Friday, May 25
Hip City to Meet Hip Brand Store
As they say in real estate, “Location, location, location.”...
Catch a Rising Star
Designs by Otis College of Art and Design students will be on exhibit and for sale May 24 to June 10 at Lisa M. Berman’s Sculpture to Wear gallery in Santa Monica, Calif....
Chip & Pepper Open Calif. Store
Premium-denim specialists Chip & Pepper opened its first West Coast store on May 17 at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Calif....
Retail Exec Luis Padilla Named ENK President
Veteran retailer Luis Padilla has been named president of New York–based trade-show producer ENK International....
Name Game
Shareholders at the annual Federated Department Stores Inc. meeting in Cincinnati voted to change the corporate name to Macy’s Inc., effective June 1. The $27 billion company acquired the May Department Stores Co. in 2005, changing t...
California Labels Up for Dallas Fashion Awards
West Coast brands came away with the lion’s share of nominations for the 32nd Annual Dallas Fashion Awards, set for Oct. 7 at the Dallas Market Center....
Federated Names Key Divisional Presidents
Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores Inc. promoted two executives to key posts within its Macy’s East and Macy’s Florida divisions....
David Loren Expands Private-Label Business
Former Max Studio and BCBG executive David Loren has launched a private-label business to augment his branded business sold through the Beverly Hills–based David Loren Collec...
Technology Demands Grow South of the Border
Central America is an important manufacturing resource for U.S. apparel brands and importers, but the region has been an underdog compared to Asian sources....
Bag it, Please
Blue-jeans maker True Religion Apparel Inc. is branching out into the handbag business. The Los Angeles–based company has signed a licensing agreement with Jacobs & Leslie Hsu Designs, a designer a...
How to Reduce the Cost of Shipping Insurance
With fuel costs and shipping rates on the rise, apparel manufacturers are taking a look at various methods to bolster their profits....
Hong Kong Looking for Emerging Designers
Organizers of Hong Kong Fashion Week are searching for new fashion designers to participate in the International Designers Runway Show to be held during the Spring/Summer 2008 trade...
Too Thin to Win
The models on the runway at London Fashion Week will be looking a lot less thin this September. The independent Model Health Inquiry, made up of model managers, designers and supermodels, will be making recom...
Denim Sales Starting to Look Blue
The run on blue jeans isn’t over yet. But it is definitely slowing down....
Oakley Adds Distribution Space in Inland Empire
Apparel and eyewear brand Oakley Inc. is expanding its warehouse space in the Inland Empire, having signed a lease for close to 300,000 square feet in the Crossroads Business Park in...
Rusty Licensee Wins Restraining Order
C&C Companies, the Irvine, Calif.–based company that has the license to make Rusty apparel in the United States, has been tussling with the San Diego surf brand since last Decembe...
PacSun Gets Full-Time CEO
Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., the surf and skate retail chain that has been having a hard time appealing to its young customer base, has decided to give its interim chief executive a fu...
More Than Surfing Is What's Up at Surf Summit
From the stacks of surfboards in the lobby and the waiters handing out cold beer during check-in to the tequila shots downed by winners and presenters during the Image Awards, everything about the S...
Breaking Up
Shelli Segal, the woman behind the label Laundry by Shelli Segal, is parting ways with Liz Claiborne Inc., which bought her company in 1999. Segal has been replaced by Trish Westcoat Pound, creative director ...
New Guy at Gap
Trying to turn around lackluster sales at its Gap stores, Gap Inc. in San Francisco has snagged a former Paco Rabanne designer as the new executive vice pr...
Stepping Down
Joel Waller, the president and chief executive of The Wet Seal Inc., will not renew his contract when it expires Feb. 1, 2008. The retail chain in Foothill Ranch, Calif., has hired an executive-recruiting firm to fin...
French Lessons
Solstiss/Bucol brings a little French savoir-faire to Los Angeles ...
