Stories for March 2006

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Friday, March 31

Los Angeles Fashion Week 2006: Sew Down

In its eighth incarnation,

CFDA Nominates Three From Calif.

Trovata, Rodarte and Tom Binns are among the California designers nominated for Council of Fashion Designers of America awards this year....

Friends With Restraining Orders

A U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles has granted Costa Mesa–based Paul Frank Industries a temporary restraining order against Paul Frank Sunich, preventing Sunich from using the Paul Frank trademark or trade nam...

Jeantex Continues on Growth Track

Jeantex Group Inc., the Huntington Beach, Calif.–based manufacturer of denim for such brands as Stronghold Jeans, Blue Cult, Guess and Lucky, is planning to...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Kelly Nishimoto

Los Angeles designer Kelly Nishimoto embraced the very California concept of fusion and paid homage to her Japanese and Scottish ancestry at her March 22...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Jennifer Nicholson

Jennifer Nicholson returned to the

Tarrant Apparel Loses Licenses With Entertainers

Tarrant Apparel Group has ended its licensing agreement with entertainer Beyonce Knowles to produce her House of Dereon line, and is having trouble with its licensing agreement with ...

Mallow 'n' FAB

Accessories licensor and private label manufacturer FAB/Starpoint has named Rick Mallow vice president of licensing and marketing for the New York firm. Mallow is a licensing business veteran who most...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Samora

Summer Olayan’s designs for

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Thrive

Things got a little wild at the fashion launch party for

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Yana K

Yana Khromova, the 22-year-old designer of

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Gen Art

Gen Art kicked off Los Angeles Fashion Week March 17 with its third annual...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Lourdes

Lourdes designer Patricia Fistes-Adams is not a believer in less is more. She went big for Fall at her fashio...

Strong Turnout for L.A.'s Fall Market

Saturday’s immigration protest makes history but had little impact on business ...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Suspect

Suspect, a Los Angeles-based men’s collection, partied in Hollywood March 21 then took the party downtown March 26 for something a little more subdued and fashion focused....

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Anthony Franco

Anthony Franco found inspiration in the grit of the 1970s for his

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Society For Rational Dress, The Battalion, Goddollars

Los Angeles labels Society for Rational Dress, The Battalion and jewelry line Goddollars got the spotlight treatment courtesy of Kitten maga...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Antik Denim

Antik Denim shed its Western-wear influence for

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Moda Management Presents Peter Lau and Annie Lin

Moda Management introduced two rising star designers from Hong Kong to Los Angeles March 20 at its...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Brightlab

Mixing fashion and film is traditionally reserved for costume designers. But Brightlab is taking it a step further. The Los Angeles merchandising company is doing crossover marketing by...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Voom by Joy Han

Designer Joy Han managed to mix the styles of the 1920s with the 1970s, and the results were on display March 22 when she bowed her...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Corey Lynn Calter

Corey Lynn Calter returned to the runway after a two-season hiatus....

Meltin' Pot Seeks Big Audience With Small Store

For the past year, Italian denim brand Meltin’ Pot has been making steady progress on introducing its five-pocket jeans to the United States. The r...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Catherine Malandrino

While photographers, journalists and celebrities jostled for space March 22 at Smashbox Studios on the last day of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios, New York–ba...

Changes in Store for Dallas' FIG

Dallas’ Fashion Industry Galler y (FIG) is expected to have its largest market ever March 30–April 2 since opening in the downtown arts district two years ago, but the contemporary showcase is ...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Buffalo David Bitton

For the second straight time, Canadian label

Food and Fashion at The New Mart

Restaurateur Fred Eric and Barbara Kramer of Designers & Agents got together March 24 at Eric’s newly christened Tiara Cafeacute; at T...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Juan Carlos Obando

Juan Carlos Obando took inspiration from the bleak futuristic fiction of Phillip K. Dick for his Fall/Winter ’06 collecti...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Chulo Pony

Vancouver, British Columbia–based

Scent of Surf

Huntington Beach–based surf giant Quiksilver Inc. struck an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Inter Parfums Inc. for a line of fragrance, sun care, skin care and other related products under Quiksilver’s Rox...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Erin Fetherston

Erin Fetherston brought her girlish style sense to Los Angeles Fashion Week when the British designer hosted a fashion presentation March 21 at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood....

