Barbara Fields

Barbara Fields

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Barbara Fields Buying Office to Leave Downtown L.A.

Since 1984, the Barbara Fields Buying Office has been putting together trend forecasts on juniors and contemporary clothing from an office in the California Market Center in downtown Los Angeles.

But after 35 years in the same building, Barbara Fields, the founder of the buying office that bears her name, announced she will be closing her CMC office on March 1 and reopening her office in Los Angeles’ Westwood neighborhood, where she lives.

Fields held her biannual forecasting seminars in the CMC during every LA Majors market, but upcoming seminars will be produced in Westwood.

Every fashion season, Fields ratchets millions of miles traveling to fashion cities such as London and Tokyo to gather intelligence for her reports. However, the commute from her home to her office down the Santa Monica Freeway ended up being a deal breaker because of the time spent in traffic.

For years, the Barbara Fields Buying Office was located on the 12th floor of the CMC’s A wing. Due to the extensive remodel of the CMC building, management moved her buying office at the beginning of the year to a temporary space on the fifth floor of the A wing.

Fields may be cutting her day-to-day commute, but she won’t be scaling back her research travels. “My new chapter will still include travel to various fashion destinations, where I will continue to research trends for my valued clients that are cost effective and profitable," Fields said in a statement.