
The Rise in 3D Allows the Technology to Support Fashion-Focused PLM
3D Fashion
Auto companies use three-dimensional imaging when designing cars, so it was only a matter of time before fashion companies made widespread use of 3D imaging, said Ashley Crowder, co-founder and chief executive officer of Vntana, a Los Angeles–based software company that focuses on making 3D imaging scalable for e-commerce, social media and other ventures.

Trina Turk Docks Its Swim Line at Lunada Bay
Summer of Swim
As the swim season draws near, Trina Turk looks forward to new beginnings this summer while consumers seek the brand’s stylish options to enjoy sunny days.

Asesina Designs Looks to Lift Fashions for Woman Athletes
Manufacturing
In the past few years, more media attention has been paid to women’s sports and leading female athletes such as Serena Williams, Megan Rapinoe and Naomi Osaka, who have become mainstream celebrities. Osaka has inked deals to represent leading fashion and beauty brands. Williams and Rapinoe have developed their own fashion lines.

Epson Pushes Ahead in Printer Innovation With New Releases
Technology
At Epson America, Inc., the first half of 2021 has seen the release of new printers that will serve the needs of an evolving apparel industry. Earlier this year, the company unveiled its SureColor F3070, an industrial direct-to-garment printer and, on April 13, it released its industrial-level SureColor F10070H 76-inch-wide dye-sublimation machine.

Maison Kitsuné Releases Its Own L.A. Style at New Store
RETAIL
The Maison Kitsuné brand opened its first West Coast store in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood in February. The Paris-headquartered brand is already laying claim to some Los Angeles style.

DJM Recapitalizes Lido Marina Village, Updates Center’s Looks, Stores
Retail
DJM, a lifestyle-retail-center developer with offices in Los Angeles and San Jose, Calif., recently announced a $70 million recapitalization of its Lido Marina Village retail center in Newport Beach, Calif.

Cooper Design Space To Remain Committed to Fashion, Owners Unveil New Company Name
Trade Shows
In a fast-changing downtown Los Angeles, the Cooper Design Space showroom building will maintain its focus on fashion, said the building’s management; however, the owners will be unveiling changes before May, such as a new name for the Cooper and its sibling buildings—The Hirsh Collective—as well as new websites, logos and social-media outreach.

Levi’s Raises Outlook After Releasing First Quarter Results
Finance
Denim giant Levi Strauss & Co. continues to navigate the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. For its first financial quarter of 2021, released April 8, the brand reported net revenues of $1.3 billion, down 13 percent compared to the same quarter the previous year. The decline was attributed to closures of company-operated stores as well as third-party retail locations.

Onitsuka To Rodeo Drive, Other Brands Open New Stores
RETAIL
Japanese footwear-and-apparel brand Onitsuka Tiger opened its first West Coast flagship last month at 474 N. Rodeo Dr. in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Andrew Hanson Unveils Clothing That Speaks
ART MEETS FASHION BASICS
Andrew Hanson hopes to go beyond labels with Clothing That Speaks, his Los Angeles–based emerging fashion line that made its official debut in January.

Skechers to DTLA
RETAIL
Skechers, the Manhattan Beach, Calif.-headquartered footwear-and-apparel company, recently unveiled a sign for its new bricks-and-mortar store in downtown Los Angeles.

Teller, a High-End Multi-brand Women’s Boutique, Opens at Platform
RETAIL
The multi-brand boutique was once the dominant business model for fashion retail. David Fishbein and Joey Miller, the co-founders of The Platform boutique retail center in Culver City, Calif., believe a lot of potential remains in the business model.

Meler Productions Goes Secret Agent With James Bond-Inspired Show
FASHION
About 68 years after the first James Bond novel was published, the world of the fictional secret agent continues to fascinate.

OC Fashion Week Pulls Out the Stops With Help From Pol’ Atteu Beverly Hills
FASHION EVENTS
OC Fashion Week produced its 24th season on March 22 with a group of designers who displayed Spring 2021 styles at The Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

Los Angeles and Other Counties Relax COVID Restrictions, Retail Widens Capacity
EVENTS
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health gave the go ahead Monday for the area’s businesses to advance to the less-strict orange tier of COVID-19 restrictions.

Spring Blossoms for Ige's Paper Design House Brand
FASHION RETAIL
Helene Ige has been selling one-of-a-kind designs, homewares and objets d’art at her self-named Ige lifestyle gallery in Los Angeles. She also has been making fashion for the Paper Design House brand.

Le Brume Jardin Opens
RETAIL
Le Brume Jardin, a new Los Angeles-based sustainable jewelry, clothing and accessories store, recently took a bow.

