Eller noted, adding that many buyers do not register at all.

Retailers wrote orders for Jan. 15–April 30 delivery dates, according to Liza Stewart, president of the Liza Stewart Showroom in the CMC. Sales doubled at her contemporary showroom compared to the same market in 2005. She met with representatives of 220 stores. Many of them were walk-ins, and only 140 had made appointments.

She contended that retail attendance increased because retailers increasingly want to come to California to look for stylish, warm-weather, spring clothes. Retail traffic decreased an estimated 5 percent at the Rep Et Trois showroom in the CMC, according to Michael Gae, the showroom’s co-owner.

He wasn’t worried about the drop, though. “It was a good show. But there wasn’t an overflow of traffic,” Gae said. “Some retailers did not come because it is expensive to travel. But they may come to the January market instead of this show.” (The Los Angeles Fashion Market Summer ’07 is scheduled for Jan. 12–16.) Retailers’ reaction to the October market was as mixed as the showroom owners. Jeannette Chivvis, co-owner of Los Angeles boutique Sugar on La Brea, estimated that she decreased her spending 10 percent compared to the same market in 2005.

“This fall has been challenging because it’s been so hot,” Chivvis said about Southern California weather, which hovered in a balmy mid-80s in the weeks preceding the market. “I’ve been a lot more conservative with what I’m buying.”

Jeannie Lee, owner of the Satine boutique in Los Angeles, estimated that she increased her purchases more than 20 percent because women were responding to the fashion trends of the past six months with more purchases. Sales may have been strong because fashion made a shift, according to Kristin Eberts, owner of Aura boutique in Santa Monica, Calif. “Women used to wear jeans every single night out. But in the past six months, I’ve been seeing more women wearing skirts and dresses.”

At the CMC, retail traffic increased, according to building management. They declined to state the building’s attendance numbers. The CMC launched the Lounge Co-op in suite A223, featuring JC Rags, Devon Leigh, Lustre, Massimiliano Musina and In Dept. The co-op’s managing member Sheila Hill said she was inspired to launch the Lounge Co-op while visiting the Project Global Trade Show in Las Vegas. She said the co-op’s five lines saw more than 100 retailers.

D&A: good buyers, decreased international traffic

Vendors at Designers & Agents reported seeing important accounts at the Oct. 20–23 show held in the Cooper Design Space and The New Mart, but many said traffic seemed to have slackened since the same market last year. Organizers, who reported banner attendance last October with 2,462 attendees, said this market is on par with last year’s. “It was great to see that last October wasn’t a fluke. We’ve had roughly 2,500 attendees for the last three markets,” said Ed Mandelbaum, a New York–based co-producer of the five annual Designers & Agents and D&A Annex shows in Los Angeles.

Exhibitor ranks swelled to 268 booths showing more than 400 brands. Barbara Kramer, D&A’s co-producer, said she noticed a considerable drop in Japanese and European attendees—something that concerned several attendees who rely on the show for international sales. Still, the show featured its largest-ever roster of European brands, she said, and a healthy dose of new brands.

“The right buyer is here, but I think retailers are exhausted with shows. The result is the impact of any one show is diluted,” said exhibitor Tadd Zarubica, owner of Denim of Virtue, a new Los Angeles–based premium-denim line for men and women. A veteran of denim maker Hudson, Zarubica noted that while a lot of buyers are opting to shop closer to season, viewing late March offerings but committing to January deliveries, it seemed a good deal of those came to market with the bulk of their buying completed.

Exhibitors reported seeing representatives from Barneys New York, Saks Fifth Avenue, Intermix, Atrium, E Street Denim, Bloomingdale’s, Nieman Marcus, House of Petro Zillia, Metro Park, Planet Blue, H. Lorenzo and American Rag. Sarah Wilsterman, co-owner of Wilster, a new contemporary line she started with Three Dots alum Mimi Levitas, said Friday alone fulfilled her “ultimate wish list” of buyers.

