Stories for March 2017

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Friday, March 31

Delta Apparel Sells Junkfood Clothing

Manufacturing

Twelve years after buying Los Angeles–based Junkfood Clothing Co. for more than $22.5 million, Delta Apparel is selling the T-shirt brand for about $28 million to JMJD Ventures.

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Meet Skid Row Denim Academy

Brad Robinson dreams of a Los Angeles without homelessness. He's got a fashion angle to achieve that goal. Meet Skid Row Denim Academy.

Thursday, March 30

Retailers, Brands Sign Up for MAGIC’s First Stop in Japan

Trade Shows

Trade-show giant UBM Americas is preparing for the launch of MAGIC Japan, a joint venture between the MAGIC trade show and JFW-International Fashion Fair, the biannual apparel trade show organized by publisher Senken Shimbun.

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Fashion Week El Paseo: Design in the Desert

Design in the Desert

Fashion fans flocked to Palm Desert, Calif., for the 12th annual Fashion Week El Paseo. The runway lineup included West Coast designers as well as labels from across the U.S. and around the world.

Aritizia, Bailey 44 Among Boutiques Moving to Westfield Century City

Retail

The Westfield Century City retail center is continuing work on a $1 billion remodel of its real estate in Los Angeles’ Century City district this year, and recently the high-end retail center announced a slate of new boutiques.

US Supreme Court Strengthens Fashion Copyright

Manufacturing

The fashion business might become more litigious, thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, according to a discussion about the court’s decision at law firm Freeman Freeman & Smiley LLP in Los Angeles’ Century City district.

U.S. Textile and Apparel Industry Inching Forward After Steep Asian Competition

Textiles

The U.S. textile and apparel industries have seen revenues slowly rise over the last seven years as free-trade agreements and rising Asian prices have given local textile and clothing makers a bit of a reprieve.

Alvanon and BodiData Partner Up to Help Apparel Industry With Sizing

Technology

How many times have customers praised a designer for a pair of perfectly fitted blue jeans and then snapped them up without glancing at the price?

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Cohen & Sons Balances Vintage and New Moto Styles

Cohen & Sons

Motorcycle fashions are perennially in style, from the classic looks of Steve McQueen and biker gangs such as the Hells Angels to the folks who race motorcycles.

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LAMM Brings In The New

LAMM

LA Men’s Market has been producing trade shows since 2013, but the recent March 28–29 run of the show at the California Market Center looked to freshen up the show and bring in the new.

Wednesday, March 29

BCBG Max Azria Lays Off More Employees Following Bankruptcy Filing

The BCBG Max Azria Group, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Feb. 28, gave notice on March 13 that it will lay off another 116 people, effective May 11. This comes after the Los Angeles contemporary label laid off 123 people last November and another 71 people one year ago.

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Puma’s Locked-Box Challenge

To reward (and challenge) young athletes, athletic footwear and apparel maker Puma thought inside the box.

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Sale at Nation Ltd.

L.A.-based fashion T-shirt line Nation Ltd. is having a sample sale.

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WestWeek 2017 Salutes Icons and Innovators

Art + Fashion

WestWeek 2017 highlighted “Icons and Innovators” at its March 22-23 Spring Market at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif.

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Staud on Sale

Staud is having a sample sale at the company’s headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

Monday, March 27

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Mr. A's Uniqlo Moment

How does a Paris-based graffiti artist connect with a Japanese headquartered retailer to make T-shirts? And then globetrot to Los Angeles introduce the capsule collection with Uniqlo’s UT label? The artist André Saraiva explained.

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On the Runway at FWLA

Fashion

Roosevelt Broome IV, founder of Rich Apparels, shows off his T-shirts at FWLA.

Thursday, March 23

Bebe Hires Firm to Chart New Course

Retail

After speculation that Bebe Stores Inc. might shutter all its locations and concentrate on e-commerce, the California retailer announced it hired B. Riley & Co. to help “explore strategic alternatives.”

Chupakabra Found In a T-shirt Line

Manufacturing

There’s the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and, since the mid-1990s, chupacabra. It sounded like the perfect starting-off point for a T-shirt line for Eric Martin, the founder of The Park Showroom in downtown Los Angeles.

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Profile Industries' L.A. Splash

Weather in the northeast has become more extreme. What do you do when you make warm weather clothes. For Manhattan-headquartered Profile Industries, Inc., the solution was opening a showroom in Los Angeles.

