California Apparel News

Showroom owners and reps reported mixed results for the Fall ’09 Los Angeles Fashion Market, but most agreed that traffic was slow, buyers were very cautious and Immediate goods were in demand.

The retailers who did shop the market ranged from majors such as Bloomingdale’s, Saks and Macy’s to chains, boutiques and e-tailers such as Intermix, Fred Segal, Aero & Co., Revolveclothing.com, MyShape.com and Polkadots and Moonbeams.

For the buyers who did come, it was a one-stop shopping opportunity during the March 20–24 run of market, with showrooms open in six wholesale buildings, a smattering of independent showrooms nearby and a broad selection of merchandise from young designer to indie labels at seven trade shows.

In addition to the four main showroom buildings—the California Market Center, The New Mart, the Cooper Design Space and the Gerry Building—there were showrooms open at the Lady Liberty Building and the 824 Building. Temporary trade shows included the longstanding Designers and Agents and Brighte Cos., both representing young designer and contemporary resources, as well as maternity show Mom2b, shoe show Transit, contemporary streetwear show Transmission and contemporary show Focus, which included up-and-coming designers in its Thread Select section, organized in partnership with San Diego–based consumer-show producer Thread.

“In my 17 years in this business, I’ve never seen this many people looking for Immediates,” said Eme Mizioch, owner of the Joken Style showroom at the CMC.

Over at The New Mart, showroom owner Jody Hughes, who owns the West Bank Clothing showroom with Heidi Eisinger, saw a silver lining. “Stores seem to be getting a handle on their business,” she said. “Before, we were all in a state of shock when the bottom dropped out. Now buyers are so much more aware of what is selling and are buying very selectively but with more confidence.”

Lisa Elliot-Rosas, owner of the EM Productions showroom at the Cooper Design Space, agreed, adding that buyers arrived at market armed with fresh insight from the sales floor.

In some cases, buyers reported working with analysts to help divine the perfect buy, she said. Other buyers came in to shop with salespeople fresh off their sales floor or store managers. “That never used to happen, but it can be very efficient,” Elliot-Rosas said. “Retailers have adopted much more of a team mentality—and they should. They need to know what exactly their customer wants, whereas in the past, they weren’t so concerned.”

And for many retailers, the report from the sales floor was encouraging.

At Boutique Lingerie at the Gerry Building, Shelley Chadwick, the buyer for four Chadwicks of London stores in Northern California, shopped everything from basic bras to high-end fancy items. “They’re still coming in looking for what we’ve got that’s new,” Chadwick said of current store traffic. “I’m selling much less, but I’m still selling the high end to the people who are still spending money.”

The Lady Liberty Building and 824 Building are the two newest showroom buildings in the district and tend to get less walk-in traffic than the other buildings. Still, reps at the 824 Building reported meeting with a mix of retailers that included Orange County retail chain The Closet and San Francisco boutique AB Fits. At the Lady Liberty Building, buyers from Bloomingdale’s, Scoop, Milk, Intermix, ShopBop and Fred Segal dropped by to shop the showrooms.