Ambiguous in the Rockies

Irvinebased Ambiguous Clothing has hired Brian Chrinka as its new sales rep for the Rockies territory. Chrinka’s company, ChrinkaInc, also reps Academy Snowboards, Flux Bindings, Celsius Boots, Mission...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Kai Milla

Kai Milla hosted an intimate showcase of her

Eastman Restructure

Chemical, fiber and plastics maker Eastman Chemical Co. has restructured the company into two divisions. One will focus on performance chemicals and intermediates, fibers, coatings, adhesives, specialty polymers and ...

Gehry's Tiffany

The curvy steel waves on Frank I. Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall have made it a Los Angeles landmark....

New Boutique Has Insider Edge

Most retailers feel that they bring a unique quality to their specialty stores. Michelle Dalton Tyree, however, is betting on her fashioninsider status to help set her new Los Angeles boutiqu...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Meghan

Designer Meghan Noland’s

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Iron

Los Angeles-based Iron’s signature is composed of flowing, bodyconscious garments that are printed with the art created by company founder and president Leejay Mintz....

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Charlotte Ronson

New York designer Charlotte Ronson threw her

Los Angeles Fashion Week 2006: Taverniti So Jeans

For those expecting to see miles of denim on the runway,

Cargo No More

Conde Nast Publications has shuttered its men’s shopping magazine, Cargo, two years after it launched in the wake of its successful sister publication, Luck...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Marco Marco

Los Angeles designer Marco Morante showed his version of fast fashion March 24 at the Highlands nightclub in Hollywood....

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Bradley Bayou

Designer Bradley Bayou is known for flirty party frocks and evening dresses—and his

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Collection Bebe

The much-anticipated show of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios teamed fashion designer David Cardona with costume designer and stylist Arianne Phillips and Bebe Chairman...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Valeria Marini

Italian actress-turned-designer

Two More Join the CAFTA Club

Nicaragua and Honduras are expected to be the next two countries to be part of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)—a development that could happen as early as April 1....

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: David Meister

Designer David Meister used the element of surprise to his best advantage at his

Material World Looks to L.A. for Next Move

First there was Miami Beach, then New York, and now Los Angeles....

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Yanuk

Silver chain jewelry, Converse tennis shoes and army boots adorned the models who walked the post-modern runway for...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Truth By Your Grace, Lisa Jane

Hipsters and scene-sters converged on the Mountain Bar in Los Angeles’ Chinatown to see styles by...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Fremont

Los Angeles contemporary label Fremont promised “snowfall in L.A.,” and delivered just that March 25 when it staged its...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Directive West A-List L.A.

Los Angeles-based buying office Directives West set its sights on Fall ’06 trends when it presented its...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Juuml;nker

Juuml;nker Designs tends to put on fashion shows that are as much a performance as they are a...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Desanka

A suite at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills March 23 provided an elegant setting for the Desanka...

Friday, March 24

L.A. Fashion Hits the Desktop

IMG Media, a division of IMG, parent company of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios, has struck a deal with MSN Video to put Los Angeles Fashion Week sho...

Daytime Pick-Up Fees to Increase at L.A.-Area Ports

Fees to pick up cargo containers during daytime hours at L.A.’s two ports are increasing by 20 percent on April 3....

Da-Rue Opens Sales for DRLA

Los Angeles–based Da-Rue of California has enlisted Sharon Koshet Sales in Los Angeles to market its DRLA Fall ’06 line featuring better suitings and tops made in Cal...

As Baby Boomers Retire, Missy Shifts Focus

The first wave of baby boomers is turning 60 this year, but don’t tell them that. The new sexagenarians are not acting their age, especially when it comes to their clothing choices. As a result, appare...

Rock & Republic's Rockin' Goodbye to Fashion Week

Rock & Republic said farewell to Los Angeles Fashion Week with a rock ’n’ roll black tie party on March 20 at Sony Studios in Culver City, Calif. Label founder Mi...

Oleg Cassini, 92

Fashion designer Oleg Cassini died in Long Island, N.Y., on March 17 of undisclosed causes at the age of 92. Cassini helped define Jacqueline Kennedy’s iconic style during her White House years, but the designer had a...