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Please Do Not Enter’s Westside Invasion

In Los Angeles, there is a Westside and an Eastside, and the two rarely meet, except in the pop-up shop produced by Please Do Not Enter

Disabled Worker Wins Discrimination Case Against Citizens of Humanity

Manufacturing

In a court case that took more than three weeks to argue, a 61-year-old employee who felt he was wrongfully dismissed after a shoulder injury limited his ability to work won a major verdict against his employer, Citizens of Humanity.

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Los Angeles Fashion Week: California Point of View

LAFW: CA Point of View

Los Angeles Fashion Week: Fall 2017

Sears Remains ‘Viable Business’ CFO Says

Retail

The worlds of Sears Holdings Corp. investors and shoppers were rocked this week when the parent company to Sears and KMart issued an annual report noting that there was “substantial doubt” on the Chicago-area company’s future.

Riding Out Big Changes in Retail at Marcum Panel

Retail

There are 26 square feet of retail for every man, woman and child in the United States, according to a statistic quoted by Robin Lewis, chief executive and editorial director of The Robin Report, a platform covering retail.

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Future State in 2017

Future State

When the Future State brand started in late 2014, it offered an array of women’s T-shirts and placed the new line in retailers such as Urban Outfitters.

Nordstrom Taps Infor Cloud-based POS System

Technology

Nordstrom is switching to a new cloud-based point-of-sale system run by technology-solutions provider Infor.

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Woodbury University’s Historic Fashion Archive Gets an Organizational Makeover

Woodbury’s Archives

As Woodbury University’s fashion department celebrates its 85th year, it is taking a good, hard look at its archive of 4,000 garments and accessories, which range from frocks from the 1800s to more-contemporary pieces that include designers Yves Saint Laurent and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

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LA Style in the Spotlight at Brand Assembly

To introduce its new creative, co-working space, Brand Assembly hosted a networking event in partnership with The Zoe Report, designer Rachel Zoe’s fashion, beauty, and lifestyle portal. The March 14 event was held at the co-working space, called The Square by Brand Assembly, located on the mezzanine of the Cooper Design Space.

Wednesday, March 22

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Here Comes Custom Ketchup

A lot of people say that fashion has gone to the dogs, but in the case of T-shirt line Custom Ketchup, it has gone to the kids.

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Fashion Party in the Hollywood Skyline for LAFW Opening Reception!

The rooftop of the W Hotel, Hollywood was the scene of the March 16 opening reception for L.A. Fashion Week, one of the producers of Los Angeles Fashion Week events.

Buhler Yarns Acquired

Textiles

U.S. yarn spinner Buhler Quality Yarns has been acquired by Samil Spinning Co. Ltd. in an all-cash deal for an undisclosed amount.

Tuesday, March 21

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Sewbots, 3D Printing- FGILA On Future of Fashion

Sewbots? 3D printing? Get ready for the new machines of fashion production, according to a Fashion Group International of Los Angeles panel.

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Thomas Wylde’s Luxe Rock 'n' Roll Chic

Los Angeles luxury label Thomas Wylde drew a celebrity-filled crowd at its March 12 runway show at Style Fashion Week at the Pacific Design Center.

Monday, March 20

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Courtney Allegra’s Fashion Week Party

Los Angeles Fashion Week March 2017 seems to be over, but is it too late to raise a glass to a fashion week party that started the recent shindig? Meet Courtney Allegra.

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DTLA’s Please Do Not Enter Hosts ‘King & Queens’

Please Do Not Enter, the one-of-a-kind curated store in the heart of downtown L.A., presented the mixed media art of Karen Bystedt on March 9 at the store, located in the historical PacMutual building across from Pershing Square.

Friday, March 17

ModCloth Acquired by WalMart’s Jet.com

Retail

After a few days of heavy media speculation, it was announced March 17, that ModCloth, a San Francisco–headquartered e-commerce retailer with a focus on independent women’s fashions was acquired by Jet.com, a division of one of the world’s biggest retailers, WalMart.

Thursday, March 16

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Rooftop Party at the Gerry Building Draws a Crowd

Los Angeles Market Week

Buyers get together for a sunset party with drinks, food and lots of dancing.

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Sean Scott’s Levitation Activewear

Sean Scott is getting started in fashion early. Currently, he studies at Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in downtown Los Angeles. But this student is introducing a fashion line. It’s called Levitation Activewear.

