California Apparel News

LAS VEGAS—Halfway through the Feb. 23–26 run of MAGIC International and the concurrent satellite shows, the gray skies lifted and the sun came out.

It was a fitting metaphor for the apparel business, which is beginning to see sunny skies ahead after weathering a long, dark economic slump for the past two years.

“The world didn’t end as a lot of retailers thought it would,” said Bruce Fingeret, owner and president of Tenafly, N.J.–based F.E.A. Inc., a seller and distributor of music-inspired apparel.

“Instead of frightened retailers, we’re seeing them make larger orders for a longer lead time,” he continued. “Retailers are coming to buy rather than us having to sell.”

And there was so much for the retailers to see. Among the shows in Las Vegas were:

bull; The MAGIC menswear show and MAGIC Kids at the Las Vegas Convention Center bull; WWDMAGIC, the juniors, contemporary and misses apparel show at the Sands Expo & Convention Centerbull; WomensWear In Nevada (WWIN), the upscale misses and plus-size apparel show at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino bull; The Off-Price Specialist Show at the Sandsbull; The ASAP Global Sourcing Show at the Las Vegas Hilton Convention Centerbull; The Westcoast Exclusive (WCE) upscale menswear show at the Riobull; Pool, the alternative, contemporary and young designer apparel show at the Hiltonbull; The International Apparel Show, featuring off-price apparel, at the Hilton Several surf brands also showed independently at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Trend spotting at the LVCC

Alternative styles went mainstream at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Readily accepted were pink T-shirts for guys, tops with crazy-quilt cross-stitching, jackets with frayed threads artfully hanging from their collars, and graceful embroidery on worn clothes.

MAGIC’s buyer preregistration figures were up 27.5 percent over last February’s figures, according to MAGIC spokesperson Ernae Mothershed. An estimated 85,000 people attended the show.

Joey Nixon, president of Adrenaline, a four-store chain based in New Jersey, said his purchasing budget increased 25 percent for this MAGIC show, due in part to the improving national economy. Made confident by their fatter wallets, his consumers are demanding more variety in their clothes.

“They’re directed toward brand names, but not the biggest ones. They’re looking for upand- coming designers,” said Nixon, who reported his customers are receptive to neon colors, pinks, blues and blacks, and miniskirts.

Writing orders was not the only game at MAGIC. Many companies confessed they came to one of the biggest apparel shows in the world to show and tell.

“This is where we go to launch our Fall lines,” said Scott Terpstra, eyewear sales manager for Irvine, Calif.–based streetwear label Stussy International. “We don’t collect a lot of paper at any show. We follow up and get orders at our showrooms.”

Costa Mesa, Calif.–based Paul Frank Industries Inc. took the same tack at MAGIC. “It’s a great showcase for our Fall lines,” said President Ryan Heuser, who sees MAGIC as a much-appreciated magnet that draws sales reps and clients to compare notes on business and weigh in on the strengths and weaknesses of new lines.

For up-and-coming fashion lines, a presence at MAGIC is a show of confidence, said Sandy Ikemura, a Torrance, Calif.–based representative for Japanese headgear designer Override 9999. “A lot of Japanese buyers come through this show,” Ikemura said.

Retailers also played the research game at MAGIC, according to Afsal Koya, president of Columbus, Ohio–based Nu-Source, a four-store urbanwear chain.

“I come here to watch what people are wearing, especially buyers. It’s the most trendy clothes,” Koya said. “MAGIC isn’t the greatest place to buy because it’s so crowded. I buy at the Chicago Apparel Show, where you can work with salespeople one-on-one. Here, you’re going to be competing with 20 other retailers.”

Feminine style, optimism at WWDMAGIC

Buyers shopping at WWDMAGIC in the Sands Expo & Convention Center applauded the abundance of feminine silhouettes and bright colors in summer styles.

Traffic was moderate on the first day, when buyers filed optimistically into the convention center after what some called “a challenging year” at retail.

