California Apparel News

The news going into the Majors Market Oct. 8–10 at the California Market Center wasn’t encouraging. According to the Conference Board, consumer confidence has slumped to a two-year low, and holiday shoppers this year are expected to be conservative in their buying.

Still, despite the news that American consumers, squeezed by tight credit, rising energy prices and a shaky real estate market, would be a hard sell at retail, buyers and vendors at the market greeted the news with a stiff upper lip and Spring 2008 offerings.

“It is really scary. And with the consolidation of the department stores, business is already more challenging,” said Chinese Laundry’s Nikki Turpin. Federated Department Stores’ acquisition in 2005 of May Co. has resulted in tighter distribution and shuttered stores. (Federated, now called Macys Inc., closed some May stores and changed others to the Macy’s nameplate.) “Some retailers are looking at the holiday season and wondering if they’ll be in the black at the end of the year,” said Turpin. “It is such an important time, and we’re hoping for the best.”

Consolidation may not have been such a harsh blow for many vendors, according to Richard Clareman, president of Los Angeles–based juniors label Self Esteem. “There are not less stores out there. There are less retailers. There’s still a lot of stores out there, and they have to be filled up,” Clareman said. He said that market’s business was good and that it will help his company reach its projected 2007 sales, which should be 20 percent higher than they were in 2006, when the company made $200 million, according to Clareman.

Buyers from Macy’s, Nordstrom, Gottschalks, Belk, Dillard’s, Wet Seal, Charlotte Russe, JCPenney and Kohl’s walked the show, perusing the CMC’s temporary showrooms in the penthouse and milling around the juniors, children’s and missy floors in the building.

The California Market Center’s management office said that the market’s business was good, according to a prepared statement by a CMC representative. While the building did not release information on how many buyers attended the show, Jennifer Jordan, the CMC’s vice president of leasing, was bullish on juniors business.

“As a building, we are placing a lot of emphasis on the juniors category,” said Jordan.“We see this as an area of growth with amazing potential.” Jordan added that the CMC has been courting some juniors manufacturers to take permanent space in the building. The building has several permanent juniors showrooms, including Los Angeles–based juniors manufacturer Hot Kiss.

Trend-driven

For its part, Chinese Laundry is beefing up styles and silhouettes that are performing well at retail and injecting some newness with novelty styles such as colored denim and metallic denim. “The skinny is still strong, but we’ve also done lots of variations on the trouser in lighter fabrications for Spring,” Turpin said. A new style that is doing well is a slim jean in an “Oreo” wash, which looks like a more sophisticated cousin of ’80s acid wash. And while high-waist jeans are all over editorial spreads and runways, Chinese Laundry is staying clear of the trend. “It just isn’t a style that very many women can wear. So we touch upon it, but our highest rise is 10 inches,” she said.

Some exhibitors reported excellent business. Self Esteem’s showroom did brisk business with candy-colored tunics and T-shirts. XOXO showed saturated brights and prints on everything from satin blouses to mini-dresses and short shorts. Attitude Unknown got a good reaction to tops with stripes and plaids and fitted dress silhouettes. Rubber Doll sold versatile prints and patterns on novelty shapes. Menswear-inspired vests, belted jackets and shorts were hot at Toy Box Clothing. At Soulmates, dresses, pencil skirts and high-waist pants were checking.

Plenty of juniors vendors combat sluggish retail by finding niches and expanding their reach. Private-label business is key to Chinese Laundry; Rubber Doll, which sells its R Doll line to big-box stores; and Star Vixen, which sells private-label goods to lower-tier department stores. “You have to be very careful and keep the two [segments] very far apart and distinct, but if you do it right, it can be great for business,” said Sheryl Spigel, Star Vixen’s sales manager. Another growing retail segment is the juniors plus-size market. Star Vixen and Attitude Unknown reported a markedly growing interest in the category in the last year. “It’s plus size and it’s juniors—but juniors sexy, not missy,” Spigel said. “Retailers are just much more open to juniors plus, and it is doing well at retail—which helps enforce that it really is a true category.”