Byer California Closes Northern California Warehouse to Concentrate on Southern California Distribution Center

Manufacturing

Byer California, the long-time juniorswear manufacturer headquartered in San Francisco, is laying off 99 employees as it consolidates its Northern California warehouse with its Los Angeles distribution center.

Co-Working Creative Space to Open This Summer in the California Market Center

Trade Shows

Construction workers are just starting to put up the walls for a new co-working area by IgnitedSpaces, which will take up an entire floor in one of the California Market Center buildings.

Sene Brings Tech-Enabled Suits To District La Brea

Retail

The secret to making the perfect suit involves a certain harmony; it balances how a suit fits the wearer, the materials used in the suit and its overall design/look, according to Ray Li.

Schoenfeld Exits PacSun

Retail

Gary Schoenfeld, the chief executive who steered mall retailer Pacific Sunwear of California through a massive restructuring post–Great Recession and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016, has left the company.

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First Fashion Setters Award Show Takes a Bow

Fashion Setters

With colorful, celebratory touchdown dances, Terrell Owens made headlines during his NFL career.

Safavi Joins Caruso

Retail

Reza Safavi recently joined Caruso, the real estate development company that owns and manages prominent retail centers such as The Grove in Los Angeles, according to a Caruso statement.

City of Hope Honors Oneworld Star International’s Luo and Sneider

Events

Members of the apparel and textile community gathered on Feb. 25 at Hyde Sunset Kitchen in Hollywood to honor the founders of Oneworld Star International Holdings Limited.

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Los Angeles Fashion Week: On With The Shows

LA Fashion Week

Los Angeles Fashion Week: Fall 2017

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Sprawling LA Market Draws Wide Range of Buyers

LA Market

For many buyers and exhibitors, the March 13–16 run of Los Angeles Fashion Market was the last stop in a long trade-show season that included shows three weeks ago in Las Vegas and New York.

Wednesday, March 15

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Fashion Rally for Immigrants

The Trump administration plans to change immigration rules, and some fashion brands have entered the brewing political debate with T-shirts.

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Fashion Photography in 3-D

Reisig and Taylor….Urban Poetry

Leeza Taylor and Chris Reisig are 25-year veterans in the photography and art world. The dynamic dual have spent their careers been shooting fashion campaigns and celebrities around the world. Their latest series, titled “NAKED,” they document their circle of family friends around their LA home over a 10-year period.

Tuesday, March 14

Apparel Manufacturer Sentenced to Federal Prison for Hiding Income in Israeli Banks

Legal

Masud Sarshar, known for taking a heritage workwear brand and converting it into a colorful pants collection under the Dickies Girl label, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for hiding more than $21 million in income and $2.5 million in interest in Israeli banks and avoiding U.S. taxes.

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Mario De La Torre's Into The Darkness

Mario De La Torre's Into the Darkness collection took the Style Fashion Week runway with a celebration of vinyl and latex styles for women of all sizes.

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Moods of Norway at Style Fashion Week

About a five minute drive away from its flagship on Melrose Avenue, the Moods of Norway brand produced a Style Fashion Week show at Pacific Design Center March 10.

Monday, March 13

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David Tupaz at Style Fashion Week

David Tupaz Couture took the runway Style Fashion Week March 10.He outfitted elegant styles with bouclé and silks. Take a look.

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Malan Breton at Style Fashion Week

Malan Breton kicked off Style Fashion Week March 9 with a presentation of his Fall Winter 2017 line “The 7 Deadly Sins.” Take a look.

Friday, March 10

Lubov Azria Exits BCBGMaxAzria as Company Restructures

Manufacturing

With the BCBGMaxAzria Group trying to restructure its business after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection days ago, the Los Angeles contemporary clothing company has replaced its chief creative director, Lubov Azria, whose husband founded the company.

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Books and Looks

The LA Art Book Fair

The LA Art Book Fair brings together book and art catalog sellers, collectors, buyers and enthusiasts to one gigantic, creative arena that proves that LA is one of the most important cities in the world for art, culture and style.

Thursday, March 9

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True Religion’s Non-Conforming Ambassadors

The faces of True Religion's This is True campaign; Nikkie Lane, Tommy Lee and Herizen F. Guardiola.

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Denim Days Coming to the U.S.

Denim Days, the week-long denim festival in Amsterdam, will touch down in the U.S. this fall.

Retailers Anxious over Travel Ban

Retail

Anxiety over a “Trump Slump” in tourism to the United States has become an issue, and California retailers have wondered if a travel ban initiated by the Trump Administration could affect them.

