Stories
Pobega’s Goodbye Berlin
For her Goodbye Berlin collection, Valerj Pobega said 'no thanks' to runways and installations.
2016 Newsmakers: FBI Helps Businesses Start—and Grow
Manufacturing
When Frances Harder left a university-level teaching position in the late 1990s, she believed that there was something missing from instruction in fashion education. There was a lack of educators addressing the latest in technology and business practices. In 1999, she founded Fashion Business Inc. as an educational nonprofit for new entrepreneurs. Its mission would be to bring the latest techniques to those looking for a foothold in the business.
2016 Newsmakers: CFA Serves as the Hub of California’s Apparel Industry
Fashion
For more than 20 years, the California Fashion Association has served as a central hub of the state’s apparel and textile industry. CFA President Ilse Metchek has been with the organization since it launched in 1995 in the aftermath of the El Monte sweatshop incident, drawing on her experience—and vast network—as a designer and manufacturer in Los Angeles to provide business information to its members.
2016 Newsmakers: Rosemary Brantley Leaves Otis as Fashion Department Exits DTLA
Fashion
After 36 years as the founding fashion chair of the Otis College of Art and Design, Rosemary Brantley stepped down from the fashion program she founded in 1980. Brantley will remain the principal designer and business partner in her own women’s clothing label, Staples, which launched the same year she took over the fashion design department.
2016 Newsmakers: MAGIC Owner UBM Buys Parent Company of MRket, Stitch, ATS
Trade Shows
Just when people thought MAGIC couldn’t get any larger, UBM—the trade show giant that owns MAGIC, Project, FN Platform and Pooltradeshow—purchased Business Journals Inc., which produces the MRket, Stitch, Accessories The Show and Fame trade shows.
2016 Newsmakers: Emerald Expositions Buys Swim Collective
Swim/Surf
Emerald Expositions LLC, the San Juan Capistrano, Calif.–based owner of Surf Expo and Outdoor Retailer, expanded its foothold in the swim and active businesses with the August acquisition of Swim Collective and its sister trade show, Active Collective, the Santa Barbara, Calif.–based trade shows founded by Shannon Leggett.
2016 Newsmakers: It’s Taps for the TPP Free-Trade Agreement
Import/Export
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade accord between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries, was poised to be approved this year by the U.S. Congress. But election-year politics put an official end to that as both presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump made it known they would not back the trade pact.
2016 Newsmakers: Hanjin Bankruptcy Sinks a Lot of Importer’s Revenue Goals
Import/Export
Los Angeles clothing importers were hit hard this year when Hanjin Shipping Co. filed for bankruptcy in South Korea on Aug. 31. The bankruptcy left several Hanjin vessels drifting at sea while the shipping line came up with funds to dock at global ports and terminals.
2016 Newsmakers: Israeli Manufacturing Giant Buys Three LA Contemporary Labels
Manufacturing
Three high-profile brands that epitomize the California lifestyle vibe were sold to Delta Galil this year, an Israeli clothing company known for making childrenswear, activewear and other garments for men and women.
2016 Newsmakers: Nasty Gal Files Chapter 11, Amoruso Steps Down
Manufacturing
Bankruptcies by apparel and retail ventures have been at the forefront of the news this year. Nasty Gal, the online clothing site based in downtown Los Angeles, was one of the latest to scamper to the courts looking for protection from creditors.
2016 Newsmakers: Capsule and Axis Launch in Los Angeles
Trade Shows
The Capsule trade show was deemed a success after 175 vendors exhibited at its inaugural Los Angeles show in October. Cofounder Deirdre Maloney confirmed that the 9-year-old, high-end contemporary show will be in Los Angeles to stay.
2016 Newsmakers: Mall Development Returns
Retail
Two years ago, retail was buzzing with talk that the mall was dead. At the National Retail Federation’s Big Show, Rick J. Caruso, founder of The Grove retail center in Los Angeles, said that the mall was doomed.
2016 Newsmakers: American Apparel Could be Sold Off in Pieces
Manufacturing
For the second time in a little more than one year, American Apparel headed to bankruptcy court while it searched for a buyer.
Two New Sections Planned for Upcoming Hong Kong Fashion Week
Trade Shows
The upcoming Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter, to be held Jan. 16–19, 2017, at the Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Centre, will be introducing two new apparel zones: fashionable sportswear and casualwear.
Not Just a Label to Live-Stream First Event Since Moving to LA
Events
Not Just a Label (NJAL), the international platform for emerging contemporary designers, recently expanded from London to Los Angeles and will host its first LA event since the move.
Iconix names EVP and CMO
Manufacturing
Jamie Cygielman has joined New York–based Iconix Brand Group Inc. as executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
American Apparel Workers Get a Slight Reprieve
Manufacturing
American Apparel workers might have a few more days to work at the huge factory in downtown Los Angeles and two other facilities.
Evrnu Regenerated Cotton: Sustainable the Second Time Around
Textiles
Levi’s and Target are among the early adopters of Evrnu regenerated cotton fiber, which uses 95 percent less water than virgin cotton.
The People, Companies and Ideas that Made News in 2016
Newsmakers 2016
From high-profile bankruptcies in manufacturing, shipping and e-commerce to million-dollar development projects across the Southland, 2016 was a year of stark contrasts for the apparel industry.