Labor Talks to Get Underway Early
In an attempt to ensure smooth sailing at West Coast ports, the shipping lines and the dockworkers’ union have agreed to sit down in early 2008 to start negotiating a new contract before the old one ex...
Apartment 3 Goes Downtown
Kristin Knauff’s destination shop for independent designers, Apartment 3, is on the move....
Patagonia T-Shirts Raise $99,000 for Oceana
Ventura, Calif.–based outerwear maker Patagonia has given a $99,000 grant to the global conservation group Oceana, which has headquarters in Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; and Anchora...
Mandy Moore to Appear at FIG Dallas Market
Mandy Moore is very busy these days, but she does have enough time to visit the Dallas-based Fashion Industry Gallery Fall/Winter market June 2 to promote her Los Angeles–based line, ...
Friday, May 18
Four More Free-Trade Agreements on the Horizon
Free-trade agreements with Panama, Peru, Colombia and South Korea are getting closer to reality after Congress worked out a bipartisan trade policy between Democrats and Republicans....
Flux Nouveau: Knits With a Vintage Heritage
Martin Paquette got his fashion history education digging through rag-house bails across the United States and in his homeland, Canada. Paquette bought heaps of vintage clothes by the pound and, with ...
WGSN Expands West Coast Offices
Worth Global Style Network, the United Kingdom–based trend-forecasting service, has promoted Sally Lohan, senior editor for WGSN, to content director for the company’s West Coast operations....
Blue's i.am Antik Deal
Commerce-based Blue Holdings Inc. has struck a deal with will.i.am––the musician, producer and member of the Grammy Award–winning group the Black Eyed Peas––for a premium-denim line that will complement Blue Holdi...
LVCC Officials Approve Expansion
Las Vegas Convention Center officials on May 8 approved a plan to invest $890 million to renovate and expand the 48-yearold, 3.2 million-square-foot center, home to the MAGIC Marketp...
Green Speak With FGI-LA
Fashion Group International of Los Angeles is partnering with Elle magazine and custom-furniture retailer Cisco Home to present “S...
Pony Goes Ultrasuede
San Diego–based footwear and athletic apparel maker Pony International LLC is bowing two new shoe styles featuring Ultrasuede, according to Ultrasuede maker Toray Ultrasuede (America) Inc. According to the company, th...
Technology Grabs Spotlight at SPESA/Material World
Technology—with bells and whistles at full tilt—moved to the front of the stage at the tri-annual SPESA Expo, held May 8–10 in conjunction with the annual Material Wor...
Limited Brand Sells Express Stores
With lingerie and beauty products making up 70 percent of its revenues, Limited Brands Inc. has decided to shed its clothing stores to improve its profits....
Microsoft Tech Truck Rolls Into Fashion District
Microsoft Corp., in conjunction with Santa Monica, Calif.–based software suppliers AIMS and Focal Technology Solutions Inc., will host a technology showcase from 11 ...
High Design With a Heart
Evans Group combines high-end contracting with heartfelt philanthropy ...
The Man Behind the MAGIC
Joe Loggia has been a police officer and is a certified public accountant. He has no doubt had to draw on both experiences during his nearly 15-year tenure with trade-show giant MAGIC Interna...
Gentry in at Invista
Invista, the fiber and polymer division of Wichita, Kan.–based Koch Industries, named Jeff Gentry chief executive officer for Invista, replacing Jeff Walker, who recently resigned. Gentry is a current ...
West Coast Port Congestion Could Become a Trade Barrier
Manufacturing goods in China may be cheap,but it could lead to problems down the road....
O'Neill Sells Trademarks to Dutch Company
It all started more than 50 years ago when a chilly surfer looking for a bit of warmth in Northern California’s waters discovered a magic fabric called neoprene....
Ed Hardy Licensor Files Suit Against Christian Audigier
Two months ago, Christian Audigier was walking the runway at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios, where he showed both his eponymous collection and his licensed Ed Hardy l...