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Fall/Winter 2017 Activewear Insight by Trendstop

Activewear Insight

Global fashion forecasting agency Trendstop gave us the insider lowdown into the latest activewear trends impacting the industry for the Fall/Winter 2017–18 season.

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What’s Going On With Westfield Massive Topanga Project?

Westfield's Topanga Project

In September 2015, Westfield unveiled a $350 million The Village at Westfield Topanga project adjacent to its luxe Westfield Topanga mall, 26 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. While wrapping up this project, the international mall giant was in the midst of planning an even bigger project in the Topanga area.

Shahid to Lead LAMM Trade Show

Trade Shows

Longtime assistant show director Sannia Shahid was recently named show director for the Los Angeles Men’s Market. She will run the upcoming LAMM, which is scheduled for March 28–29 in the California Market Center showroom building in downtown Los Angeles.

New Lines: Los Angeles Fashion Market Fall 2017

New Lines

New Lines

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Jacobson’s FashionLink Showroom Moves to New Mart

FashionLink

Peter Jacobson is putting the finishing touches on his new FashionLink showroom on the 10th floor of The New Mart.

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Sunrise Brands Partners With Eva Longoria for New Collection

Sunrise Brands

Eva Longoria, the actress known for her years on the TV series “Desperate Housewives,” is no stranger to fashion. Her role in the long-running nighttime soap opera portrayed her as a former model who was always elegantly dressed—even when she was living in the suburbs.

Apparel Sales Stall at 3 Percent, Athleisure Remains Influential, NPD Says

Retail

U.S. apparel industry sales increased 3 percent to $218.7 billion in 2016, according to market researchers The NPD Group in a March 6 statement.

New Owners Lay Off More People at 7 For All Mankind, Splendid and Ella Moss

Manufacturing

Eight months ago, Israeli-based Delta Galil acquired three Los Angeles premium brands from VF Corp. and then laid off 105 people.

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Swarovski Looks to Spring/Summer 2018 for ‘New Perspectives’ Trend Forecast

Swarovski

The macro-trend for the Spring/Summer 2018 season is “disruption.” That was the word from Austrian crystal maker Swarovski, which presented its Spring/Summer 2018 forecast—titled “New Perspectives”—on March 8 at the Tuck Hotel, a newly opened boutique hotel in downtown LA’s fashion district.

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Style Fashion Week Extravaganza with Zumanity & Insomniac

Style Fashion Week has produced runway events for events for years, but its upcoming LA Fashion Week group of shows, it partners with Zumanity and Insomniac to put on a big party.

Wednesday, March 8

Quiksilver Gets a New Name After Bankruptcy

Retail

With new owners running the show at Quiksilver Inc., it only seemed appropriate for a name change to go along with a revamped business model for the surfwear and skatewear retailer.

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What Do Shoppers Want This Spring?

Fashion

Poshmark reveals its five biggest trends among millennials.

Rising Employment, Interest Rates and Inflation Set the Economic Tone for the Next Few Years

Finance

A new Trump administration should be good for the U.S. economy over the next couple of years, but there might be some bumps in the road for California, according to a UCLA report released March 8.

Tuesday, March 7

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Hermès’ Walks in DTLA

A hit song from the 1980s claimed “No One Walks In L.A,” but heritage brand Hermès does.

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Naked Princess Moving Out of Flagship

Retail

The Naked Princess lingerie, loungewear and beauty label will be moving out of its sprawling West Hollywood, Calif., flagship, according to a statement from the brand.

Monday, March 6

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Los Angeles Fashion Week Calendar: Fall 2017

Events

Los Angeles Fashion Week events begin on March 8 and run through March 19.

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Nasty Gal Founder’s Girlboss Rally

During a season of women’s marches and political actions, Sophia Amoruso put together the first Girlboss Rally

Thursday, March 2

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Art…. Above and Below Ground in Los Angeles

Art, Fashion, Inspiration

Art Below, the London-based public art collaborative, recently arrived in Los Angeles for the first time to “Turn Ad Space into Art Space.”

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Meet Dapper Boi

There's a new subculture; Bois. San Diego's Dapper Boi plans to outfit some of them.

Obituary: Los Angeles Manufacturer Jerry Leigh, 94

Manufacturing

Jerry Leigh, founder of Jerry Leigh of California, died on Feb. 8. He was 94.

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Post Oscar, Colleen Atwood at Beverly Center’s Snoopy Fashion Exhibit

Pen and ink is not good enough for some cartoon characters. Some have Academy Award winning costumers like Colleen Atwood designing clothes for them.