Levi’s Brings Back the Levi’s Red Collection
Retro in Red
As fashion continues to trend toward the 1990s, Levi Strauss & Co. envisioned a new approach to its Levi’s Red collection, which was released late in the decade, as it relied on silhouettes similar to the original with modern sustainable fabrications.

B2B E-Commerce Marketplace Heats Up As NuOrder Announces Major Investment
Technology
The market for business-to-business e-commerce platforms has been heating up in the last year. The Los Angeles–headquartered technology company NuOrder announced last month that it had raised $45 million in a round of funding led by venture capital firms Brighton Park Capital and Imaginary Ventures.

Saitex’s Sustainable Plant Aims to Help Bring Back U.S. Manufacturing
Manufacturing
The Vietnam-headquartered company Saitex recently opened a denim facility in Vernon, Calif., just south of downtown Los Angeles. Saitex USA, a 52,000-square-foot denim plant, will serve as a factory of the future, said Sanjeev Bahl, the company’s chief executive officer and founder.

After 30 Years, Asher Fabric Concepts Continues to Drive Innovation
Textiles
When Asher Shalom visited some family members in Los Angeles in 1988, he surveyed the metropolis’s fashion scene and saw an industry that had excelled at milling fleece and denim, but he thought that the city’s business had been coming up short in milling novelty fabrics. Shalom had fallen in love with Los Angeles after visiting from his native Israel and wanted to move to the City of the Angels. He believed he had something to add to the city’s fashion business through his background in fabric engineering. He started the novelty mill Asher Fabric Concepts in 1991.

Economic Report Details Pandemic Devastation To California Fashion
Finance
A recent report from the Otis College of Art and Design provided details regarding how California’s creative businesses, including fashion, were dealt major setbacks during the spread of COVID-19 and how these industries were faring just before the pandemic.

Odaingerous Brand Tries On Footwear
FOOTWEAR
On March 25, Odaingerous designer Odain Watson released Drama, a footwear capsule collection. Made in Italy, the line features three styles—a pump, high-top sneakers and military-style boots.

Cybersecurity Drill Offered by CISA and RH-ISAC
CYBERSECURITY
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and umbrella trade group Retail and Hospitality ISAC, of which National Retail Federation is a partner, have developed a cybersecurity drill, which will run in June—with an exact date yet to be announced—and they are inviting businesses to participate.

Steve Aoki T-shirt Raises Funds, Awareness Against AAPI Hate
FASHION
Steve Aoki has made statements about his Asian heritage with his music and his fashion label Dim Mak. He recently made a statement on violence against people of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage with a T-shirt that will raise money for Stop AAPI Hate group, he said.

Terminal 27 x Middleman Pop-Up Makes A Run
RETAIL
There’s a new concept store coming to Los Angeles’ Mid-City area. Terminal 27 is scheduled to officially open doors in April. The public will get a preview of this shop with the Terminal 27 x Middleman Pop-Up.

Former Gap Inc. CEO Files IPO
IPO
A little more than a year after exiting specialty-retail giant Gap Inc., Art Peck, the company’s former chief executive officer, is looking to get back into the business.

Technology Company 3DLook Announces $6.5 Million in Funding
FIT TECHNOLOGY
3DLOOK recently announced that it had raised $6.5 million in Series A funding, which brings the technology company’s total fund-raising to $11.2 million. The recent round of funding was led by Almaz Capital with participation by TMT Investments and Zubr Capita.

Fred Segal Sign Removed From Its Longtime Melrose Perch
RETAIL
For decades, the Fred Segal logo marquee sign overlooked the busy intersection of Melrose Avenue and Crescent Heights Boulevard in Los Angeles. But that mid-city neighborhood’s once-familiar skyline changed.

Moss Adams Evaluates Pandemic World
RETAIL
After a harsh year navigating COVID-19, retailers will be greeted by a robust economy in the third and fourth quarters of 2021, said Frank Kaufman, national practice leader in retail for the accounting and consulting firm Moss Adams.

Klarna Charts a Focus Beyond Fintech With Toplooks Acquisition
Klarna’s Future Focus
The Stockholm-headquartered payments company Klarna entered the United States market in 2015 as part of a wave of fintech companies that offered digital layaway programs. These technologies have been embraced by millennials and Gen Z.

Pandemic Blues Decrease During Recent L.A. Market Week
Trade Shows
With COVID-19 vaccinations being rolled out and pandemic restrictions being scaled back, L.A. Market Week took place in downtown Los Angeles March 7–10 with more optimism than has been seen over the past year. While still cautious, showroom buildings in the area’s fashion district, including the California Market Center, The New Mart and the Cooper Design Space, welcomed buyers to stock up on inventory.

Coterie Digital’s Second Run Gives Forum To New and Established Brands
Trade Shows
The Coterie trade show for contemporary women’s fashion wrapped up its month-long Coterie Digital marketplace on March 16. It was the second run for the online marketplace.

