California Apparel News

Try announcing you’re starting a new apparel line during this deep economic downturn and friends are likely to haul you off for a psychological examination.

But plenty of people are putting their wallets on the table (or the cutting table, if you will) to launch new clothing ventures even as retail sales remain stagnant and big apparel companies have placed their budgets on the chopping block.

So how crazy are these new apparel pioneers who pop up in turbulent times? Maybe not as crazy as you think.

Small-business experts say that anyone with a distinctive product has a good chance of making it during any time, good or bad. “Your product has to be pretty unique. It can’t just be another design concept like a cute T-shirt with a politician’s face on it,” said Bill Crookston, who teaches clinical entrepreneurship classes at the USC Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles. “You look at the iPod. That was a product launched during a difficult time [in 2001]. Microsoft has just come out with new software, Windows 7.”

Or there are those who have lost their jobs and want to either reinvent themselves or create their own business. “Sometimes it is not an issue of silly or smart but an issue of necessity,” said Michael Chasalow, a law professor who is the director of the USC Gould School of Law Small Business Clinic, which helps small businesses with legal documents, such as incorporation papers.

“If you anticipate a recovery in the next couple of years, it is not a bad time to start a business. You have time to lay the groundwork and be in position for improvement in the market.”Forging new trails

Unemployment was the catalyst for Los Angeles–based GoGo Gear, a new line of women’s stylish scooter and motorbike apparel that will be in stores this January. The label’s waterproof, fitted jackets—with reflective collars, cuffs and belts, abrasion-resistant fabric, and a thin layer of armor at the elbow, shoulders and back—have a European sophistication that turns heads but is practical. “If you go down and you slide down the pavement, you’re not going to lose your skin,” said Arlene Battishill, president and chief executive of ScooterGirl’s Inc., the parent company of GoGo Gear.

This is Battishill’s first venture in the apparel industry. She knew nothing about patterns, sewing machines, design, production or fabrics. But she developed a no-nonsense attitude about business as the project manager on a $300 million development for 500 homes launched in Santa Clara, Calif., by Brookfield Homes. Nearly a year ago, Battishill saw a pink slip looming in her future. She started plotting her next move six months before she got laid off. “I had to know what to do Jan. 2, when I didn’t have a job anymore,” she said. “I wasn’t going to be a victim of this economy, which means you get creative.”

Initially, Battishill and her partner, Desireacute;e Estrada, vice president and chief financial officer of the company, planned to do a mobile-advertising company with women riding around on scooters. But then they realized there were no cute-looking biking clothes for women.

Putting the advertising project on hold, they set out to create a line of fashionable biking togs.

With a goal to have something in the market as soon as possible, they hurtled down the garment highway at 100 mph. In February, they visited the MAGIC Marketplace and attended a seminar for new entrepreneurs conducted by Frances Harder, founder and president of Fashion Business Inc., in Los Angeles. They started taking FBI classes on various aspects of the apparel industry and used consultants for everything from patternmakers to apparel-industry executives. They brought on Battishill’s niece, Renee Waniolek, who attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, to help.

After creating designs, tearing them up, starting over again and then adding more fashion elements, they are now using a Chinese factory to deliver 700 coats in January to stores that have them pre-ordered. They have a distributor in Australia, are finalizing a deal with a U.K. distributor and are attending the Milan Bike Show in November, where they hope Italy’s love of the motor scooter and bike will help propel sales.

But none of this is without risk. By the time deliveries arrive in January, Battishill will have spent $200,000 of her own money that came from her cashed-in 401K and savings. “I’ll sell my house if I have to,” said the entrepreneur, who works out of her home in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood to keep overhead low. “I’m like a dog with an old leather shoe. I won’t give it up.” Passion for fashion

While unemployment is one reason to start a new company, passion for what you do is another. Sometimes fashion designers don’t consider the economic obstacles in their way. They just do it.

That is what happened to Vince Flumiani, who for Fall 2009 launched Caulfield Preparatory, a hip and casual menswear line that caters to cool guys who like skinny-leg pants and a certain rumpled look to their sweaters. Flumiani, based in Los Angeles, describes it is as Ivy League with a hint of mutiny. The label is named in part for Holden Caulfield, the principal character in J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye.”

“Caulfield Preparatory was in my head for the last three years. I got to the point where I couldn’t sleep any more,” said Flumiani, who has a business degree from the University of California, Los Angeles but worked as a graphic designer for Volcom and Quiksilver. “There are so many things in life that keep you from fulfilling your dreams. If it isn’t the economy, it’s something else.”

The line was picked up right away by Blue Bee, a boutique in Santa Barbara, Calif.; Revolve Clothing in West Hollywood, Calif.; and Bloomingdale’s. The Fall 2009 launch was relatively successful with reorders. The company recently showed its Spring/Summer 2010 collection.

Meanwhile, Flumiani has been using his savings to finance his venture, prompting friends and family to ask whether he is nervous about losing his shirt. “You need to pay for your first collection, the second and almost the third to see anything come through the door,” he said, estimating it will take $200,000 to $500,000 of investment before he starts to see a profit. “We’re just focusing on one day at a time.”

Tony Graham understands the passion for fashion. He recently launched the contemporary womenswear collection Of Two Minds for Spring/Summer 2010 even though he doesn’t see the retail scene improving until mid-2010.

“No matter what the times are, you just tend to continue to do what you love to do,” he said.

Graham isn’t afraid of defeat. Last year, he started Graydn, a sophisticated line of womenswear that debuted for Fall 2008, about the time the financial world fell apart after Lehman Brothers declared one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history on Sept. 15. Graydn closed a few months later.

“Once you remove yourself from the game and you sit on the sidelines, it is hard to get back in again,” said Graham, who is financing his venture with private-label clothing he makes for Anthropologie and Barneys Co-Op.

A challenging economy, Graham said, does make you concentrate on frugality. Fortunately, during times like these, there are bargains on commercial space, contractors, patternmakers and other services needed to put together a new line.

“One is a lot more wired into a tighter budget and price points and more cognizant of what the market is doing, what your niche is and your customer,” Graham said. “Whereas in times of abundance, one tends to do things because anything sticks.”