California Apparel News

No one was getting their hopes up for the June Holiday market, which is typically slower than most. A major convention in downtown Los Angeles, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, also called E3, was at the Los Angeles Convention Center June 11–13, and economists have been predicting that the summer will be one filled with consumers on the sidelines.

But to everyone’s surprise, there was a flurry of activity that put a smile on everyone’s face participating in Los Angeles Fashion Market, which ran June 10–13, with many showrooms opening a day early on Sunday.

“For the first two days of June market, we were running about 15 percent ahead of last year,” said Ethan Eller, general manager of The New Mart. “It looks like we are on track for our best June market since 2009.”

Lisa Elliot, owner of EM Productions in the Cooper Design Space, said her showroom was “consistently busy.”

“We’ve seen Nordstrom, Piperlime, and Amazon is coming in,” she said on the second day of market. “A lot of locals are coming after market.”

Head start at CMC

Showroom owners and salespeople had a wide range of opinions when it came to this season’s LA Fashion Marketat the California Market Center. Some said buyers seemed less cautious with their spending and eager to purchase “Made in the USA” garments. While others expressed concern about the turnout, others were satisfied with the market overall.

Lynn Girard, owner of the Lynn Girard showroom, said retailers were buying closer to the season, an advantage for Girard because she works mainly with U.S. manufacturers. “We can get Fall goods in closer than Chinese-produced lines. Sometimes it’s only a two- or three-week turnaround time we are working with,” she said. “Retailers are noticing how buying outside the U.S. is affecting the economy, and they are more conscientious about their decision making when it comes to buying.”

While LA Fashion Market officially kicked off on Monday, many showrooms chose to open on Sunday, which proved to be a positive move for buyers and showroom owners. “It was our busiest day, with a 20 percent rise in orders from previous years,” Girard said. “Smaller boutiques like to shop on the weekends, so it is helpful starting market on Sunday.”

Michael Gae of the Rep et Trois showroom shared a similar sentiment. The veteran showroom owner prefers the market starting during the weekend, noting it is more convenient for his out-of-state buyers to travel over the weekend compared with the weekday. Carrying brands such as Milla, Fate and Mia Paluzza, Gae maintains a positive outlook, saying longtime, loyal retailers still consistently return to market to place orders. “People are in [steady] motion,” he said.

For Melody Fast of the Melody Fast showroom, business was booming and “extremely busy,” she said. With lines such as Art of Cloth, the modern bohemian clothing showed a lot of potential with retailers.

In contrast, for the Ravel showroom—which carries mainly women’s blouses, jacket and sweaters—business wasn’t as brisk.

Ravel President Joseph Simkhai said the MAGIC trade show in Las Vegas generates more business for him. With showrooms all over the U.S., Ravel—with its European flared knits, vegan-leather pieces and draped jackets—excels at trade shows.

Upbeat at The New Mart

For the showrooms at The New Mart, there was no gloom in this year’s June.

Visiting The New Mart were retailers from outside the Los Angeles area such as Jigsaw of Spokane, Wash.; Weekends from Boulder, Colo.; Leaf & Petal of Palo Alto, Calif.; and Rare Earth in Del Mar, Calif., as well as LA-area retailers such as Revolve Clothing, Fred Segal, Kitson and Mod Cloth, which maintains Los Angeles offices.

The increased market traffic was something of a pleasant surprise to Joel Gossman, co-owner of The Gig Showroom. “Up until now, it hasn’t been busy,” Gossman said of past LA Fashion Markets. He noted there was a lot of walk-in traffic during this June market. Retailers seemed to be more confident on spending, whereas in previous markets, retailers seemed to be more weighed down by grim economic headlines.

Liza Stewart, president of the self-named Liza Stewart Inc.,debuted a 2,700-square-foot, gallery-style showroom in suite 900 during the recent market. She said retailers’ business ranged from ordering Immediates to placing Nov. 30 orders.

Business from existing e-commerce, specialty and department stores has been very good, she said. However, business from newly opened stores is not back to pre-recession levels.

Before the recession, Stewart regularly met with more than 15 entrepreneurs who wanted to open boutiques. Since the economic downturn, she’s typically seen less than five new boutiques each market.

Cooper buzz

The halls of the Cooper Design Space were abuzz with buyers wandering through the building’s 11 floors of showroom and exhibit space.

Traffic was busiest on Monday and Tuesday and tapered off Wednesday and Thursday.

Still, showroom owners believed this Holiday market was more vibrant than last year, although store owners were still operating under budget constraints that loosened up for unique, quality items.

“People are still very price-conscious,” said Sonya Young, owner of the Cricket Showroom, whose lines include Central Park West, Piper Gore, 27 Miles Malibu and Good hYouman. “They will spend on higher-priced items when they are novelty. But it is still not back to what it used to be.”

Young said the showroom was “blowing out” of T-shirts made by Good hYouman, whose tops have special sayings printed on them. They wholesale for $14 to $18. Many stores can’t keep them in stock. “This market has seen more people writing,” she said.

At the cavernous 7 For All Mankind showroom, buyer traffic was brisk on Monday and Tuesday, said Megan Gray, the sales representative for California. “The traffic has been great,” she said.

The label, now owned by VF Corp., had a number of unique Holiday denim offerings. The brand introduced subtle art deco prints mixed in with the denim and lace as well as coated “jether,” which is a coated denim jegging that looks like leather.

The unusual treatments of denim, imported from Japan and Italy, was raising wholesale prices from $189 to $295.