CIT Promotes Cohen

Mitch Cohen, senior vice president and Western regional manager at CIT Commercial Ser vices in Los Angeles, has been promoted to executive vice president and Western regional manager...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: P.KaBu/Maggie Barry

In an event that was equal parts performance art, Cirque du Soleil-esque theatrics and fashion show,...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: 2BFree Clothing

2BFree Clothing continues to gain a loyal and steady following for its sexy-yet-simple sportswear...

Paul Frank Fight Is Taken to the PR Firms

A flurry of press releases issued in the back-and-forth battle between designer Paul Frank Sunich and his former partners at Paul Frank Industries Inc. have kept e-mail boxes full....

CALA Launches New Contemporary Show in S.F.

Gerry Murtagh, owner of Apparel Market Transport, is launching a new trade show, the Contemporary Association of Los Angeles Ap...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Louis Verdad

A dramatic ensemble of sophisticated vixens dressed in black and white opened

Filius: Modern Menswear

Designer Alessandro Tomassetti honed his skills with two of the best-known women’s designer labels in Los Angeles, Louis Verdad and Petro Zillia....

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Alan Del Rosario

Alan Del Rosario returned to the Los Angeles Fashion Week runways on March 21 with his new collec...

Brothers & Sisters

The New MartSuite 209 (213) 623-2312 ...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Elsie Katz Couture

Seattle designer Donna Baxter read Tim Burton’s “The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy” and never looked at beauty the same way. Burton wrote the collection of stories about children who don...

Feeding Fashionistas at the Tiara Cafeacute;

Fred Eric thinks he’s found the perfect way to warm up to the fashion industry—appeal to their palates. Eric’s long-awaited Tiara Cafeacute; is set t...

Shifting Business Model

Private-label maker takes a leap into branded business with Kathy Ireland ...

Denim Label's Menswear Gets the Spotlight at Scott Hill

Since starting up in 2000, 7 for All Mankind has spent a great deal of time focusing on women and what they want to wear....

Go Forth & Towne

San Francisco–based Gap Inc. is expanding its new concept store, Forth & Towne, to five new markets, Los Angeles, San Francisco/San Jose, Atlanta, Houston and Seattle. The stores, which began opening last ...

More Wet Seal

Wet Seal Chief Executive Joel Waller announced during a recent conference call regarding the company’s fourth fiscal quarter ended Jan 28 that the teen retailer will open 20 to 25 stores by the end of 2006. The announ...

Findings

At 10,000 square feet, Dierdre Roffoni’s sprawling Findings showroom is a study in modern design and comfy spaces....

Putting the Fit into Online Shopping

Online apparel shopping has proved to be a growth industry for some—and a pain for others. Navigating through various Web sites to find the right-fitting garments can sometimes be akin to rolling dice,...

Ports Trying to Balance Economic Gain with the Environment

If 2004 was the year of congestion at L.A.’s port complex and 2005 was the year of solution, what does that make 2006?...

E-tailer Finds Demand for Design Online

When designer Kara Janx was eliminated from the competition of Bravo’s reality show “Project Runway” last month, Tanya Zilinskas didn’t spend a lot of time mourning the defeat. Sh...

Updated Designer Has Roots in Los Angeles and China

When China began emerging as a dominant manufacturing source for apparel companies in the early 1990s, Los Angeles designer Vera Devletian seized the moment. Twelve years la...

Denim Veteran Launches New Line

Michael Cassel, the man behind Los Angeles–based selvage denim line Stronghold and founder of the Von Dutch clothing line, has announced plans for a new premium denim line. LSD, sho...

My Tribe: Haute Leather

Designer Melinda Fletcher and Jean Pierre Guez teamed up to launch My Tribe, a line of high-quality leather pieces with a 1970s rock ’n’ roll vintage slant. Guez, who owns the appare...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Kara Saun

Kara Saun created an elegant, futuristic mood for her

Seasoned Designers Have a Hold on Celebrities

Fledgling apparel designers looking to Hollywood to get their clothing in the spotlight may have a tough challenge ahead, given the grip that top-tier designers have with film, television and advertis...

