CASUAL CLOTHES: Kristi Williams standing next to a pair of Jag jeans
GERRY BUILDING
Showroom Profile: Kristi Williams Sales
Gerry Building
Suite 604
(213) 892-8774
If things look a little crowded in the sixth-floor showroom of Kristi Williams, it’s because the space is shared by four reps who have carved out a different niche in the fashion world.
Kristi Williams is the only salesperson with an office in the showroom and works there when not out on the road visiting clients. The other tenants pop in for market weeks and special occasions.
Sisters Mary Larsen and Tammy Mattos, who manufacture a line of romantic lacy skirts and tops in Los Angeles under the Surrealist label, have one corner of the showroom; Loretta Kendrick, the representative for a line of fashionable but irreverent reading glasses called Eyebobs, occupies another corner; and Kathy Barrett subleases a space for her Leaders in Leather purses, which have a Western-inspired theme to them. Williams moved to the Gerry Building two years ago when there was an exodus of misses and updated contemporary labels from the third floor of the California Market Center.
For the past eight years, she has been selling the Jag Jeans line. She also reps its more contemporary sister label, Christopher Blue, both now owned by Western Glove Works, the Canadian venture in Winnipeg that also manufactures Silver Jeans. Jag Jeans is a label that has been around for years and gone through many incarnations. Currently, it is created for the 40- to 50-year-old woman who wants to look good. Pants wholesale for around $36 and sell at Nordstrom, Zappos and specialty stores.
The Christopher Blue line is slightly pricier, at $65 wholesale, and is geared for the woman who wants to be trendy but not look like her daughter. It sells at Neiman Marcus and higher-end specialty stores. The other lines that Williams sells are Baik Baik, an Indonesian-based assortment of sweaters; Magnet Art, a collection of U.S.-made cotton tops decorated with crystallized dyes and lace detail; and Vivante by VSA scarves, colorful accessories designed in Barcelona.
