California Apparel News

Designers and representatives from apparel brands big and small walked the Los Angeles International Textile Show during its March 15–17 run at the California Market Center.

Among the companies and designers walking the show were American Apparel, Eva Franco, The Gap, David Meister, Karen Kane, Estevan Ramos, Tianello, Lily Samii, Ella Moss, Raquel Allegra, Lova, Christian Audigier and Yves Castaldi.

The report from exhibitors was mixed, with some reporting consistent traffic throughout the show and others saying traffic surged before and after the scheduled trend seminars.

“You don’t see customers for an hour, and then everybody comes by,” said Ray Gabbay, a representative for Los Angeles–based importer and converter RC International Fabrics Inc.

Ron Kaufman, sales executive for Los Angeles–based Robert Kaufman Fabrics, was enthusiastic about the traffic—and the mood—at the show.

“There’s been a discernable difference in traffic [compared with last year],” he said. “We feel positive there’s some forward momentum. [Buyers] are encouraged to bring in new things.”

Kaufman said he’d seen customers from South America and Mexico, as well as U.S. customers from outside of California.

“We made an effort to reach out to our national customer base,” he said.

The company, which is known for its graphic prints, recently launched a new collection, called Free to Grow, which features organic cotton in coordinating prints and solids.

Still, despite waves of designers walking the halls, the traffic did not compare with years past, many said.

“It was much better today, but it’s slow compared to previous shows,” said Tim Sheils, a rep for Portland, Ore.–based Pine Crest Fabrics. “We haven’t seen that many new accounts. We’ve seen our regular customers who came out—which makes it worth it.”

This was the first time at the show for Danfield Inc., a 30-year-old tannery based in Commerce, Calif.

“It’s a convenient show,” said company representative Vahe Imasdounian. “Instead of flying all over, it’s right here in the heart of L.A.”

Nearly three years ago, Danfield began using environmentally friendly processes to tan the leather, according to Imasdounian, who said he was getting a lot of inquiries at the show about eco-friendly leather from young designers and small start-ups.

John Marshall of JM International, which carries a range of European fabrics, said he saw buyers from Texas, Miami, Mexico and San Francisco. “People wrote orders,” he said.

Show organizers were pleased with the show overall.

“We’re thrilled with the turnout and feedback we’ve been receiving,” said Chelsea Matthews, senior trade show manager for the CMC. “We’ve seen many key companies walking the show, including Geren Ford, Frankie B, BCBG Max Azria, Bebe, Disney, David Meister, Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, Dina Bar-El, Kimberly Ovitz, Young, Fabulous and Broke, Blackhalo and Guess. Our exhibitors have also reported seeing a significant increase in new customers, most notably from Mexico, Canada and the East Coast. We’re very pleased with the steady increase in buyer traffic over the past three days, reflecting a definite upswing in business for our exhibitors and the L.A. Textile show.” Buyers’ market

Dov Charney, the founder and chief executive officer of American Apparel, and his team spent all three days at the show.

“I’m just sniffing around,” he said. “There’s a lot of new things and good suppliers. Plus the folk we always work with.”

Kirsten Ehrig-Sarkisian, designer and owner of swim and resort line Bellusso, was shopping the show in search of “good basics from reliable sources.” The designer is coming off a strong year during which she picked up orders from the Four Seasons resort in Hawaii and upscale Mexican retailer Palacio de Hierro.

“I’ve done this show so many times, I know where to find people,” said Ehrig-Sarkisian, who planned to spend at least two days at the show. “It’s also social, more of a meet-and-greet.”

Designer Eva Franco said she was on the hunt for lightweight goods, jacquards from Europe and novelty fabrics. “It has to be so novel to compete with Forever 21,” she said.

The designer was planning to spend two days at the show but noted that the timing was difficult because she was busy shipping her March 15 orders and getting ready for Los Angeles Fashion Market, which begins on March 19.

One of Franco’s designs was recently featured on the cover of the Anthropologie catalog. The dress is made in a print Franco had sampled from German mill KBC several years before. On a whim, she used the fabric to make a sample, which she showed to Anthropologie, which placed an order for 6,000 dresses.

“That’s why you have to be nice to the little guy,” Franco said.

Tale of two trade showsThe L.A. Textile Show was held two weeks after competing trade show GlobalTex, which ran March 2–4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Several exhibitors opted to show at both shows, but many attendees said they’d prefer the two shows to run concurrently.

Next season, the shows will overlap, with the Los Angeles International Textile Show set to run Sept. 27–29 and GlobalTex scheduled to run Sept. 28–30.

“We met a lot of new people at GlobalTex,” said Sandrine Bernard, executive vice president for New York–based Solstiss/Bucol, who said she was seeing more familiar faces at the L.A. Textile Show. She diplomatically praised both shows, saying, “We did very well at GlobalTex, and this show, so far, so good. It was an excellent beginning of the year—much better than last year.”

But Bernard expressed concern about next season’s overlapping dates, which would make it difficult for her to show at both shows.

Ramin Daneshgar of Los Angeles–based importer Cinergy Textiles Inc. had shown at both GlobalTex and the L.A. Textile Show last year, but he opted this time to show only at the L.A. Textile Show.

“There’s no way we can do two shows anymore. It’s too difficult,” he said.

He said the CMC location is more convenient for many of his customers than the convention center.

“The access to the Cal Mart is better,” he said. “People have business in the Mart; they have offices across the street. It’s easier for them to come here.”