The show, which occupied nearly 860,000 square feet, featured roughly 2,900 apparel, footwear and accessories exhibitors. About 900 exhibitors were new to the show.

That newness was felt among buyers who opted to set their caution aside in favor of clean, feminine looks for Summer and transition deliveries, with some increasing their budgets by as much as 30 percent. The show’s year-old contemporary womenswear section, Index, drew strong interest from better boutique buyers.

Lace, ruffles, stripes and bold prints were leading trends as retailers continued to emphasize innovative silhouettes in their merchandise mix. Contemporary denim— especially with novelty details such as sandblasting and fraying—proved a strong seller among contemporary and juniors buyers. Many buyers remarked that tiered asymmetrical skirts with stripes and retro prints would continue to be a strong trend through summer.

Young contemporary vendor To the Max, a division of BCBGMaxAzria in Vernon, Calif., came to the show with its sights set on specialty store business. Robert Bronstein, president of sales at BCBGMaxAzria, said the youthful brand added more than 200 specialty store accounts to its retail base last year. This year, the line will increase its specialty store business by 30 percent, he said.

The label, geared to women between the ages of 18 and 35, offered tiered Modal nylon tops with spaghetti straps, V-neck blouses with Pucci-esque prints, pleated miniskirts and poplin bottoms. The line also featured solid-colored career suits for young women. With deliveries beginning April 30, the initial collection offers two colorways: turquoise and sesame.

Retailer Tracie Hedin, owner of the Alley Cat women’s boutique in Port Angeles, Wash., said she plans to increase her budget this year. At the show, she expressed interest in To the Max’s bohemian-chic dressings and sophisticated career suits.

Los Angeles–based Laundry by Shelli Segal, a division of New York–based Liz Claiborne Inc. and a new vendor at WWDMAGIC, also looked to increase its specialty store base. Gianna Bonacorsi, an associate account executive at Laundry by Shelli Segal, said the show offered an even mix of department store and better boutique buyers.

Colors ruled the show. Buyers buzzed around Los Angeles–based Hot Sauce Clothing’s booth, which merchandised its better juniors collection in a vibrant color palette for Summer. Novelty shirts in puffed-sleeve and keyhole styles came in shades of green, yellow and orange. With wholesale price points starting at $17, the line featured handkerchief miniskirts with lace trim, toile-print tube dresses with piping, and twill shorts with pin stripes and scarf ties.

Assistant buyer Jackie Dioguardi came to the trade show in search of contemporary lines for Lolo’s in Bakersfield, Calif. She said the store has a higher budget planned for its Summer inventories. “Our business is really fast-paced, so we’re looking for fun styles with immediate deliveries,” she said.

There was strong interest from international buyers, who came from about 80 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, South Korea and the Netherlands. This year’s show marked the debut of the European Union section, which housed upscale European sportswear, denim and footwear.

MAGIC’s one-stop shop

MAGIC continued to present itself as a one-stop shop for apparel manufacturers and retailers.

At the Sourcing Zone, MAGIC’s offshore sourcing section in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Lamber Lee of Chartsound Development Ltd. in Guandong, China, was one of the Chinese manufacturers brought to MAGIC by the Guangzhou, China–based China Foreign Trade Center, which promoted Guangzhou’s Canton Fair at the show. Lee said he picked up a few business cards for Chartsound—a producer of novelty denim for men’s, women’s and children’s apparel makers—and will see if they lead to orders.

The Los Angeles–based Update Fabric II Corp. was a first-time exhibitor at the show’s Fabric@MAGIC section in the LVCC. Update’s Morris J. Farr said he decided to attend to build the company’s West Coast client base. “We don’t have that many customers in the West,” said Farr, whose company frequently exhibits at the International Fashion Fabric Exhibition, owned by MAGIC’s parent company, Boston-based Advanstar Communications Inc.

Farr said that MAGIC’s fabric show is still small but business should pick up once awareness of the section grows.