Got Fashion Game?

NBA stars Derek Fisher and Nick Van Exel built clothing companies. Former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson also jumped into the fashion game recently. His Magic Johnson...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Kevan Hall

Images of Diana Ross in the 1975 film “Mahogany” were the inspiration for L.A. designer Kevan Hall’s Fall...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Ya-Ya

Designer Yael Aflalo went for a clean look with classic shapes for her

Chloe to Bow at South Coast Plaza

French fashion house Chloe picked the South Coast Plaza shopping center as the site for its second American boutique. It opened March 22....

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Society for Rational Dress

Designer Corinne Grassini opted out of the traditional fashion week runway show, choosing instead to debut her...

Dan's Showroom

Gerry BuildingSuite 905310-200-9654

Whiteboy in Transition

The first fashion show produced by the Los Angeles–based Whiteboy label was a snapshot of a clothing label in transition....

Jones On the Block?

New York–based Jones Apparel Group Inc. announced that its board of directors is considering selling the company and has retained Goldman, Sachs & Co. to assist in the process. The board left open ...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Sue Wong

Sue Wong always opens her

Mercedes-Benz Announces New Fashion Scholarship

Students may find it easier to overcome the financial hurdle of attending design school after a new scholarship announcement by Mercedes-Benz. The “Drive Your Future ...

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Uriel Saenz

After several seasons showing in independent fashion showcases, Los Angeles designer

Weaver to Retire From Pac Sun

Greg Weaver, the 52-year-old chairman of Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc., announced he will retire on April 1. He helped transform the surf an...

Los Angeles Fashion Week 2006: Morphine Generation

Morphine Generation, which launched as a T-shirt company in a dark garage in Summer 2003, has since evolved into a full rock ’n’ roll lifestyle line. Titled “A New Romantic Coll...

Creative Concepts

California Market CenterSuite A272(213) 627-4066 ...

Friday, March 17

Michael Stars Adds Cashmere

After years of making highend T-shirts for women, Los Angeles–based Michael Stars has added cashmere to its repertoire. The new line of tissue-weight, 16-gauge cashmere T-shirts debut...

Sue Wong Set for Global Expansion

Los Angeles designer Sue Wong is on an expansion track and has announced plans to align with industry partners that can help the company achieve its next level of growth through marketing, li...

L.A. Fashion Week Takes on International Flavor

This season’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios is taking on a certain foreign flavor, much like Los Angeles itself....

Top California Design Firm Gensler Shows Face in Home State

Gensler is the name of one of the biggest design firms in the United States, but Californians may just be getting re-acquainted with the San Francisco–headquartered company over the past 12 months. So...

And the Winners Are

Nintendo, Victoria’s Secret and Los Angeles–based Architect take design awards ...

Politicians Want to Expand Buy-American Amendment

Congressman Robin Hayes (R-N.C.) introduced legislation on March 14 to extend the Berry Amendment to include the U.S. Department of Homeland Security....

Troubled Jeans Company Outsources Distribution

Innovo Group Inc., makers of Joe’s Jeans and Indie apparel, has decided to outsource its distribution, warehousing and customer service while it looks for ways to re...

New FBI Program for Small Businesses

Los Angeles–based nonprofit organization Fashion Business Inc. has launched a new program that would allow many small businesses to take FBI’s industry training seminars for free....

Leona Goes to Hollywood

Australian dress label Leona Edmiston opened a second Southern California boutique on March 14. The line, devoted to bright, frilly dresses, ensured the glamour of the openi...

Lepore's New Look

New York–based Nanette Lepore showed the first gowns designed by the 10-year-old fashion label on Feb. 28 at the Nanette Lepore boutique on Los Angeles’ Robertson Boulevard. Model Carrie Anderson, pictured, wore Lepore’s...

!iT Jeans Gives Men Another Go

Several seasons after phasing out its men’s line, Los Angeles–based denim maker !iT Jeans introduced a completely reworked men’s collection at the Project Global Trade Show in Las Vegas last month....

Here Comes the Bride's Shoes

New York–based Iconix Brand Group Inc., owners of the Candie’s, Bongo, Badgley Mischka, Joe Boxer and Rampage brands, has struck a deal with Titan Industries for two new footwear collections under the B...

