CIT Borrows Billions to Repay Debt in Money Crunch
CIT Group Inc., the largest apparel factor on the West Coast, has been vastly affected by the credit crunch filtering through lending institutions....
AAFA to Retailers: Know Your Customers, Market Creatively
TUCSON, Ariz.—With the economy down in the dumps and customers watching their pocketbooks, apparel makers and retailers have to tap into better marketing skills and offer innovative products to entice ...
Shippers Go Full Steam Ahead on Bringing In Imports
A rush of cargo is expected to hit West Coast ports in May and June as shippers try to avoid any labor problems that might arise when the longshore workers contract expires July 1....
Keeping Counterfeiters on Their Toes
Private investigators and police target L.A.’s copycat sellers...
Tracking Trade - With an Eye on 2009
Importers get updated at USA-ITA conference in Los Angeles...
Cumulation Setback
Provision to send Mexican fabric duty free to Central America gets delayed ...
Forever 21 Goes Global and Looks for Bigger Stores
With an eye toward becoming a publicly traded company, Forever 21 Inc. is expanding to South Korea and China as well as pumping up the size of its retail outlets to resemble fashion departmen...
Economic Woes Dampen Spirit of Hong Kong Fashion Week
HONG KONG—Up and down the aisles and booths filled with glitzy cocktail dresses, finely knit cashmere sweaters and crayon-colored childrenswear, the feeling inside the Hong Kong Convention and...
Slo-Mo Is the Economic Prediction Through 2008
financial, forecast, apparel, industry, economy
West Coast Port Workers Kick-Start Negotiations
The contract for more than 14,000 full-time dockworkers doesn’t expire for nearly five months, but already shippers are nervous that chaos may reign if negotiations go awry....
The Last Hurrah for Chinese Apparel Quotas?
In the U.S. apparel business, all eyes are on Europe....
AAFA Takes Aim at Knockoffs
This year, Nike Inc., the world’s No. 1 shoemaker, won several battles in its pitched war against Chinese counterfeiters....
Premium Dilemma: Fighting the Fakes
Since the beginning of the year, Antik Denim, the Los Angeles–based premium-denim label, has gone on the war path to catch counterfeiters selling Antik knockoffs on the Internet....
Overseas Buyers Find U.S. Apparel a Bargain
When Los Angeles fashion designer Sheri Bodell finished tabulating her Spring ’08 orders at the recent Fashion Coterie trade show in New York, she noticed a major geographic shift in buyers....
Slo-Mo Is the Economic Prediction Through 2008
For manufacturers and retailers this holiday season, the best words of advice could be this: Take a chill pill and don’t expect sales to be too spectacular....
Cargo Chaos Could Occur at Ports With Clean-Trucks Program
A new Clean-Trucks Program at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is facing major opposition and may not take effect until at least the middle of 2008 instead of the beginning of next year....
Importers Prepare for a Post-2008 World
The world of apparel importing will change drastically at the end of 2008....
Prince Rupert Port Prepares for Container Ships to Call Soon
The Port of Prince Rupert, located along the mist-shrouded upper reaches of Canada’s west coast, once was planned as a land link to ship Chinese silk from Asia to Europe....
Suits Filed Against Kenpo
Kenpo Inc.—the Los Angeles company known for its iPod jacket, unveiled in 2005, as well as its collection of jeans, shirts and urban fleecewear—is being sued by several companies claim...
American Apparel Deal Marches Ahead
An agreement to acquire American Apparel Inc., the Los Angeles apparel maker and retail chain known for its provocative ads and quirky founder, Dov Charney, was to have been completed by the ...
Counteracting the Counterfeiters
U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosts anti-counterfeiting event in L.A. ...
Young Designers Dominate San Francisco Fashion Week
The fourth season of San Francisco Fashion Week was marked by a host of new and young designers launching their lines and getting their first exposure to the runway....
St. John: New CEO, New Focus on Familiar Customer
St. John, the venerable knitwear company whose detour from its core customer a few years ago sent revenues tumbling, is hoping to reinvent its magic formula for success with the help of a new...
Dreams Fade for New Port in Baja California
A major Mexican port project in Baja California that would compete with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach may never go beyond the drawing board....
Embargos This Fall on Some Chinese Apparel
U.S. apparel importers are hoping they don’t get caught with their pants down as the quota on Chinese-made cotton trousers is swiftly filling up....
Economy Shifts Into Third Gear
The falling value of the U.S. dollar doesn’t bode well for tourists wishing to visit exotic lands overseas....
