California Apparel News

Material World & Technology Solutions debuted its West Coast show during a Sept. 30–Oct. 2 run co-located with the Los Angeles International Textile Show at the California Market Center.

The show drew a flurry of activity on the first two days, as designers and piece-goods buyers surveyed the offerings from fabric, trim and original-artwork suppliers, as well as offshore factories, international trade groups and technologyproviders.

Exhibitors were spread throughout the building, including on the 13th-floor penthouse, the lower-level Exhibition Hall, the Fashion Theater and annex in the lobby, and on the 12th floor. Exhibitors with permanent showrooms in the building also participated in the show.

Global Korea Textile Week, sponsored by Kotra (the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency) and the Korean Federation of Textile Industries, bowed with more than 70 exhibitors showing in the Fashion Theater and annex and on the 12th floor. Dubbed “Preview in L.A.,” the event kicked off with a runway show featuring designs made from Korean fabrics.

This marks Material World’s first West Coast show, after hosting 10 shows in Miami Beach, Fla., and three in New York. The show, produced by Kennesaw, Ga.–based Urban Expositions, took up the Exhibition Hall with a mix that included fabric, trim, home deacute;cor and finishedgoods suppliers, including a large number of companies from China and Southeast Asia. Material World’s technology arm, Technology Solutions, occupied a space on the 13th floor.

Designers Nancy Bolen, Mona Thalheimer, Randa Allen and Neely Shearer were among those spotted showing the first day.

“In L.A., each time you meet new people,” said Sandrine Bernard, executive vice president of New York–based Solstiss/Bucol, which carries high-end French lace and silk collections. Bernard said she has met with several lingerie designers and a few costume designers at the show, which drew companies from Chicago, Canada and “even people from the East Coast—which is good,” she said.

Kevan Hall was at the show looking for fabrics for his red-carpet Kevan Hall Signature line and for his Kevan Hall for Paul Stanley, which sells at Bloomingdale’s.

“I’m looking for something novelty, something rare—something that’s not all over the market,” he said, adding that he liked the Bel Maille knit line out of France and a print collection on silks, wools and twills.

John Marshall of JM International Group echoed Hall’s sentiments. “People are looking for something different,” he said. “They need something new and fresh.”

Marshall was showing seven European collections, including Bel Maille, high-end Austrian collection Hoferhecht Stickereien and Spanish print line Juan Baluda.

“People are looking, but they’re also sampling and they’re writing orders,” Marshall said.

Mike Farid, owner of BGreen, the eco-friendly activewear line produced by NatureUSA in Rancho Dominguez, Calif., was at the show looking for new suppliers.

“I spent a half day at Material World,” he said, adding that he’d found resources for recycled synthetic fabrics, as well as some new yarn and fiber suppliers.

Designer Anna Kenney, who is consulting for resortwear label On White, stopped by Material World looking for domestic resources for the company. She met with Brian Meck, vice president of sales and marketing for apparel maker Fessler USA.

Kenney said she planned to spend two days at the show, looking for fabric and sourcing resources and attending trend seminars.

Meck said the first day of the show was a little slow, perhaps because customers had trouble finding the Material World exhibitors in their location on the lower level of the CMC. But traffic on the second day was busier, and Meck said the company had appointments booked through the end of the show.

“We saw quite a few qualified designers and retailers,” Meck said.

Valerie Cooper, owner of the Heart Hunters consultancy, dropped by the show looking for resources for some of her clients. Cooper was also meeting with spinners and mills to discuss a sustainably processed bamboo development she’s working on with Swiss vertical manufacturer Litrax. (Cooper recently joined the Litrex team as vice president of business development.)