ITAA Annual Conference Focuses on Los Angeles
The International Textile and Apparel Association, an educational association of students and educators in the apparel, textile and merchandising disciplines in higher education, held its annual conference Nov. 7–10 at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel.
The conference, with its “On the Edge Theme,” focused on the Los Angeles fashion industry and pulled from local fashion experts, including Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association, who gave the keynote address and acted as moderator for several panels, and Alison A. Nieder, California Apparel News’ executive editor.
Attendees, who ranged from university professors to fashion students, participated in workshops and tours, including visits to clothing manufacturers St. John and Karen Kane. Educators also visited the Los Angeles Fashion District, the Port of Los Angeles and the U.S. Customs and Border Control Laboratory.
Panels and presentations explored themes ranging from the “competitive advantages of producing in Los Angeles” and “the Internet and consumer behavior” to teaching strategies and techniques for reviewing sample manuscripts.
During the “What it Takes to Stay Successful” panel, Ed Handler of Cohn Handler Accounting urged up-and-coming designers to critically consider the pros and cons of accepting their first big order. “How is it going to work operationally? What happens if you don’t get it done? Do you have the infrastructure to be able to [fulfill and ship] a million-dollar order?” are all questions Handler said designers must consider before growing their business.
Debra Stevenson of The Skyline Studios, a brand-development consultant in Los Angeles, said growth within niche markets has been a major theme for 2007. “Because of the global nature of the [fashion] market, designers can string together small niche communities into one large, thriving business,” she said. “That’s great news for small businesses starting today.”
Creativity as the currency of the industry was the topic of a panel moderated by Metchek. Panelists explored how creativity and business acumen worked together for developing a successful label.
Leslie Gallin, director of “The Collections” at the World Shoe Association, searches all over the world for products to bring to the group’s biannual shoe shows in Las Vegas. “With all the competition today, all the factors need to be like a perfect storm for success,” she said. “They need to have the right sales people. The designer needs to understand the business. It is great they have created something, but they end up losing it if they don’t understand marketing and how many people to hire.”
Skyline Studios’ Stevenson observed that the barriers to enter the market are lower because of technology and the Internet. “I think this is a very exciting time,” she said. “We are living in an era of a borderless world where it is much easier to launch brands globally.”
California Apparel News’ Nieder believes that creativity is just one of the ingredients needed for success. As an editor, she sees scores of new labels every month. “There are an awful lot of them that make it that are not that different. They are slightly different,” she said. “The difference is they might have a good story, they might be represented by the right showroom or have the right connections. A lot of times, the differences are subtle.”
—Erin Barajas and Deborah Belgum