Judy Kuo, vice general manager of Taiwanbased mill Gelintex Industrial Co., was also a first-time exhibitor looking for new business in the United States.

“Our factory has been in Taiwan for 10 years,” she said. “Now we want to sell direct, not through a trading company, because our margins are [very small].”

Sourcing and browsing at ASAP

Across from the Las Vegas Convention Center, the ASAP Global Sourcing show set up shop in the Las Vegas Hilton Convention Center, drawing about 3,200 attendees.

About 180 exhibitors represented 250 factories in 35 countries. This year, the number of exhibitor booths dropped by 100, but the number of factories and countries represented increased. Last February, there were 280 booths representing 180 companies and 25 countries.

One reason there were fewer exhibitors but more factories is the show’s direct dealings with government associations, said Frank Yuan, chief executive officer of ASAP. Many of these associations joined the show and brought representatives from several factories in their countries.

Yuan said he expects to double the number of exhibitors at ASAP by August. “We have a lot of new countries that want to come in,” he said, adding that he had met with representatives from Morocco and Colombia.

Organizers also noted that the winter show is typically smaller than the August show because the February event falls right after the Chinese New Year, which keeps many exhibitors from Asian countries away, and because exhibitors sponsored by their countries’ governments can usually only afford one trip to ASAP each year.

Traffic on the show floor was sporadic. Many exhibitors and attendees took advantage of ASAP’s matchmaking sessions, which paired manufacturers and retailers with offshore apparel makers.

Mumbai, India–based novelty-shirt maker Jal Exports participated in the matchmaking sessions but had more luck meeting potential clients at its booth, said representative Vishal Thakkar. It was the company’s second ASAP show, according to Thakkar, who said he had landed two or three customers at the last show and had been encouraged enough to return again.

Tony Morris, owner of Prime Distributing in Rolling Rapids, N.C., scouted ASAP and all of MAGIC for the first time, looking for apparel and small gift items. “We’re looking for denim and different marketable things, including small electronics,” he said, adding that he had found the best prices on goods made in Shanghai and Vietnam.

Laura Sherman, general manager of Los Angeles–based contemporary denim brand Frankie B., also scouted ASAP, although she said her company has no immediate plans to manufacture offshore.

“We are 100 percent domestic, but I have to keep my eyes on overseas, as well,” she said. “We like to keep sourcing domestic because we have much better quality control and we employ American workers.”

Sherman said she compared prices on items made overseas with the prices of Frankie B.’s Los Angeles–made items.

WCE plans move to Mandalay

The big news at the Westcoast Exclusive, a Los Angeles–based show featuring upscale menswear lines, was that the show is moving. The WCE opened its fifth Las Vegas show with the announcement that it plans to move from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, where it has grown from two to five floors, to an open-floor space at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The next show will feature a few closed booths at one end of the convention hall and room to grow.

The announcement came on the heels of a strong show start. Representatives from more than 1,000 stores dropped by on opening day. Among the retailers shopping the show were Fred Segal Melrose and Bernini, which both wrote orders for New Frontier, a new East Coast men’s line.

The collection, a brand extension of the New Frontier women’s contemporary label, launched at The Collective in New York but decided to show at the WCE after several retailers asked if the company would be at the Las Vegas show.

“We didn’t realize how important it was,” said David Sweedler, senior vice president of design and merchandising for Westport, Conn.–based Windsong Allegiance Apparel Group LLC, the owner of New Frontier and Joe Boxer and a licensee of the Alexander Julian and Private Reserve labels.

New Frontier is targeting the specialty store retailer with sport shirts in subtle prints, sweaters and classic trousers, said Sweedler, who set up several items at the door of the company’s hotel room to catch buyers’ attention.

“If you are a new exhibitor, it’s very difficult to do [a hotel-room show],” he said. “There’s an invisible barrier on that door. The buyers have to have heard of it, or something at the door has to catch their eye.”

New York–based menswear designer Ross Graison took the same approach, displaying a few of his Italian-made sport coats near the door.