Paul Frank Sues Paul Frank Industries

Last November, Paul Frank Sunich suddenly left the company he co-founded, leaving many in the apparel community to question why the enigmatic designer would split with the company that bears his name ...

Black Hearts Brigade: Tees and Tops With a Dark Side

It’s not often that a sales rep describes a clothing line as “morbid”—and means it in a good way....

E-Commerce Companies Capitalize on West Coast Fashion

The strong West Coast retail scene is extending beyond the storefront and heading deep into cyberspace. As demand for West Coast fashion comes from other areas of the country and the world, e-tailers ...

Quiksilver Tries Out Youth Concept-Again

When Quiksilver, Inc. licensed the Tony Hawk skateboarding brand to moderately priced department store Kohl’s Corp. in 2005, the Huntington Beach, Calif.–based surfwe...

Paul Davril Does Battle With Spammers

Los Angeles–based manufacturer Paul Davril Inc. is putting up a fight against the swarm of spammers, hackers, viruses, spyware, etc....

Car Company Scion Launches Clothing

Scion has made the leap from cars to clothing after the car company’s employees began asking for something more stylish to wear than the typical corporate-logo tee....

Blue Cult In Flux

Slow sales in the United States and stiff competition have Los Angeles–based denim maker Blue Cult Inc. streamlining its business and trimming the chaff....

Going To Ryder Cup Again

Carlsbad-based golf lifestyle company Ashworth Inc. has struck a deal to become lead vendor and official licensee of the Ryder Cup, next scheduled for September in Ireland. Ashworth has been working with the ...

Big Projects Help Revive S.F. Retail

San Francisco’s retail scene got another shot in the arm when it was announced that Los Angeles–based Westfield America and Cleveland real estate developer Forest Cit...

San Francisco Fashion Industries Closes its Doors

After 86 years serving apparel manufacturers, wholesalers and importers in northern California, San Francisco Fashion Industries will shutter its door on March 31....

Downing Promoted at Neiman's

Dallas-based specialty store Neiman Marcus has promoted Ken Downing to senior vice president, fashion director. Downing has been vice president, public relations for the company since 1997. He joined ...

Cuffz Partners with Celebs for Charity

Los Angeles–based handbag label Cuffz by Linz has partnered with a trio of celebrities to create three custom-designed bags to help raise funds and awareness for several charitable or...

Not a Wife-Beater

Los Angeles–based T-shirt maker Splendid is taking a stand on wifebeaters, the phrase used conversationally to describe rib-knit tank tops. The company has partnered with anti-domestic violenc...

Pacific Sunwear Takes Baby Steps With New Chain

Pacific Sunwear, Inc. will open its first One Thousand Steps footwear stores in mid-April, but the company will start small with its fledgling chain of shoe stores....

In Lieu Boutique Combines Old San Francisco Charm With Cutting-Edge Design

SAN FRANCISCO—The Old World feel of San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood is a fitting locale for the indie, vintage-inspired boutique In Lieu, where owner Christina Claypool has created a y...

Gen Art Styles Competition Seeks Entries

Nonprofit organization Gen Art is looking for entries for their 8th annual International Styles Competition set for May in New York....

ASR Parent Company on the Block

The financial community has been abuzz since Dutch media conglomerate VNU accepted a takeover bid from a group of private equity firms on March 8. Valued at $9 bil...

Petro Zillia Gearing Up for Retail Debut

For the first time since Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week came to Los Angeles, the popular contemporary label Petro Zillia will not be showing during Los Angeles...

New Items From Kasil Jeans

ACCESSORY ADDICT: Kasil Jeans is raising the offerings on its men’s jeans with the iPod-friendly “Victory” jean. The jean is equipped with an extra pocket that perfectly holds a full-s...

SIMA to Honor McKnight

The Surf Industry Manufacturers Associationwill honor Bob McKnight, chief executive of Quiksilver, with the Waterman of the Year award at its annual Waterman’s Ball and Aucti...

Fashion, Art, Music Focus of Alternative Fashion Week Event

In its eighth installment, Sew Down, the biannual runway show and marketplace, is b...

