California Apparel News

After more than 25 years honing their skills as designers of high-end, avant-garde fashions, the husband-and-wife team of Eric and Diane Martin quietly opened Studio MM7 in January. Located in a sun-filled 6,000-square-foot space in Los Angeles’ fashion district, Studio MM7 is the Martins’ product-development firm. Operated independently from MartinMartin, the 10-year-old brand that serves both as the Martins’ calling card and creative outlet, Studio MM7 is the natural extension of their years of experience in the Los Angeles fashion industry.

“As designers and manufacturers, we’ve done free-lance consulting for some time,” Diane Moss Martin said. Over the years, she said, other California brands, mainly designer and young designer labels, have sought them out for help with everything from design direction to production, graphic design, photo-shoot art direction, sourcing and sampling services. A collaboration with photographer Just Loomis allows the Martins to offer brand imaging and ad campaign services.

“We’ve established ourselves as designers of high-quality, avant-garde fashions, and we’ve become experts in leather, denim, tailored garments, knits and sweaters,” Eric Martin said. Their own designs, which range from stark, minimal silhouettes to intricately draped and constructed garments, forced the pair to train and seek out highly skilled workers—a resource that can’t be underestimated. And, with four tightly edited collections per year, MartinMartin left the Martins with the time and manpower to launch a new venture.

The Martins aren’t alone in leveraging their experience and contacts. Other designers have also found consulting to be a good way to make the most of their resources and diversify their business. From design work to sample making and production, the opportunities for seasoned designers are varied.

“There is definitely a need in Los Angeles for our depth of experience—especially among the more high-end and [specialty] brands. Now, instead of doing ’underground’ consulting, we’ve made it its own independent endeavor,” Eric Martin said. With a staff of 10, including daughter China Moss, Studio MM7 is doing its best to fill brands’ gaps in expertise. Currently, the studio has 10 to 15 clients at any given time. Relying on word-of-mouth, Studio MM7’s client roster includes menswear brand Idol Radec, Whitley Kros, Fifth World, Unholy Matrimony and new menswear brand Sahaja. Past clients include Jovovich-Hawk, the brand founded by actress Milla Jovovich and stylist Carmen Hawk. Studio MM7 produced all domestically made garments for the recently defunct contemporary line.

Splitting their time equally between MartinMartin and Studio MM7, the Martins offer a slew of services, including patternmaking, sample making, no-minimum production, marketing, brand-image consultation, look-book production, graphic design and design direction. “We can do everything from full-on collections—starting with all sample development and, in some cases, all production—or we can help with very specific areas of their business,” Eric Martin said.

William Beranek, best known for his now-shuttered contemporary brands William B. and Nickel, is another Los Angeles–based designer who has leveraged his contacts and know-how as a consultant. “I’ve developed really good working relationships with overseas factories over the years,” he said, something that has proven to be in demand among other brands. Currently, Beranek manages the private-label program for the New York–based Scoop NYC retail stores. “They send me sketches and their general design direction, and they pay for my connections and service,” Beranek said. His responsibilities start with sample production, grading, fitting and production and end with shipping. “When everything is delivered safe and sound, my job is done,” Beranek said. Mia Via, a Los Angeles–based private-label manufacturer that produces contemporary apparel for Nordstrom, is another of Beranek’s clients. “I do some of their design work but mainly spoon-feed their production,” he said.

Consulting became a focus after he shuttered Nickel two years ago—and remains a priority even as Beranek has launched J’mm, a new contemporary line with designer Natalie Sophia. Two seasons old, J’mm features Sophia’s designs while Beranek handles the line’s production.

Designers who have developed an expertise in a specific niche are often well-positioned to consult for other brands.

Sweater maven Suss Cousins, owner of Los Angeles–based Suss Design—a retail store specializing in novelty knitwear, custom design and yarn—has lent her expertise to contemporary brands and hopes to continue to expand her consulting client base. Earlier this year, Cousins helped develop styles and samples for Los Angeles–based contemporary brands Hale Bob and hotel heiress Nicky Hilton’s Chick line. “I hand-loomed and finished the sweaters by hand so that they could then have the production done overseas,” Cousins said. Using her own sample room, Cousins produces small runs of knitwear for her own brand and others using bamboo, cashmere, wool and alpaca yarn. “I’ve been doing knitwear for so long—25 years—and my library of patterns and designs is extensive,” Cousins said. As a knitwear designer, Cousins said she is at her busiest when she’s producing her Fall collections—making consulting for other brands an ideal way to supplement her income during less-busy seasons. “It’s tough out there, and we all need to be business-savvy and help each other out. Knitwear is such a niche specialty, but I think there are plenty of opportunities to work with other brands,” Cousins said.

Leah Walton, a knitwear designer and teacher at Otis College of Art + Design, charges $150 per hour as a consultant for designers who need her expertise. One of her services is helping to negotiate small runs with local high-end contractors for her clients, which include Coryn Madley, designer of the Madley line of knitwear, and designer Maggie Barry.No competition

As working designers, these consultants take special care to keep their personal work and the work they do for their clients separate.

“It can be a little tricky because our clients come to us because they see our work and appreciate it. But at the end of the day, they have their own aesthetic, and what we bring to the table isn’t our own vision but our taste level and our expertise,” Eric Martin said. “We’re not helping brands make clothes that look and feel like MartinMartin. We’re helping them execute their own vision the best possible way.”

Scott Barclay, co-founder of Idol Radec and a Studio MM7 client, agreed. “We’re a menswear brand and very different from MartinMartin, but they are so skilled in the areas that we needed help with—the construction of a garment, which fusings and seams to use,” he said. “With their help, we can execute our designs on the first try and get the right fit and quality.”

Cousins, who mines her design and pattern library for clients, said rarely do her more-custom designs and those of her clients overlap. Still, she said, if one of her clients wanted one of her designs, she’d let them have it. “I can always just design something else. I am, after all, a designer.”