February Tough for Many

Retail

February proved to be a tough month for many retailers.

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Billabong Joins Forces With Warhol for New Collection

Fashion

Looking to Andy Warhol for surf inspiration.

Sourcing at MAGIC Shines a Light on Africa

Trade Shows

The 56 booths in the African pavilion were filled with bright bursts of color where countries such as Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia displayed their various products.

Stitch Levels Out to Blend With Other Shows

Trade Shows

Stitch, the show for women’s ready-to-wear fashions, found its groove.

Attendance Climbs at WWIN

Trade Shows

The several ballrooms that make up the Women’s Wear In Nevada show at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas were packed to the gills with booths that sold everything from large colorful hats for church to slip-on sleeves to be worn under sleeveless dresses.

Positive Vibe Floats Through WWDMAGIC

Trade Shows

The energy was high at WWDMAGIC, a vast young contemporary and trend-driven show held Feb. 21–23 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Celebs, Buzzing Business at Project

Trade Shows

It was a time for celebrity endorsements at the Feb. 21–23 run of Project Womens at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Pooltradeshow Remains an Alternative

Trade Shows

Pooltradeshow, which ran Feb. 21–23 at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Convention Center, kept its status as a trade show for fashion alternatives.

Agenda Introduces Enclave to Vegas

Trade Shows

The Agenda trade show moved to a bigger hall for its Feb. 20–22 run in Las Vegas, but the spirit of the streetwear-and action sports–focused event remained similar to its past Vegas shows.

Post NY Fashion Week, Good Liberty Show for Krammer & Stoudt

Trade Shows

Print media is still a powerful medium. Just ask the cofounders of the Krammer & Stoudt label.

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East Coast Sports Apparel Maker Mitchell & Ness Moving to Irvine

Mitchell & Ness Moving

The North American licensed sportswear business is estimated to be a multi-billion-dollar market, and Philadelphia-headquartered brand Mitchell & Ness is making a gambit for a bigger chunk of it. It is scheduled to open its first West Coast office and a distribution center by mid-March in Irvine, Calif.

Jewelry Show IFJAG Returns in a New Venue

Trade Shows

IFJAG, the jewelry and accessories trade show, returned to Las Vegas one year after hosting its first show in Las Vegas in 2016.

Curve’s Central Location

Trade Shows

This season, for its Feb. 21–23 run, Curve Las Vegas moved from the corner of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center to a central location next to the athleisure exhibitors at Project Womens.

Capsule’s Independent Vibe

Trade Shows

This season, Capsule and Agenda shared space in a ballroom at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The two companies are under the Reed Expositions umbrella, but show organizers made sure to keep each space distinctive and independent with a separate look and music.

Upbeat at Offprice

Trade Shows

The aisles were crowded, the booths were bustling and the exhibitors were upbeat at the Offprice show, held Feb. 19–22 at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas.

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Crowded Trade Show Schedule Cuts in to LA Textile Traffic

LA Textile

Many of the familiar faces walking the aisles at the Los Angeles International Textile Show were missing this season when the longstanding textile show went head-to-head with an apparel trade show in New York.

Gordon Brothers Wins Bid for The Wet Seal

Retail

The Wet Seal, the Southern California teen retail chain that filed for bankruptcy protection in early February, will be sold to Gordon Brothers, who won the bankruptcy bid and beat out Canadian retailer YM.

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Las Vegas Trade Shows, February 2017

Vegas Trade Shows

Coverage of the February 2017 trade shows in Las Vegas

Wednesday, March 1

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AGOLDE X Opening Ceremony

AGOLDE and Opening Ceremony teamed up to design two capsule collections. The collections, called Carpenter and Graphic, took a bow on Feb. 28.

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Brigade LA’s Awards Night Show With Elevate

While movie and red carpet fans were viewing the Academy Awards, more than nine emerging California lines presented a runway show at the Brigade LA boutique in downtown Los Angeles.

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Farewell Fashion Bookstore

In another blow to the printed word, The Fashion Bookstore, which has been serving Los Angeles’ fashion industry and the region’s stylish people, is calling it quits.

Nasty Gal Offices to Remain Open in Los Angeles

Manufacturing

After being acquired by British-based online fashion retailer BooHoo.com for $20 million, Nasty Gal is marching forward with its same website and smaller offices in Los Angeles, as well as work spaces in New York, London and Manchester, England.