New CEO at Halston
Bonnie Takhar has been named president and chief executive officer of The Halston Co., according to Hilco Consumer Capital LLC and The Weinstein Co., both co-investors in and principal owners of the i...
Kasil Angles the Skinny
Some may say the skinny jean is going the way of the dodo bird, but Kasil thinks the trend still has legs. For Summer and Fall 2007, the Los Angeles–based premiumdenim maker is launching two new skinny styles...
Friday, May 11
Tiara to Launch Weekend Breakfast, Dinners
The Tiara Cafeacute;, located in The New Mart building in the Los Angeles Fashion District, is expanding its hours of operation, opening for breakfast and lunch on Saturdays...
The Ratings Guy Offers Superior Shopping Sites
A Google search currently reveals some 864 million results for the shopping category, making it more difficult than ever before for shoppers to find quality vendors—and for those vendors to find dedicated shoppers...
When Narciso Met Liz
New York–based manufacturing giant Liz Claiborne Inc. struck a deal with designer Narciso Rodriguez to acquire a 50 percent ownership stake in Rodriguez’s company, Narciso Rodriguez. The designer has been named creative direct...
Tilly's Names Real Estate Manager
Irvine, Calif.–based surf- and streetwear retailer Tilly’s has named two key executives to its management team....
CIC Lands Korean Lingerie Firm
CIC Holding Co. Inc. acquired MCORSET, an 8-year-old lingerie company based in Korea, in a stock-purchase transaction. MCORSET produces lingerie under the Lefee, Kiss Republic, Suane and Fashino brands, and sells to ...
Blastmaster: Plans Hatched
Can a streetwear business incubator find the juice to get a hip-hop clothing line started? Andy Howell is ready to take that gamble. The founder of the La Jolla, Calif.–based Egg Proj...
April '07: Retail Sales Stumble After Easter
The performance of the retail sector decreased 2.4 percent in April, according to the New York–based International Council of Shopping Centers. It was the largest decline since April 2002. Economists and reta...
Clean-Air Plan Choking Calif.'s Trucking Industry
Truckers are an independent breed, but the ones waiting in line for hours at the local ports for cargo wouldn’t mind becoming a little more organized....
Customs Seizes Record Number of Textile and Apparel Imports
Last month, U.S. Customs inspectors at the Port of Long Beach pulled aside a container of merchandise labeled as brooms. When they pried opened the metal box, not one single broom was inside....
Hanesbrands Consolidates in DR
Winston-Salem, N.C.–based Hanesbrands Inc. announced plans to shutter three sewing and assembly operations in Itabo, Dominican Republic, as the company pursues a plan to consolidate its sewing producti...
The Grove in New York? Caruso Debuts Manhattan Office
One of California’s best-known shopping-center developers, Rick Caruso, is taking his act to New York City....
California Retailers That Set the Trends
Retail has always been big in California—but recently it’s gotten even bigger....
True Religion Misses First-Quarter Target
Vernon, Calif.–based denim giant True Religion Apparel saw its first-quarter gross margin grow a record 56.3 percent, but it missed its projected target of $39.9 million in net sales, ringing in instead at $3...
Friday, May 4
IMG Moves Fashion Week Dates
IMG, the New York–based producer of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios, has set the dates for the Los Angeles event a week earlier than Los Angeles Fashion Market...
Hale Bob Launches Handbags
Hale Bob, the Vernon, Calif.–based maker of flirty tops and dresses, has announced the launch of its first handbag collection. Debuting with 25 handbags and evening bags in six capsules, Hale Bob’s newest add...
Designers Look to Make Big Splash on Third
Los Angeles’ West Third Street has developed a reputation as being the address for some of the city’s most fashion-forward retail. Carol Rodan and Chris Griffith hope that the street’s ...
Quiksilver Continues Executive Shuffle
On the heels of hiring new chief operating and financial officers, Huntington Beach, Calif.–based surf giant Quiksilver has announced the appointment of two new executives. Steve Tully, form...