Graison worked as an agent in the menswear industry for several years before launching his own line, Ross Graison Inc., and has a long history with many of his retail accounts.

Graison’s line features semi-tailored sport coats, trousers and dress shirts manufactured in Italy. Many items have unusual details, such as sewn-down creases on trousers, hidden zipper pockets and decorative embroidery on shirt fronts. Graison mixes traditional fabrics with a few newer fabrications, such as stretch tweed and stretch microfiber.

“You want to take the man slowly forward but still give him something to wear,” he said. “It’s an evolution, not a revolution.”

Retailers Mike and Alexandra Smith, owners of the Leroux boutique in Seattle, have been coming to the WCE’s Las Vegas show since its inception.

Leroux carries better brands such as Cutter & Buck, Haupt and Tommy Bahama for 25- to 60-year-old men and women, said Mike Smith. The Smiths have owned the 56- year-old boutique, located in an upscale Seattle neighborhood, for the past 20 years and have watched the neighborhood change during the past 10 years. “We dropped a demographic and a half,” Mike Smith said.

“You adapt to your new customers,” Alexandra Smith added.

Pool’s new, bigger location

The fifth edition of alternative and upscale streetwear show Pool bowed in its new location at the Las Vegas Hilton Convention Center with about 300 exhibitors and an anticipated 5,000 buyers. Pool organizer Rhonda Walker said 3,000 buyers preregistered for the show and more than 1,200 showed up on opening day.

“This is the venue for the most alternative, edgy, exclusive vendors,” said Walker, noting that Fred Segal Melrose, Allston Beat, Villains and Federated Department Stores Inc. were among the stores that shopped the show.

In addition to many newly launched lines, Pool featured several well-established contemporary brands, including Miss Sixty, Theory, Joie, Gsus, Fornarina and J. Lindeberg.

“There’s been a need for this type of show in Las Vegas,” Walker said. “I had always been approached by these types of lines, but we didn’t have the space for them [until now].” Organizers held the show in a smaller space at the Alexis Park Resort last year.

Representatives from Los Angeles–based Joie previewed the company’s Fall line, which was shown in its entirety at the Fashion Coterie in New York.

Joie exhibited at MAGIC in the LVCC last season, according to rep Sarah Garonzik, who said the company decided to show at Pool after hearing that upscale lines Miss Sixty and Theory would be there, too.

Buyers were enthusiastic about the Fall collection, which includes several pieces in cashmere and cotton blends, Garonzik said. “We’re getting back to our roots [with] down-to-earth, functional ensemble pieces,” she said.

Representatives from Italian company Sixty USA showed the Miss Sixty, Energie, Killah and Sixty lines.

Large companies, such as Sixty and J. Lindeberg, had closed booths along the back wall at Pool, but the rest of the show consisted of rolling racks and some artfully arranged vintage ’60s furniture. Although the big brands needed the private spaces to work with buyers, other exhibitors enjoyed the main area’s Spartan layout.

“It’s more intimate with the buyers,” said Rob Dunbar, a co-owner and co-designer of Long Beach, Calif.–based line Cardboard Robot. “Here everyone gets a rack, and that’s it. It lets the designs do the talking.”

Cardboard Robot began as an 8mm film, expanded to become a gallery exhibition for up-and-coming artists and musicians, and eventually turned into a company producing cardboard furniture and apparel. Cardboard Robot’s T-shirts feature phrases such as “Afghanistan—Free the Poppie” (with an image of a bar code topped with poppy flowers) and “Panic is your enemy. Arctic and Subarctic Survival.”

Jeff Lynch, a buyer from Jenson’s, a better department store based in Anoka, Minn., noted a difference between the East Coast and West Coast brands at the show.

“The East Coast style was more fitted and contemporary, and the West Coast style was more relaxed— loose-fitting clothing with prints,” Lynch said. “We’re seeing a mix of that. It’s all about fitted T-shirts. Denim is still wonderful, but I’m seeing more twill and corduroy bottoms.”