Paradox Paradis: New Take on Old Hollywood

A gala event worthy of Old Hollywood will be the official launch of Paradox Paradis, a new evening and ready-to-wear line by Darin Humecki and Scott Nassani....

Friday, March 10

Wal-Mart-Anchored Centers Sold

Two Wal-Mart–anchored shopping centers in the Los Angeles area have changed hands, said representatives of real estate company Reza Investment Group, Inc....

Surf Industry Support

After overcoming bone cancer, Australian pro surfer Ritchie Lovett faced the burden of overwhelming medical bills. On Feb. 28, the surf industry threw a party at Mozambique restaurant in Laguna Beach...

House Passes Anti-Counterfeiting Bill

Traffickers and counterfeiters have more to lose, now that a Federal bill that will close loopholes and strengthen criminal penalties has passed the United States House of Representatives....

Survey Takes On Online Competition

A majority of retailers and others interviewed for a recent survey said they would increase advertising and promote online business in order to face the challenge of heightened competition from incr...

Industry Split on Effect of Proposed Copyright Law

Debate hinges on ’orphan works’ ...

Otis Students Fuel New Fashion Pub

Students at Los Angeles’ Otis College of Art + Design have been tapped to ferret out the next big trends in Southern California fashion and lifestyle for the Modus Project, a...

Quiksilver Goes To the Grove

Huntington Beach–based surf giant Quiksilver Inc. opened a new Quiksilver Youth concept store at The Grove lifestyle mall in Los Angeles. The store, designed to be a “gathering place for all boardriders,”...

February '06 Cold Puts a Chill on Retail Sales

Sales at apparel chain stores declined by 1 percent in February, but, for the most part, America’s business was good, according to Michael Niemira, chief economist for the New York–bas...

Mediating 'Channel Conflict'

Manufacturers who take the plunge and sell directly to consumers online inevitably encounter a phenomenon that has been called “channel conflict,” or “resistance and resentment,” f...

CMC Hires Former L.A. Mart Exec

The California Market Center has hired Jon Weiglin as director of leasing for the Gift and Home category....

Tag-It's Man

Los Angeles–based zipper and trim supplier Tag-It Pacific Inc. hired Wouter C. van Biene as chief operating officer for the company. Van Biene was previously senior vice president, operations, for Asce...

Canada's Consoltex Sold

Boca Raton, Fla.–based private investment firm Sun Capital Partners Inc. announced that it has acquired the stock of Canadian textile maker Consoltex Inc. from American Industrial Partners for an undisclosed a...

Skechers Teams With Zoo York

Manhattan Beach–based footwear maker Skechers USA will produce a new Zoo York branded footwear line for the action sports market, under a new licensing agreement with Zoo York parent company Marc Ecko....

More Showrooms for Fashion District

Just when it appeared the Los Angeles Fashion District was maxing out on its real estate offerings, another developer has come up with a plan for a $62 million apparel wholesale mart...

Lingerie Americas Prepares to Expand

NEW YORK—Although bitterly cold winds were blustering outside, the feeling inside the Metropolitan Pavilion and Altman Building was warm and inviting for lingerie trade show ...

East Side Story: Boutiques on Melrose's East Half Hoping for a Comeback

One of Los Angeles’s formerly leading streets for fashion and pop culture is looking to make a comeback....

Calif. 'Sweatshop' Bill Falls Short

Two years after the state enacted an anti-sweatshop bill, little has been done to enforce it. Not one single contractor, be it a garment contractor or a food contractor, has been cited with violating ...

Design Suites Move Closer to Smashbox Studios

In this, their fifth season, the Design Suites hosted by Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios will relocate for its March 21–23 run to a new, roomier home at HD But...

Meeschka Brings New Rock Style to Laguna Beach

For years, Laguna Beach, Calif., has been known as an artists’ colony and a tourist destination where the preferred looks have been surf clothes, Hawaiian shirts and stylish, premium denim....

Nordstrom Finds an Oasis in the Desert

Nordstrom executives have signed a letter of intent with the Westfield Palm Desert center in California’s Coachella Valley to open a two-story, 149,000-square-foot store in spring of ...

