California Apparel News

Leah Garvin calls herself a fashion anthropologist, but these days she is sounding more like a fashion entrepreneur.

After years of working in marketing, sales, video journalism and sustainable projects, Garvin is starting a new endeavor she hopes brings more apparel manufacturing jobs to Los Angeles.

In mid-June, the 26-year-old native of Colorado will formally launchFactoryLA, a for-profit fashion incubator that will try to help emerging contemporary brands expand while making their clothes in Los Angeles factories where legally documented workers earn a fair wage.

“We will be a full-service agency, from concept to customer,” said Garvin, who has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Boston University and studied apparel manufacturing at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles.

The plan is for Garvin, and a host of consultants, to rendezvous with a budding brand, whip up a team of experts and devise a game plan for success. Experts can help with costing strategies, production plans, marketing campaigns, public relations, branding and sales tips. Need a pattern maker? FactoryLA can help find one. Looking for some advice on how to pitch a retailer? The incubator can help.

From her recently rented 4,000-square-foot space inside a 100-year-old brick building at 840 S. Los Angeles St., Garvin will be setting up a showroom for her “Made in LA” clients. There will also be a round table for meetings to assess what the emerging designer needs and then strategize on what the next moves will be.

Currently, the incubator is funded by an undisclosed private investor, but the idea is to make money by charging clients a project-management fee on top of the fees paid to consultants.

One of those consultants is Rocio Evenett, whose Unlimited Design Services in Vernon, Calif., manufactures clothes as well as offers a wide range of services, including patternmaking. “In many ways, we operate like factories overseas. We put services under one roof,” said Evenett, who has 2,500 square feet of space in a building shared with denim manufacturerArk Apparel. Soon, Unlimited Design Services and Ark Apparel, founded by Noah Landis, will be partnering and will move to a 10,000-square-foot space in their shared building on Pacific Boulevard.

Minimum-order requirements at Unlimited Design Services are low—48 units. “There are not many companies willing to work with small companies and start-ups,” Evenett said. “We can help anyone that has an idea. We can take them from idea to finished product.”

But she noted that any new client has to have a solid financial standing and understand that the garment business requires a major level of commitment.

Also working with FactoryLA will be Syama Meagher, who will be the group’s business strategist. Meagher has 10 years of experience, which includes working as an e-commerce merchant at Barneys New York and an assistant planner at Macy’s East. Four years ago, she founded NYC Retail Consultant to grow small- and medium-sized brands and stores. She recently moved from New York to Los Angeles.

“Designers often have a great product, but they don’t know what to do with it,” Meagher said. “I ask designers with small brands about their goals. How much time are they willing to dedicate to this? Is this a hobby or something they are investing their time and energy into? Where do they want to be in five years? People don’t really think about that.”

FactoryLA already has three Los Angeles clients lined up. They are R.B. ofMcD by John Lehman, which does leather goods; Axthelm by Kristy Hanft, a new women’s contemporary line; and Sarine Marie by Sarine Berberian.

Hanft said she was looking for a way to get her brand’s name out there and thought Garvin could help. “We are brand-new,” she said. “We wanted to connect with the community of designers and contractors.'

The hurdles

Nudging emerging designers to the next level is always a challenge. Frances Harder, founder of nonprofit LA fashion incubator Fashion Business Inc., said the apparel industry is a tough business. “The average fail rate is much higher than in other industries,” said Harder, a designer who has taught at FIDM and at the Otis College of Art + Design. “It’s not all about the product. The person involved has to understand all the moving parts and get along with people and network. There are five new lines a year to create, and each line needs 25 new styles and fabrication. … I have 400 members, but how many are going to be in business next year? I don’t know.”

Ilse Metchek, president of the California Fashion Association, said it is important that any new clients taken on by FactoryLA be scrutinized to make sure they are viable. “[Garvin] is only going to be as successful as her clients are,” Metchek said. “The reason trade shows such as Coterie andDesigners and Agents are successful is the fact they are a juried show. Without that juried analysis, you wind up hungry and taking all comers because you want to make a living.”

Garvin said she will be asking potential clients to fill out a detailed application form and go through an interview. “We have to make sure they can pay for our services and the growth of their brand,” the fashion-incubator founder said. “I am still deciding whether people should have one or two seasons under their belt before we talk to them. And we want to make sure we have the best foundation to serve them.”

In the end, Garvin would like to see the Los Angeles apparel-manufacturing scene, which has 44,500 workers, down from 45,000 last year, make a comeback.

For more information, go to www.wearefactoryla.com.