Currently, Jenson’s carries brands such as Howe, Ben Sherman, Lucky Brand Dungarees and Mavi Jeans.

Order writing at WWIN

Buyers searched for innovative better casual and resortwear looks at the Fall installment of WomensWear In Nevada at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.

Roughly 1,500 retail accounts preregistered for the women’s, misses and plus-size apparel and accessories trade show, said co-producer Jeff Unis of Coconut Grove, Fla.–based Specialty Trade Shows Inc., which produces the biannual show. Approximately 370 exhibitors representing more than 1,500 apparel and accessories lines occupied about 100,000 square feet of exhibitor space. Among them were Liz Claiborne’s dresses and suits division, Bodil, A. Byer California, Caribe, Radzoli by Fully Fashion, Kiko Comfortable Clothing and Nallie & Millie.

Several buyers at WWIN noted the show offered a wide-ranging format for women’s and misses apparel. Although foot traffic on the show’s second day was moderate, many exhibitors said buyers left orders at their booths.

Buyers are finally seeing brighter days after a trying season at retail, said Roland Timney, WWIN’s show manager. “Their customers don’t seem as hesitant or cautious—they feel like it’s a safe time to buy again,” he said.

That sentiment was echoed throughout the show. Lois Wheeler, owner of Molli Jo’s Boutique in Watertown, S.D., said she planned to place orders conservatively at the show. Wheeler had appointments booked with misses labels such as City Girl by Nancy Bolen and French Dressing.

Several buyers reported their budgets were up for Summer/Fall merchandise that will fit well with their stores.

Buyers from The Jazz, a better womenswear boutique in Sequim, Wash., hunted for sophisticated resortwear separates in pastel colors for Summer deliveries. They booked appointments with vendors such as H Look and Casual Studio.

Linen and Tencel were strong fabric choices for Summer, and many retailers remarked that this year’s show featured plenty of innovative looks for the misses customer. Newcomer Kello, a Danish line that began distributing in the United States last season, offered a brown-welt raw-edge patchwork jacket with a matching shell. Los Angeles–based Connie’s Moonlight displayed a white duster shirt with burnout linen paired with a washed linen pant. New York–based Donna Morgan showed a cream-colored belted dress jacket with a black tiered skirt and a dip-dyed knit sweater with denim pocket details.

Business up at Off-Price Specialist

The fashions of the Off-Price Specialist Show varied from golfwear to urban styles, but the mood of the more than 2,000 wholesalers making deals in the hallways of the Sands was uniform: Business is on the upswing.

“I’m liking what I’m hearing from retailers this year,” said Brian Baker, head of sales for Long Beach, Calif.–based urban specialists Carlen Enterprises Inc. “They’re asking when will this be coming in? When will it be available? They’re thinking about the spring rather than being worried about it.”

Retailer confidence translated into a record-breaking convention for Schoolcraft, Mich.–based Bermo Enterprises, according to Vice President of Sales Tony Peters. Bermo surpassed its sales for the February 2003 MAGIC, selling more than 380,000 units by the end of the 2004 show.

Peters credited the upswing in part to declining apparel prices. He said no-brand jeans, for example, wholesaled for $4.90 a pair at the show—$2 cheaper than a few years ago. Bermo’s products wholesale from $3.90 to $5.90 for tops and from $4.90 to $7.90 for bottoms.

John Parrish, a buyer for the River Crest Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, echoed the wholesalers’ go-go sentiment. “With prices like these, what’s not to like?” asked Parrish, who bought golfwear.

Other retailers tempered their optimism with some caution. D.L. Hunter, chief financial officer of Inglewood, Calif.–based Dirt Cheap Wheels, looked for urban-accented casualwear and formalwear for his 1,000- square-foot store.

“People are still looking for more bang for their buck,” he said. “Instead of saying, ’I got to have it,’ a lot of people are thinking, ’Do I need it?’”