LA Fashion Market Optimistic But Cautious Part 1

Cited: Apparel News

During the March 19-23 run of the Los Angeles fashion market showroom owners and sales reps saw a renewed sense of optimism even though many retailers remain cautious in spending it seemed that business had not yet completely recovered.

Buyers had a lot of ground to cover, with showrooms open at the California Market Center, The New Mart, the Cooper Design Space, the Gerry Building, the Lady Liberty Building and the 824 Building, as well as designer and contemporary merchandising on display at temporary trade shows Designers and Agents, Brighte Cos. and Focus.

Reports from exhibitors and showroom executives were mixed. Some reported having one of the best markets in several seasons; others said sluggish traffic was due to buyer fatigue. One thing everyone could agree on, however, was that the doom and gloom of markets past has lifted.

Cautious optimism at CMC

Business was mostly good at the California Market Center, according to salespeople and vendors at the CMC’s showrooms and the Focus show, which is produced by the CMC staff.

Sales were up 38 percent compared with the same show in the previous year at the Liza Stewart showroom, according to owner Liza Stewart. “This is as good as we can ask for,” Stewart said, noting the economy was still rough for many retailers.

Sales were even with last March at Rep et Trois showroom, said co-owner Michael Gae. However, sales were still much lower than the March 2008 market, which took place before the Great Recession hit. “The stores that went out of business then are not coming back,” Gae said.

Retailers shopping the CMC at the most recent market included Amazon.com, Belk, Boulmiche, Diane Merrick, Dillard’s, Fred Segal/Ron Herman, Kitson, Lisa Kline, Macy’s, Madison, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Von Maur.

Veteran retailer Diane Merrick noticed more retailers taking notes than ordering during the market. “Business has picked up, but people are still unsure of the economy,” she said. “It is difficult to get customers to open their pocketbooks.”

One retailer looking for bargains was Mark Encinas, a buyer for boutique Media Noche, which will be debuting in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhood in May. “We want to pick up new items, but they have to be new items at a good price point,” he said. “We’re trying to keep denim under $100.” Encinas moonlights as a boutique buyer. His fulltime job is sales director at Los Angeles footwear and apparel label Royal Elastics.

Business at Focus received mixed reviews. Matt Geiger, founder of street-wear company Natures Mistake, said his investment into a Transit booth paid off. He and his booth partner, a new jeans label called Railcar, paid $1,600 for a 10-by-10 booth. Geiger said he made his money back and made a profit. Plus, he noted, the cost to exhibit at Focus is far below the cost to show at the MAGIC Marketplace in Las Vegas. “I don’t have to go to Vegas to get more L.A. customers,” he said.

Another vendor, Joan Lee, said foot traffic was light at Focus and sales were poor. “I’m not here to make people happy. I’m here to make sales,” she said. “If there’s no foot traffic, there is no point.”

D&A mixes it up

Designers and Agents took a different approach to the Fall market this year, opting to skip its traditional annex space at the Cooper Design Space in favor of an empty showroom on the fifth floor of The New Mart. The bulk of D&A’s exhibitors remained in their usual home on the third floor of The New Mart. “The opportunity to keep D&A within one building came up, and we took it,” said Ed Mandelbaum, who co-produces the bicoastal boutique show. Buyer attendance was on par with the same market in 2009, and, despite the show’s smaller footprint, the brand roster grew slightly to 142 brands. “There was not a spare inch; we filled the third floor to the brim,” Mandelbaum said.

New brands on the show floor included Halston Heritage, which brought a selection of gowns and sportswear to the show; Gabriele Frantzen; Katie Diamond; Kock; Laurence Heller; Love SAM; and Plein Sud Jeanius.

Nicole Bouthot of the Olarte-Foussard Showroom in New York brought several overseas brands to D&A for the first time and reported that buyers opted either for classics with a twist or more showy pieces with specialty sequins, studs or fur. Ambre Babzoe, for example, did well with fur jackets and knits bedecked in 3-D sequins that mimic studs. Hairth, a line of hand-dyed separates from the Philippines, did well with military-inspired pieces such as army-green jodhpurs and a crisply tailored cotton blazer.

U, a newly launched fashion basics line out of Los Angeles, made its D&A debut at the show, earning interest with its jersey and silk combo T-shirt dresses, cropped sweatshirts, and slouchy tops.

Strong start and end at Cooper and New Mart

Ellen Cope of the new Lefties Showroom in the Cooper Design Space said, “Thursday and Friday were amazing. The weekend was a little scary, but we’re finishing strong.  It was the best market in a long time.”  Showroom owners in the Cooper building and The New Market reflected her sentiment saying that attendance seemed staggered but important buyers did stop to get Immediates for Fall and Winter.

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My Take: Fashion will never go out of style or die.  People will always need clothing!  It is the tastes of the people that change.  Remember when Levi’s first came out?  Everybody wanted a pair of jeans!  Now there are so many styles to choose from and people will change that style with what they want to wear.  For example, stretch denim jeans are what is in style for the ladies right now.  Of course the style of those stretch jeans is what is different this year.  This year low rise jeans are what women are looking for.

Another fashion that is about to come up is the prom dresses.  Of course this fashion is only seasonal, but the style changes for dresses for homecoming.  Both are usually formalwear of some style, which changes every year.  But, every year teenage girls start searching for that perfect dress.  School fashion changes because the people change.  When teenagers become college students, they start looking for Greek apparel.  Why?  Because many of them will be joining sororities!  Then they will be wanting women’s Greek tees.

When passion and usually does not change is work fashion.  Work clothing only seems to improve.  For example, flame resistant clothing gets better as technology improves.  Carhartt makes some of the best fire resistant work clothing on the market.  This means that Carhartt clothes not only improve with technology, they make the workplace safer.

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