California Apparel News

The top floor of the Cooper Design Space hosted the debut Jan. 23–24 run of Mom2B, a trade show for buyers and manufacturers of pregnancy-related products.

The show bowed with more than 85 exhibitors, including Los Angeles– based maternity lines Maternal America, Kika and Childish, as well as the maternity T-shirt collection from Los Angeles–based Michael Stars.

In addition to maternity apparel, exhibitors also showed diaper bags, infant apparel, nursing- and infant-related accessories, skin-care products, exercise accessories, jewelry, home deacute;cor items and other items for retailers that cater to new mothers and mothers-to-be.

The show drew a good mix of West Coast retailers as well as buyers from the Midwest, Canada and Japan, said Sharon Eisenhauer, who has been designing hipster diaper bags for the past three years. Her Oakland, Calif.–based Haiku by Sharon Eisenhauer bags feature modern prints and room for a laptop for wired moms. The designer— who sells her bags at more than 90 retailers, including upscale outdoor retailer REI and the Title 9 catalog—describes her customer as “the hybrid mom.”

In addition to buyers from Canada and Japan, Helena Paulin met with a buyer from Germany at her booth, which featured many of the 20 lines she carries in her Glo showroom in the California Market Center.

“It’s been a great draw,” she said.

The showroom, which was previously called A Summer Place, carries maternity apparel, childrenswear and accessories from companies including Childish, Elephatito, Dante Beatrix and Amy J.

Paulin said the maternity industry is changing, as expectant mothers look for stylish maternity apparel.

“To keep up with it, you have to have a show for it,” she said.

The sentiment was echoed by Wahid Ahmadi and Natalien Ngo, who were exhibiting their 5-year-old maternity collection, Maternal America.

“The maternity world has changed in the last five years,” said Ahmadi, chief executive officer of the Los Angeles–based label. “Buyers are finally understanding this is what the [customers] want.”

The collection, which is carried in the Nancy Carroll showroom in the California Market Center, is designed by Ngo, who said Mom2B gave her a chance to meet new buyers, as well as catch up with existing accounts.

“We met a lot of our accounts that we only have spoken to over the phone,” she said. “This show is one of a kind.”

The show is the brainchild of Amy De- Camillis, chief executive officer and president of Denver-based skin-care company Bella Mama, who found that there was no trade show targeting the maternity market.

“It became clear that this is a niche that needed to be filled,” said Kristen Tait, one of the trade show’s five organizers and owner of Denverbased retail boutique Decade.

DeCamillis and Tait have three other partners based in Los Angeles and decided to launch the show in Los Angeles “because it’s such a good location for fashion, and so many great vendors are based here,” Tait said. Also, the show hopes to capitalize on the interest in celebrity pregnancies.

The organizers plan to hold the show biannually in the spring and fall. They are hoping to host the next show in September or October. For more information, visit www.mom2btradeshow.com.