California Apparel News

Menswear companies unveiled their Fall lines at the West Coast Exclusive show Jan. 28–29 in Los Angeles, and there were few surprises as denim appeared to be taking on a smaller role. Vendors returned to classics and more-muted colors and focused more on fabrications.

The show was held at the Embassy Suites at the Los Angeles International Airport and featured better menswear brands such as Jhane Barnes, Zegna, Haupt and Alexander Julian.

Exhibitor attendance grew by about 30 percent, said show co-founder Larry Hymes. The show drew some of the region’s top specialty stores, including Alandales, Barcelino, Marshall Klein, Jimmy’s and Saxony, who were scouting as many vendors as possible before heading for the bigger Las Vegas shows in a couple of weeks.

The premium denim that climbed into this market a few seasons ago appeared to be dissipating to some degree.

“The market is slowing getting out of premium denim and going into different fabrications, be it corduroy, canvas or twills,” said Hymes. “The big players in denim will probably maintain and rise to the top, while the smaller ones will fall by the wayside.”

For New York–based label Alexander Julian, the shift was into a darker, indigo-type of denim, said West Coast rep Larry Pickens.

New fabrications were being highlighted throughout the show. French sportswear line New Man was transitioning into lighter-weight materials, moving from wools into cottons and natural fibers for outerwear, said rep Mary Kay Reynolds. “I think this global warming is affecting everybody. Winter started out warmer on the East Coast and even in Europe this year,” she said.

Torras of Spain, which specializes in leather jackets, expanded with knit/leather combinations on jackets, said Antonio Alguero.

That pleased retailers such as Glenn Laiken of the Culver City, Calif.–based store Alandales.

“It was great to see the cloth in outerwear along with cashmere and wool/cashmere blends on coats and jackets of all lengths,” he said.

Italian brand Gran Sasso featured wool blends on all cuts of sweaters. It also brought in Alpaca, which it blended with cashmere to reduce the itch factor that sometimes accompanies the fiber.

“We’ve also been doing pretty well with flat knits,” noted rep Heidi Kerns.

Suggested retail prices for Gran Sasso’s knits average about $350. The company featured mostly cashmere from Scottish resource Todd & Duncan, featuring 30 natural colors along with argyle and other patterns. One of the hot colors is a charcoal/brown blend. “It’s the new black,” Kerns said. “It’s a reaction to what’s happening with men’s suits right now.”

Better business best

Exhibitors said the better market is holding its own. Paris Blumenthal of Beverly Hills–based Blumenthal & Associates said his business is up 120 percent over the past 18 months. Blumenthal carries custom suits by Coppley, jeweled and cloisonneacute;-inlaid belts from Z&B Creazione and iron-free shirts from Italian resource Ingram.

“The retailer who understands the better customer can capitalize,” he said.

Ken Hurato of Island Soft, a division of Tommy Bahama, agreed. “There are fewer consumers walking into stores, so the retailer has to trade the customer up in price and quality,” he said. “It’s a gradual process.”

Hurato nonetheless said it doesn’t hurt to have items to fall back on. In his case, he is scoring with vintage-inspired “tribute” belts from Bill Lavin featuring rock-band emblems, Union Jack flags and World War II–era icons.

“They’re different and unique,” he said. “It’s been a home run for us.”

He said Island Soft’s “steeplechase” ribbed-silk T-shirts have also been a hit, growing the company’s business with Nordstrom and others.

Accessories were a key aspect of business at WCE.

Los Angeles–based Morgan Grays showed a new collection of duffle and travel bags made with vegetable-dyed leathers and 16-ounce organic canvas.

“The consumer really does care about this. They want products that are not harmful to the environment,” said company President Stewart R. Grays.

The line, with retail prices from $400 and up, takes historic pieces such as Civil War–era mail bags and puts a modern twist on them.

Kerns showed a new bag line called Sand-Storm, made with camel and cowhide in Kenya.

Next stop, Las Vegas

WCE producers have a big show lined up Feb. 14–16 in Hall G of the Sands Expo in Las Vegas. The event will kick off with a “Fashion Knock-Outs” fashion show featuring boxing greats such as Joe Frazier, Ray Mancini, Ken Norton, Tommy Hearns and others sporting the fashions of Agave Denimsmith, Nick Hilton, Robert Graham, Jhane Barnes and others on Feb. 14.

The show will also feature pavilions from various trade groups, including the Italian Trade Commission.

Several retailers along with the Exclusive’s Kelli Freeman recently returned from the Naples region of Italy and toured several factories, courtesy of the Naples Chamber of Commerce.

“It was great for the retailers to see how much handcrafting is done and what the strengths are of the different regions, so they can come back and be that more knowledgeable about the products they sell,” said Freeman.