E-tailing a Hot Topic at FGI Panel
Online shopping emerged as the dominant theme of discussion at Fashion Group International’s “Innovative Retail Icons” event at the Chamberlain hotel in West Ho...
Antik Goes Abroad
Commerce-based denim maker Blue Holdings Inc., which produces the premium-jeans brand Antik Denim, struck a licensing deal with French licensing company Mercier SARL to produce and distribute Antik De...
Savi Moves RFID Beyond the Container
Radio Frequency Identification technology—better known as RFID—is helping retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores and Target track products coming into their warehouses, but more co...
Designer Jill Richards, 85
Designer Jill Richards died on April 21 of natural causes. She was 85 years old....
AE's Mall World
Warrendale, Pa.–based retailer American Eagle Outfitters is producing a 12-episode comedy series called “It’s a Mall World” for broadcast on the company’s Web site www...
Rudes Named FIG's Man of the Year
The Fashion Industries Guild of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center will bestow the honor of its “Man of the Year” award later this year on denim v...
L.A., L.B. Ports Hit Record Levels
The U.S. economy may be slowing down, but it wasn’t evident at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where trade is booming....
The Aura Test
Feminine, contemporary fashions have ruled the boutiques of Santa Monica’s Montana Avenue for the past two decades. Yet Kristin Eberts wanted to find out how far she could push the limits of f...
Unifi Shuts Recently Acquired Plant in S.C.
Five months after it purchased a textile facility in Dillon, S.C., fiber maker Unifi Inc. announced plans to shut it down by the end of July and move the plant’s equipment and some of the staff to Uni...
Hard Rock Leads Hotel, Trade Expansion in Vegas
Las Vegas’ trade-show scene continues to expand as a number of big real estate projects gets underway, bringing more choice hotel and convention space to the city over the next couple of years....
City of Hope to Honor Ball
Premium-denim maven Michael Ball, chief executive and founder of the Los Angeles–based Rock & Republic brand of apparel and accessories, is the Apparel...
Alternative Altruism
Atlanta-based T-shirt maker Alternative Apparel is the official apparel partner for two upcoming fund-raising events for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation— the Kids For Kids Family Carnival event in New York on M...
Trunk LTD Gets New Owner, Recruits Duarte
Beverly Hills–based Live Nation, a music-venue management company, has acquired the remaining interest in Trunk LTD, a Culver City, Calif.–based maker of music-licensed T-shirts and co...
IPATH Acquired
Torrance-based skate show company IPATH has been acquired by Stratham, N.H.–based footwear and outdoor apparel maker Timberland Co. for an undisclosed amount. IPATH founders Brian Krauss and Matt Field...
Designers Shine at Debut of South Coast Plaza's Bloomie's
Bloomingdale’s is on a California land rush. ...
Rainbow Coalition
Three leaders in color technology discuss the latest innovations in creating vivid color quickly and reliably ...
Wave of the Future
Product Lifecycle Management software, while not new, has just begun to ride the crest of the wave ...
49 Square Miles
San Francisco–based private-label design and manufacturing house G. Hensler & Co. built its reputation as an accessories manufacturer making handbags, b...
Made in California: A Special Report
Even as the number of manufacturers producing clothing and accessories overseas grows, many U.S. companies still choose to produce domestically. California ranks high among production locales, with Lo...
Tim's Take: Dress for Success
It was standing-room-only in the Museum & Galleries at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising when students, faculty and those-in-the-know turned out to hear “Project Runway...
Apparel Customs Chief to Speak in Los Angeles
Current textile investigations and seizures, ghost factories in Asia, identity theft of U.S. firms, and shipments of denim jeans being stopped at numerous U.S. ports will be among the topics...
Antik Accessorizes
Commerce, Calif.–based premium-denim brand Antik Denim LLC, a division of Blue Holdings Inc., signed a licensing agreement with Max Ray Inc. for a line of accessorie...