At Koral Los Angeles, another denim line, the showroom’s reps were working off appointments this market and not relying on walk-in traffic.

Katie Mintz, the line’s West Coast sales manager, said she had seen a lot of high-end specialty boutiques from the Los Angeles area such as Stacey Todd in Studio City and Theodore in Beverly Hills.

A few silhouettes were particularly popular. “We have been doing good with anything that is mid-rise to high-rise [jeans],” said Mintz, noting that wholesale prices for the line range from $89 to $205.

At the multi-line Joey Showroom, the Black Halo line of locally made dresses that come in a number of flattering silhouettes was a hit. “They are really popular with celebrities,” said Lauren Cooper, an intern at the showroom. Particularly selling well was the “Jackie O” dress, a frock with a sleek, vintage look that wholesales for $149.

The Gerry Building

Business was also brisk on Sunday at the Gerry Building, where a sign out front for Los Angeles Market Week advertised nine floors of showrooms for updated and designer collections.

Buyer activity stayed steady on Monday, but by Tuesday buyer traffic was fairly quiet.

But most of the showroom owners seemed pleased with the turnout given that several buyers had previously indicated they were planning to skip this market because hotel rooms were scarce. “I feel buyer activity was stronger this June than last June,” said Barbara Nogg, owner of the Barbara Nogg Showroom, which carries updated lines such as Equestrian, Petit Pois and Vitamina Jeans. “The amount of people has far exceeded my expectations,” she said.

She said store owners coming to this market were ordering later in the year and taking delivery of goods closer to when they move out the door. That meant buyers were asking for goods to be delivered between July 30 and Sept. 30 for Holiday.

Down the hall from Barbara Nogg, in a showroom shared by Steven Levinson and Carol Herzog, buyer visits were even to see the various lines of tops and dresses. “It has been pretty steady; I have been pleasantly surprised,” Levinson said as one buyer perused the various lines represented by the two salespeople. In Levinson’s half of the showroom, he represents Loco Lindo, Citron and Sucre Soir. Herzog represents Planet and AMB Designs.

Strong D&A

What a difference a month makes.

Cold weather in May put a damper on orders during the Designers and Agents show in New York, held May 6–8, said Barbara Kramer, co-founder of the trade event. Many retailers had not yet started to sell Spring fashions because of the weather, she said.

However, the June market was good for D&A, Kramer said. D&A’s LA show ran June 10–12 on the third floor of The New Mart. The trade event featured 45 brands and produced its annual Green Room section, where 16 emerging, eco-friendly brands were gifted booth space.

North Hollywood, Calif.–based brand Calleen Cordero had sales increase an estimated 20 percent compared with last year, according to designer and owner Calleen Cordero. “It was really busy. We were slammed the first day,” she said. “It was great for a tiny market.”

While D&A intended to display Fall and Winter styles, Ben De Luca, vice president for the U.S. division of U.K. label Christy’s Hats,reported his clients were buying more Summer styles, such as straw hats and caps. He said business was down slightly from last year’s D&A show.

Business also was good in the eco-friendly Green Room. Esma Annemon Dil, a contributor to German Vogue, debuted her digitally printed scarf line, Anaïmon, in the Green Room. “I wrote orders with four stores with high numbers,” she said of her Los Angeles–based line.

Brand Assembly’s new space

The Brand Assembly show, held in the Cooper building, featured more than 25 labels that were displaying their collections in a new space on the top floor. Before, the show was located in two spots on the mezzanine. Now everyone is on the 11th floor, which has large windows that let in an abundance of sunshine.

“There’s a need for people who don’t have a permanent showroom or corporate office,” said Hillary France, co-founder of Brand Assembly. “It’s a fresh perspective. It has more of a shopping environment; it’s more inviting for buyers.”

France said the move to the larger space was needed for the growing trade show, which recently launched an edition in Paris in March.

“We’ll be going again [to Paris] in late September/early October,” France said. “We had 13 [exhibitors] and maxed out the space. [In LA] we had 27 brands, and we hope to expand to 40 for October.”

Elizabeth Lewis, owner of The Sydny showroom—which represents Blessed, Tigerlily, Samantha Wills and And She Was—was among the exhibitors at Brand Assembly.

“I wanted to do something instead of a showroom, and there’s such a great caliber of brands here,” she said. “We had everyone here—Ron Herman, Nasty Gal, even stores from Texas and Pennsylvania.”

Orders at Select

The Select show, organized by the California Market Center in the building’s Fashion Theater, drew a busy crowd, with retailers eager to preview the multi-brand event for contemporary brands and accessories.

Daniela Jelovac, founder of Vyda Victoria, said this was her first time at the show. Debuting her Fall/Winter ’13 collection, Jelovac started her line 2½ years ago. Her asymmetrical silhouettes feature silk, knits and cotton-blended fabrics. “It has been a good show with buyers placing orders,” she said.

Sophie Monet of Sophie Monet jewelry is a young designer who makes all her pieces in Venice, Calif. Monet incorporates turquoise, crystals, brass and wood in her collection with wholesale prices ranging from $30 to $150. After a few times exhibiting at Select, Monet felt it was a nice fit. “Vendors are really sweet here, and the building [staff] is welcoming. Buyers have picked up more orders than previous shows, so it has been working out well. Since I am inspired by the ocean and surf culture, which is reflected in my work, it makes sense showing here, which is very California-based,” Monet said.