Retailers roamed the aisles in search of fresh Spring offerings—something there was no shortage of. Replacing the mounds of denim from past seasons were a bevy of trends to choose from, including dresses in every imaginable shape and fabrication; short-alls, skirt-alls and suspender pants with yo-yo hemlines; bohemian styles with a hint of prairie; skirts in mini, pencil, bubble and bell silhouettes; and a lingering fixation with nautical and military themes ranging from punk to wholesome. “I think buyers had to work a lot harder because there isn’t one driving trend or strong direction like in past seasons,” D&A’s Kramer said. The result will be a diverse and eclectic retail environment come spring, she said.

Petro Zillia designer-turned-retailer Nony Tochterman shopped D&A for items to fill in gaps at her four-week-old store, House of Petro Zillia. Trends that made the cut were high-waisted jeans from Jainesse, tissue-weight cashmere dresses and oversize tops from Wilster, and waist belts from Noir. “I buy whatever I love, whatever I want in my closet. It’s just like I have a huge closet now,” said the designer, who wore Jainesse while shopping.

D&A organizers hinted at a potential change in format for upcoming 2007 Annex shows. “We’d really like to go to a three-day format. It creates more energy for the exhibitors and buyers,” Mandelbaum said. D&A’s shows in New York are three days long. In a perfect world, D&A’s organizers would like to see the Los Angeles Fashion Market shift from a Friday-to-Tuesday affair to a Saturday-to-Wednesday schedule—allowing D&A to occupy the Sunday-to-Tuesday slot. Mandelbaum said they’ll consider a Friday-to-Sunday run if they can’t reach an agreement with the organizers of the Los Angeles Fashion Market.

Special pieces at The New Mart

Buyers shopped for special items at The New Mart. Sisters Stacey White and Leslie Tohms shopped for their two-location store, Tiki Lounge. With two disparate locations—Ventura Beach, Calif., and Tacoma, Wash.—the co-owners have very different clientele. White, who runs and buys for the Tacoma store, said, “I’m more Anthropologie with a slightly older demographic, and she’s more Urban Outfitters.”

Despite their dissimilar buying agendas, the sisters said they both searched for special pieces. More so than in past years, they focused on unique and distinct items because their clients are increasingly turning to fast-fashion retailers for trendy apparel. “It has changed the way we shop. People just aren’t willing to spend the money for something they can find at those stores,” Tohms said.

At Focus Showroom, buyers looked for special prints, shifts and jumper dresses. Garnering lots of attention was Madison Marcus, a contemporary “urban princess” line out of New York. Upscale fabrications in transitional fabrics, such as silk crepe tops and lightweight wool short-alls, were top performers.

Split personality at Cooper

Buyers were of two minds at the Cooper Design Space. While pretty dresses were the big story, showrooms reported key fashion-forward buyers were looking for stark, minimalist items. At The News showroom, dresses by Vena Cava, Sea and Jovovich Hawk were “the big thing for Spring,” said Lori Lindsay, sales representative. Denim, which has been clean, skinny and super dark, shifted for Spring, she said. “Buyers who are more at the forefront—who’ve been doing the skinny for a while—are going lighter and for more of a straight leg,” she said.

Shoppers at the Riot showroom, which stocks uber-femme dresses from Jenny Jen and Boudoir and super-clean dresses from Dress and Wayf, gravitated to both looks. “In general, I think dresses are going to go cleaner, but stay feminine and classic. On the flip side, there was also a good response to subtle, cool clothes with an edge and attitude—black clothes with weight to them, things that are more my sensibility,” said former punk musician Rick Rodney, manager of Vanessa Impicciatore’s Riot showroom. Cassette, a Los Angeles–based line of chic monochromatic streetwear for men and women, appealed to these buyers with classic silhouettes with a twist.

At Tricot, owner Vivian Patao said buyers surprisingly shopped for knits in lightweight fabrications. “They’re buying it more than ever for Spring,” she said, especially in dress silhouettes and muted colors.

