Swine Flu Stoppages in Mexico Reverberate in U.S. Apparel Cos.
The swine flu outbreak in Mexico is costing California companies making clothing in that country millions of dollars to cover the expense of government-mandated factory closings and a high-rate of abs...
Shipping Industry 'Slow Steaming' Back to Recovery
It will be years before U.S. consumers are snapping up as many flat-screen TVs, laptop computers and frilly dresses as they were in 2007....
West Coast Ports Ease Fees to Encourage More Traffic
When the Port of Los Angeles saw its cargo-container volumes plummet 17 percent in the first three months of this year, it decided to start whittling away at a basket of fees it imposes on ca...
Georges Marciano Pledges to Bring Manufacturing Back to California
Running as an independent, the former Guess executive sees no barrier to becoming governor....
Long Beach Port Gets Green Light for Major Terminal Renovation Project
The Port of Long Beach is going full steam ahead on a $750 million project that has been on the drawing board for nearly a decade....
Economic Recovery Will Be Slow in Coming This Year
Things will get worse before they get better....
L.A.'s Largest Blue Jeans Factory Has a Formula for Success
On the floor of the brightly lit factory, sewing machines hum as workers put the finishing touches on thousands of darkly tinted blue jeans that will eventually sell for $140 to $220. In another row, ...
Bringing in Innovation Essential for Apparel Makers and Retailers
BONITA SPRINGS, Fla.—Credit makes the apparel and retail world go round, and a lack of credit is playing havoc with the industry....
Perfect Storm Brewing for West Coast Ports
If you can persevere for three years, the U.S. economy should be making a very nice comeback by 2012....
U.S. Retail Downturn Takes Toll on Central America
Texas co-op buys stake in Guatemalan jeans factory....
Texas Cooperative Buys Major Share of Largest Central American Jeans Factory
Plains Cotton Cooperative Association announced on Feb. 23 it has purchased the cutting, sewing and laundry equipment of Koramsa, a gigantic factory located in the heart of Guatemala...
Trade Pacts Jostle in Line for Approval
When President Bush’s term expired in January, three free-trade agreements were left with a semi-uncertain future....
Chilly Economic Winds Blow Through Hong Kong Fashion Week
HONG KONG—Inside the upper regions of Hong Kong Fashion Week, the trade-show floor turned into a scene right out of Hollywood. ...
Importers Face New Requirements With Customs' '10+2' Rule
Come Jan. 26, all importers bringing in goods transported on ships will have to change the way they do business when the federal government ushers in new customs regulations....
New Rules for the Work Force in '09
California lawmakers don’t make New Year’s resolutions, they make new laws. ...
FBI Moves to CMC in the New Year
Fashion Business Inc., the business incubator for small- to mid-size apparel companies, is packing its bags and moving from its long-time headquarters at The New Mart to a l...
Designers Gear Up for an Indie Take on L.A. Fashion Week
Expect an independent spirit to run through Los Angeles Fashion Week next March....
For Retail Liquidators, Business Is Booming as Others Go Bust
The gloom surrounding the retail industry is turning into a boom for the merchants of doom....
Panicked Retailers Start Holiday Sales Early
At JCPenney, the frost wasn’t even off the Halloween pumpkins when the mid-tier department store pulled out a red pen and slashed by 50 percent the price on many of the store’s colorful Christm...
AAFA/CFA Summit: Tough Economic Times Mean 'Think Harder, Smarter'
The economy will be treading water for quite a long time, which is why retailers and manufacturers will need to sharpen their skills in marketing, merchandising and brand building to survive....
Quotas to End Soon, But Apparel Makers Still Cautious About China
With the end of quotas on Chinese-made clothing more than two months away, apparel makers are trying to figure out whether this really means the beginning of free trade. Most are extremely doubtful....
Gray's Day at Smashbox
Singer Macy Gray was front and center at two of Thursday’s shows at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, Calif.The singer, clad in blue jeans and a colorful Ed Hardy T-shirt,...
Kevan Hall at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week
A standing-room only crowd packed the main tent at Smashbox Studios to see the opening fashion show, headlined by Los Angeles designer Kevan Hall. In the audience, sitting in the front row was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio...
Outlook Lean and Mean Going Into Holiday '08 Season
What a difference a year makes....
Forever 21 Makes an Offer for Mervyns' Stores
Mervyns’ bad luck may be Forever 21’s good fortune....
Not Your Daughter's Jeans Sells 50 Percent Stake in Company
Not everything is doom and gloom in the economy....