CFA Hosts Acting Labor Chief

California’s acting labor commissioner, Robert Jones, fielded questions and concerns on a few hot-button issues affecting the apparel industry at a recent membership meeting of the Ca...

Accessories Designer Spotlights Clothes

Michelle Roy opened her first boutique at 221 N. Robertson Blvd. in Los Angeles last month. The 1,000-square-foot store shines a spotlight on the accessory designer’s special relationship with apparel....

Levi's Shutters Little Rock Site

San Francisco–based Levi Strauss & Co. will close its distribution center in Little Rock, Ark., and eliminate 340 jobs by the end of 2006. The company said more than a quarter of the workers at the facility will be eligible for early ret...

First-Time Retailer Bets on Beverly Hills

Nina Messiah does not consider herself someone who enjoys gambling against high odds. But her friends thought the first-time retailer was taking on an insurmountable challenge when she opened a fashio...

DAG's Apparel Pitch

Chicago-based Denim Apparel Group has completed its acquisition of Moonlight Graham Inc., makers of retro-themed sportswear featuring Major League Baseball, General Motors, Anheuser-Busch, Universal Studios and Cadbu...

L.A. Casting Call for Third Project Runway

“Project Runway,” Bravo TV’s hit reality series that searches for America’s next great designer, is gearing up for its third season. Houston designer Chloe Dao was named winner of the show...

Friday, March 3

First Country Joins CAFTA

Crossing the finish line first doesn’t earn El Salvador a gold medal ...

Ann Taylor to Settle Two California Overtime Lawsuits

New York–based women’s retailer Ann Taylor Stores Corp. announced it has reached a tentative agreement to settle two California class-action lawsuits....

Joe Boxer's Licensees

New York–based Iconix Brand Group Inc. has struck three new licensing agreements for its Joe Boxer brand in Canada and Northern Europe. An agreement with Boxer ehf allows the Reykjavik, Iceland– based company t...

Perry Ellis Extends Nike Swim License

Perry Ellis International has announced that it has extended its Nike Swim license through 2009. The updated agreement incorporates men’s, women’s and children’s swimwear, performance and casua...

Rodeo Fetes Costume Design

The Rodeo Drive Committee and the city of Beverly Hills honored three costume designers whose work has been frequently nominated for Academy Awards with a gala celebration Feb. 28....

eWarna Offers 'Pay-Per-Use' Pricing

Color systems specialist eWarna has rolled out a new “pay-per-use” pricing structure for its online color collaboration solutions....

More Fashion at Amazon

Seattlebased e-tailer

Earl Joins Jordache

New York–based Jordache Enterprises and a group of private investors have acquired Earl Jean from VF Corp. for an undisclosed amount. The Earl brand will join Jordache’s existing premiumdenim labels, Jo...

Forecast From Las Vegas: Sunny Summer, Hints of Fall

LAS VEGAS—Somehow the trade show scene in Las Vegas managed to expand even as it consolidated....

Ford 'n Zegna

Former Gucci designer Tom Ford will design a new menswear line in a licensing deal with Italian luxury house Ermenegildo Zegna. Ford’s former partner at Gucci, Domenico de Sole, has held a seat on the ...

Putting On the Scot

Scottish whisky brand The Glenlivit is getting in on the Academy Award gifting action by sending Best Actor nominees a bespoke kilt and all the traditional Scottish accessories, just in time for the M...

Rebel With a Cause

Siblings and co-founders of Rebel Yell clothing, Daniel and Andi Ballard, celebrated the addition of their new business partner, Guy Oseary, with a party at Los Angeles bout...

MAGIC Marketplace: Style for Fall '06

The MAGIC Marketplace showcased key trends for

U.S.-Colombia Free-Trade Pact Negotiated

After days of intense negotiations, the United States and Colombia agreed upon a free-trade deal that will eliminate tariffs and quotas on most goods and services....

Innovo on the Auction Block?

Innovo Group Inc., the Commerce, Calif.–based clothing maker that designs blue jeans under the Joe’s Jeans and Indie labels, has hired Piper Jaffray & Co...

Op and NBA Strike a Deal

Basketball fans will soon be able to wear the trappings of their devotion on the beach. Irvine, Calif.–based Ocean Pacific has announced a partnership with ...