At the new Trina Turk showroom, prints and color were big stories—as was Mr. Turk, the designer’s new men’s line. Despite being launched at a women’s contemporary show, the line garnered lots of interest from buyers, said Claudine Covolo, corporate sales manager.

Business per usual at Brighte

Exhibitors at the Brighte Los Angeles show, held Oct. 20–23 in the CMC’s fashion theater, weren’t overwhelmed by foot traffic coming into the show, but most said they were pleased with the orders that were written.

Show organizer ENK International did not release attendance figures for the event, which featured mostly contemporary apparel and accessory lines. Several exhibitors estimated it was on par with last year’s show and most came away positive about the results.

“Retail appears to be strong. Nobody is negative about price points. We were selling six colors per style, no problem,” said Tamara Landa, a rep for Boy Meets Girl by Deesh, a contemporary tops line designed by Stacy Morgenstern.

Debbie Davimes, owner of Los Angeles–based Tee Party, showed at Brighte for the first time and said the turnout warranted a return trip.

“We’ve been getting a fantastic response to our line. I think we have something for everybody here,” she noted.

The company showed tees and tunics made with soft fabrics like Modal and pointelle in earth tones and neutral pastel shades. Those silhouettes are very familiar in the current marketplace.

“We try to provide some type of twist,” Davines said. The company’s leggings feature snap ankle buttons. Most were selling for $32 and up.

The move into leggings, dresses and other bottoms options drew some focus away from denim, so denim makers have been adopting new strategies.

Companies like Born in California, which showed at Brighte, is a new effort by J&Co. to draw interest toward the lower price point. The company was selling women’s jeans for $48 at Brighte. Zeroing in on that segment has been successful, said rep Payson Halsey.

“It’s been great. It started six month ago and has grown to more than 250 stores and we don’t have a showroom yet,” she said.

At the other end of the spectrum, brands like Ed Hardy have keyed in on straight-leg and skinny jeans at the $70 and $80 price points for women and men respectively. Top styles selling at Brighte were over-dyed skinny jeans with imprinted koi fish, skulls and roses on the back pockets.

Landa at Boy Meets Girl said another option to denim has come via long skirts, which can be hoisted up and worn as a dress. “We’ve also been doing well with our kangaroo dresses,” she said.

Landa and others noted the absence of the whites, pinks and greens from last Spring. “We’re liking mochas, olives a lot and other colors like salmon. The feel [of soft fabrics] is so important now. Everybody loves it.”

Boutique Lingerie returns to Gerry

Since March, the Boutique Lingerie show on the lingerie floor of the Gerry Building has become a destination for lingerie store buyers. Miguel Duque, co-producer of the Boutique Lingerie show, noted that the number of interested exhibitors exceeded the space available.

Some exhibitors at the show, held Oct. 20–23, expressed that walk-in traffic was slower than expected, but Duque said that, more importantly, the buyers who swung by left paper. “The looky-loos aren’t here,” Duque said. “Everyone who is walking through that door is buying from somebody.”

Angelika Tesch of Los Angeles–based Fleur’t Lingerie said that she wrote with more ready-to-wear store accounts in comparison to last market in August, when most of her business came from lingerie stores. Los Angeles–based Underglam’s new white floral fabric was a hit for sales representative Noah Walsh, who estimated that two-thirds of his sales came from walk-by traffic.

Adrian Bailey, of the luxury lingerie line Vagin Pouvoir, said he made the trip from New York because the West Coast has been an integral piece of their business. “The West Coast in general has been a lot bigger business than the East Coast so far,” Bailey said. He added his West Coast accounts were accumulated not just from the Boutique Lingerie show in Los Angeles but also from road appointments and trade shows in New York.

Vanessa Binot, who represents the French lingerie line Huit and Italian line Dana Pisarra, said she anticipated a slower show than last market. The European-based lines she represents only produce two collections a year, so she was without new merchandise to show since last market. Binot exceeded her expectations with new accounts and said that the show was a good opportunity to catch buyers that she missed last time around. “It only takes four or five great customers to make your show worth it,” Binot said.