Coping With Quotas at H.K. Fashion Week
HONG KONG—Inside the cavernous halls packed with crisp cotton shirts, faded denim blue jeans and brightly decorated skirts, one simple piece of clothing captured just about every buyer’s attent...
Port Security Card Delayed
A much-touted security card that requires port workers and truckers to prove they are not illegal immigrants, terrorists or criminals was supposed to be in place by the end of last year. But a number of techn...
Suitmaker Hartmarx Looks to Two California Companies for Growth
Inside a red brick building in Santa Monica, Calif.’s high-tech corridor, two small apparel companies have shifted into high gear to create new lines for their new owner, Hartmarx Corp. ...
Trends Help Draw an International Crowd at L.A. Fashion Market
Business was surprisingly good at the June 8–12 run of the Los Angeles Fashion Market at the California Market Center, The New Ma...
Style Trend Forecaster WGSN Looks to 2009
While some apparel companies are focused on forecasting the trends six months out, the Worth Global Style Network (
Opposition to Port Clean-Air Plan Goes Into Higher Gear
Trucking companies are starting to take off their mitts to challenge the local ports’ clean-air plan, which would virtually eliminate all independent drivers picking up and delivering to the docks in t...
Fashion District Thrives as Economic Engine
The Los Angeles Fashion District is celebrating its slightly more than 10- year anniversary with plans to expand its boundaries to the east and build on its claim as the hub of Southern California’s fa...
Hip City to Meet Hip Brand Store
As they say in real estate, “Location, location, location.”...
Clean-Air Plan Choking Calif.'s Trucking Industry
Truckers are an independent breed, but the ones waiting in line for hours at the local ports for cargo wouldn’t mind becoming a little more organized....
Free-Trade Agreement Brings Hope to Central America
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala—Inside a cinderblock-walled factory filled with hundreds of sewing machines, nimble- fingered workers are putting the final touches on a batch of lingerie headed for Los Angel...
Economic Outlook Sees Tempered Growth
Note to retailers: Don’t pump up those inventories this year. And don’t get too wild in hiring new people....
Uncertainty Swirls Around Free Trade in Textiles
Quota restrictions on Chinese-made apparel and textile imports don’t expire until the end of 2008, but already the winds of a trade war are gusting....
Port Problems Won't Flare Up Until 2008
Even though retail imports will jump about 10 percent this year, congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach should not be an issue....
Guatemalan Denim Maker Sets Sights on the Premium Market
Setting Up Business for Premium Denim in Central America...
Made in America Does Have Its Advantages
SANTA MONICA, Calif.—Apparel manufacturers that still make clothing in the Western Hemisphere have one thing in common....
Will Shipping Rates Float Importers' Boats?
LONG BEACH, Calif.—Negotiations begin soon on new shipping-rate contracts that start on May 1. But at this point, it is anybody’s guess where rates will go....
AAFA Annual Conference Is Built for Speed
DANA POINT, Calif.—Fast fashion has been the latest buzz word in the world of apparel and footwear manufacturing....
Shippers Push for Early ILWU Contract Negotiations
LONG BEACH, Calif.—Shipping line operators would like to avoid a repeat of the disastrous 2002 lockout, when all West Coast ports, including Long Beach and Los Angeles, were paralyzed for 11 days over ...
Lectra Unveils a Host of New and Updated Products
BORDEAUX, France—Sixty layers of thick, dark-blue denim were spread out across a brand-new automated cutting machine, bright lights blazing down....
Mexican Apparel Plants Are Diversifying for Self-Preservation
TIJUANA, Mexico—In an industrial park tucked away to the south of this border town, Prolink International Inc. has been making fleece jackets and T-shirts for years for such ...
Hong Kong Fashion Week Sees a Dip in U.S. Buyers
HONG KONG—Amidst the endless rows of printed dresses, striped shirts, faded blue jeans and fur jackets lined up inside the cavernous exhibition halls of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition...
Slow but Steady Growth Seen for 2007
A slight chill is blowing over Southern California’s economy, much like the recent weather that swept through the area....
Smooth Sailing Expected This Year at Area Ports
A record number of cargo containers will be sailing from Asia to the Los Angeles area this year as retail sales in the United States are forecast to edge up slightly over 2006....
The Dominican Republic Steps Up to Enter Free-Trade Agreement
By mid-January, the Dominican Republic will be poised to become the latest member of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, leaving Costa Rica the last country to climb on board....