4Whatitsworth, Jolna Team Up For New Venture
Alden Halpern and the Jolna brothers, Steve and Kerry, have known each other for more than a decade....
Ports Take Their Show on the Road, Trying to Sell, Sell, Sell
With overall container traffic down at California’s ports, marketing executives are polishing their pitches to sell their facilities as the best place to ship cargo....
Apparel Industry Keeps Watch on Wall Street's Financial Crisis
Could Wall Street be the Grinch that stole Christmas? ...
Ports' Clean Trucks Program Is Not Going Full Steam Ahead
The countdown clock is ticking for the new Clean Trucks Program set to begin Oct. 1 at Southern California’s two largest ports. But many are wondering if the ports will be ready on time....
Anna Kenney at Otis: Being a Designer Requires Giving 120 Percent
Anna Kenney, director of design and operations for swim and surfwear label Hot Tuna International, chalks up much of her success to the incredible mentors who guided her along the way....
Putting the 'Hot' Back Into Hot Topic
Hot Topic’s Betsy McLaughlin is a busy woman these days...
Critical Court Date Looms for Calif.'s Port Trucking Industry
For trucking companies picking up cargo at the local ports, Sept. 8 is their D Day—Deadline Day....
Central American Cos. Lining Up to Buy Fabric From Mexico
At the beginning of August, two 40-foot metal containers filled to the brim with Mexican-made denim landed on the door step of Koramsa, the largest blue-jeans manufacturer in Guatemala....
Charlotte Russe Faces Challenging Frontier
It all started early this year, when Charlotte Russe Holding Inc. buyers rolled the dice and gambled. For pre-Fall, they decided to bring in a larger mix of subdued merchandise marke...
St. John Tapping Into New Ideas and New Markets to Grow Business
For St. John, the venerable knitwear company founded in 1962, the last year has been a time of evolution....
Higher Prices a Sign of the Times at Hong Kong Fashion Week
HONG KONG—The beginning of 2009 marks the end of U.S. quotas on all Chinese apparel, which means that American buyers should have been flooding Hong Kong Fashion Week to survey the 1,...
San Francisco Fashion Week Takes a Vacation
For the first time in five seasons, San Francisco Fashion Week won’t be taking place this year....
New L.A. Textile Show Plans to Expand With Global Vendors
Officials from the Dallas Market Center were in Los Angeles recently to flesh out the details of a twice-a-year textile show they are planning for the Los Angeles Convention Center n...
Central America's Apparel Industry Hopes to Open New Markets Beyond the U.S.
Under a canopy of bright fluorescent lights that illuminate a giant factory the size of a football field, 1,000 workers put the finishing touches on an array of colorful knit shirts headed mo...
Port Wants to Get Rid of Independent Truckers by 2013
By the year 2013, only drivers employed by trucking companies will be allowed to bring cargo in and out of the Port of Los Angeles....
Dallas Group Plans New L.A. Textile Show
Los Angeles is becoming the hot spot for textile shows....
Samsung Looks West
South Korean giant is California dreamin’ about introducing new labels...
Material World Coming to the West Coast in '09
After years of eyeing the West Coast market, the organizers of the Material World textile, technology and sourcing trade show are planning to set up a three-day Los Angeles show in 2009, acco...
Playing the Waiting Game on Mexican Fabric
Maybe the odds makers in Las Vegas should start taking bets on when Mexico and Canada can start sending fabric to Central America to make clothing that returns to the United States duty-free....
Tarrant Apparel Founder Wants to Take the Company Private
After years of being a publicly traded company, the two top executives in Tarrant Apparel Group want to convert the company into a private entity....
Quiksilver Lands Latest Victory Over Roxy Name
After a six-year tussle over competing trademarks, Quiksilver Inc. has won the latest and perhaps last legal round in its case against a small Los Angeles apparel manufacturer that had a simi...
Economy Has the Apparel Industry Cooling Its Heels
With the winds of recession blowing over Southern California, many apparel makers and retailers are battening down the hatches until the economic outlook improves. Clothing makers and store owners are...
Perry Ellis Plans Aggressive Growth for C&C Laundry
When George Feldenkreis, a Cuban immigrant living in Miami, started out in the apparel industry, he was known as the “guayabera king,” the person who imported thousands of those boxy ple...
Bush Administration Powers Up to Pass Colombian Free Trade Agreement
President Bush is prepared to do a little arm twisting to get the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement passed before he leaves office next year....
