California Apparel News

Downtown Los Angeles’ textile-event roster is expanding from the more-than-30-year veteran LA Textile at the California Market Center to additional productions—The Textile Show at the Cooper Design Space, The Fabric Show Los Angeles at The New Mart and A Fabric Affair at 212 E. 8th St. The Spring/Summer 2025 shows, which were held Feb. 27–March 1, were conveniently hosted within less than a quarter of a mile of one another in the city’s fashion district.

LA Textile promotes collaboration

During its Feb. 28­–March 1 run, LA Textile welcomed attendees to the CMC for sourcing, networking and educational seminars. At the NellyRodi booth, Jacqueline Rumohr, who is in charge of West Coast business development, reflected on the show’s changes since it launched in 1993.

“I’ve attended every single one as either an exhibitor or a designer unless I was living in New York,” said Rumohr. “We now have a lot of startups coming to the show.”

One of those startups was Hawaii’s Welina, owned by Mya Akana, who visited the show for the first time as she searched for light fabrics to suit her brand of updated classic Hawaiian shirts. Inspired by antique family artwork and her father’s durable vintage pieces, Akana designs with a new approach.

“The sizing from these companies doesn’t exactly fit local people. They’re made for tall, skinny surfer bodies and tourists. You have to appeal to that market, but I am focused on [fitting locals],” said Akana, who was searching for light fabrics that hold their shapes and cited Reyn Spooner as inspiration. “I am very interested in reverse printing. I love the softened look; it’s not too bold.”

At the booth for Jersey City, N.J.’s Windham Fabrics, Nayka Acuna, lead sales coordinator, fielded interest in bright hues and sustainable and organic options.

“I hear that a lot when we come to the L.A. show. I don’t hear that a lot on the East Coast,” Acuna said. “You never know who will be the newest contact you will find. It’s always exciting to work with new accounts and see what they are looking for and their different perspectives.”

There was cause for celebration at the D.P. Textile & Apparel and Solstiss booths as the brands prepared to introduce their collaboration through the opening of the Solstiss Boutique on the eighth floor of the CMC with a celebration on Feb. 29.

“We’ve been doing business with Solstiss for over 20 years, and we have clients that use our silks and their laces,” said Andrew Park, sales manager at D.P. “We figured it was time to complement each other and have a one-stop shop for the clients to come and buy the silks and match with the laces.”

The Textile Show launches at Cooper

The new show on the block, The Textile Show, ran Feb. 27–29 as a boutique-style event. In addition to its intimate selection of exhibitors, the show also offered educational seminars and creative sessions to network while finding design inspiration.

The show’s promise of carefully selected exhibitors with quality, natural materials attracted Vaune Pierce, owner of Vaune, a Moorpark, Calif., business that specializes in French-heirloom-style embroidery and smocking.

“I am always looking for really nice natural fabric that is 100 percent cotton or 100 percent silk so we can bring the traditions from many years ago to keep them going and not lose the artistry,” said Pierce. “Hopefully it doesn’t die away.”

At the booth for the Sausheim, France–headquartered Mitwill Textiles, sales manager Muriel Girardon presented her collection of European-produced fabrics. Girardon noted that attendees were interested in prints in all colorways, but florals were not ticking.

“More voile and lighter fabrics—cotton voile, chiffon in polyester; many people were asking for silk, which we carry as well,” said Girardon. “This is our second time in Los Angeles [during the textile events]. We would like to get noticed as we are just starting out in the U.S. market.”

New Mart hosts The Fabric Show Los Angeles

The Fabric Show Los Angeles hosted its Feb. 28–29 event at The New Mart, bringing its primarily North American and European trim and textile exhibitors to downtown. An intimate setting allowed designers to find low minimums and small-scale production.

Independent fashion agent Deena Novak found the selection at the show refreshing as she examined leathers, particularly a houndstooth style, displayed by Fine Fabric Sales. The show’s unique offerings struck Novak, who noted the array of options.

“Most of the exhibitors were very unique. Some of the knitwear people were doing basics that would work with a number of other things, which I thought was a good pairing,” Novak explained. “You can have one piece that is unique and it makes an entire outfit. Maybe with that houndstooth leather, the unique piece would be a skirt.”

Diana Muzzy was in town from Chicago to represent Fine Fabric Sales as attendees visited the booth from areas including Northern California, Utah and Texas. Muzzy’s lines include Tiss et Teint, Rainbow Leather and FCN.

“I like that it’s a show to supply fabric for smaller designers. There is a real niche for that, and there are lots of designers all around the world that are small,” Muzzy said. “A lot of fabric shows are geared for larger companies and bigger orders, so it’s nice to have an option like this one.”

Fine textiles at A Fabric Affair

Located close enough to the three other textile shows for attendees to reach it with ease—but far enough away to stand alone—A Fabric Affair focused on high-end lines. Exhibitors represented textile makers and yarn producers with deep roots in textile artistry.

At the New Edit LLC booth, Roberto Gottardo represented Weft, which was located next to the Italian line Menchi. Gottardo emphasized the importance of textures over color for the upcoming season.

“Texture is key—it’s very important,” Gottardo noted. “People like to do plain, but not the usual plain, so they always want texture. They all want something special but not ostentatious. Solids sell more, but they don’t want it to be basic.”