Saitex, A Sustainability Manufacturing Star, Opens L.A. Facility
Sustainable L.A. Denim
Saitex, a Vietnam-headquartered denim manufacturer that has been considered one of the pioneers in sustainable-denim production, recently opened its first United States facility, in Vernon, Calif., an industrial city neighboring downtown Los Angeles, said Sanjeev Bahl, chief executive officer and the company’s founder.

Downtown L.A. Designer Michael Costello Opens Pop-Up Shop
RETAIL
Michael Costello, a "Project Runway" alum and designer who has dressed celebrities such as Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, is getting back into bricks-and-mortar retail.

NuOrder Announces $45 Million in Funding
BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS E-commerce
NuORDER, a Los Angeles-headquartered business-to-business e-commerce platform announced March 10 that it had raised $45 million in a round of funding led by Brighton Park Capital and Imaginary Ventures.

Grammy Winner Nas Flexes Garmento Muscles With HSTRY
FASHION
Nas won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album on March 14 and he also is flexing his garmento muscles.

August Getty Unveils Tinitus, a Virtual Couture Installation
FASHION
Many runway shows went virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic and August Getty, a designer who started his career in Los Angeles, has taken digital fashion events a step further.

Fashion Rallies Around International Women's Day
FASHION
International Women’s Day was observed March 8 and fashion businesses put their creativity around celebrations and styles to support a day to focus on gender equity and women’s achievement.

Clubhouse, Ultra Hip Audio Social Media App, Gives Home to a Fashion Forum
RETAIL
Fashion-business advice comes in all shapes and sizes. Earlier this year, Syama Meagher and Edwina Kulego put together a fashion-business forum on Clubhouse, the ultra-hip, audio, social-media app. Entrepreneurs from around the world listen in on this forum.

Fillogic, a Micro-Distribution Fulfillment Hub Platform, Announces Funding
RETAIL
Fillogic is a New York-based platform that builds and operates micro-distribution hubs at malls for retail fulfillment. The platform redevelops underused areas at malls and stores and turns them into fulfillment centers.

Sole Purpose Hopes to Inspire Through Fashion
FASHION
Kavon Massenburg was in a world of trouble a few years ago. He had been arrested for dealing drugs and had been hospitalized for a gunshot wound.
West Coast Trend Show Generates Solid Business at On-site L.A. Show
Trade Shows
After almost a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person trade-show format is coming back to life. Last month, in-person trade shows were produced in Orlando, Fla., and at the Dallas Market Center in Dallas. Over Presidents Day weekend, an in-person trade show took place near the Los Angeles International Airport as COVID-19 cases had dipped in Los Angeles County, an area where numbers of COVID-19 cases had been high for much of the past year.

Kevan Hall Directs His First Fashion Film, ‘Together Again’
Fashion on Film
In lieu of a New York Fashion Week presentation, Kevan Hall told the story of an optimistic future surrounding his latest collection as he directed a film titled “Together Again,” which premiered Feb. 16 on the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Runway360 platform.

Culprit Underwear Approaches Sustainability With a Touch of Humor
Manufacturing
Using sustainable fabrics for jeans, T-shirts and underwear is usually serious business, but the Los Angeles–headquartered brand Culprit Underwear has developed a niche using humorous graphics to sell its ecologically sound, made–in–Los Angeles products.

CMC Uploaded Offers L.A. Market Week Preview
Trade Shows
For the fifth run of CMC Uploaded, the virtual trade show produced by the California Market Center in downtown Los Angeles, new seminar speakers and new exhibitors were on the roster for an L.A. Market Week Preview.

Liberty Fairs, LA Men’s Market Find Strength in Numbers
Trade Shows
After seven years of running solo in-person trade shows in downtown Los Angeles, the LA Men’s Market and Liberty Fairs tried out their first partnership by co-producing the virtual trade show Liberty Fairs x LA Men’s Market, which will wrap up March 9 after a month of doing business.

FashionGo Week to Become Biannual Digital Trade Show
Trade Shows
After a second run of FashionGo Week, which ran Feb. 8–12 on the FashionGo business-to-business wholesale online-market platform, the digital trade show anticipates becoming a regular feature on the trade-show calendar.

Onitsuka Tiger, Other New Brick-and-Mortar Stores Opening in L.A.
RETAIL
Los Angeles retail is seeing a few new store openings. Among them is Onitsuka Tiger, which recently wrapped up a digital fashion show at Milan Fashion Week on Feb. 27.

Fred Segal, Retail Innovator, 87
Remembering Fred Segal
Fred Segal was considered the founder of the specialty-retail approach that ushered in an influential Los Angeles and California sense of cool. He died Feb. 25 in Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif.
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