LOS ANGELES — With fashion week in New York at full throttle, the drums are beating louder for the runway shows here next month as designers David Meister, Jennifer Nicholson and Bradley Bayou have committed to participating and Bebe makes its catwalk debut.
Meister, whose $30 million dress and sportswear business owned by Kellwood Corp. is based south of downtown here, is among those on board for the first time. He debated staging in Los Angeles or New York, but decided to present his first runway show here, where fashion week runs from March 19 to 23.
“Most of our business does, in fact, take place in our New York showroom,” Meister said on Tuesday. “But it’s important to be a part of the L.A. community.
“I definitely think Los Angeles Fashion Week has made great strides from what it started as, so I thought this was the right time to be a part of it,” Meister said as he awaited confirmation on his date and time at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, where many of the shows take place under the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week banner.
The idea that this is the right time also motivated Nicholson to return home after showing in New York for several seasons, a spokeswoman said. Nicholson, who was unavailable for comment, will present her frothy confections on March 22.
And St. John, which is in the midst of changes in its design and image under the stewardship of chief executive officer Richard Cohen, is returning for a second round, closing the shows on March 23 in the main tent at Smashbox.
“The shows keep evolving each season, and we’re starting to find more people are giving a look at L.A.,” said Fern Mallis, executive director of 7th on Sixth, which organizes the event. “They’re seeing it as an opportunity to open doors to another audience. They’re seeing L.A. as a marketplace and not just a showcase.”
Bradley Bayou is back after returning to the runway — and fashion business — last season. The calendar opens Sunday, March 19, with Kevan Hall and Louis Verdad.
And for the first time, 7th on Sixth organizers are presenting a day devoted to denim brands, on March 21. Among the marquee names signed up is Antik Denim, which caused buzz last season — and not all of the positive variety. The brand had an overflow of guests, poor crowd management and a parade of almost nude models, which has become business-as-usual for many denim lines presenting here.
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One 7th on Sixth official, who asked not to be identified, said “organizational issues are being addressed, and we are reinforcing the idea that buyers are interested in seeing jeans, not nipples.”
The 70 or so exhibiting vendors who had set up shop at the Beverly Hilton are being relocated to HD Buttercup, the cavernous interior design marketplace near Smashbox Studios, Mallis said.
Also generating much interest is the announcement that Bebe will show for the first time on the runway as part of a special collection rollout that includes its new face, Mischa Barton, and design collaborators David Cardona and Arianne Phillips (see related story on page 4). The event, taking place near Smashbox Studios, is expected to draw celebrity friends of Phillips, Cardona and Barton, as well as hundreds of Bebe fans, said company founder Manny Mashouf.
Even with the renewed consideration among some companies to show in Los Angeles, Sheri Bodell is taking her rock ‘n’ roll chick collection to Paris for the first time and showing at the Carousel du Louvre. The date was pending confirmation at press time.
“I decided I want to try something new and expand globally,” said Bodell, who also hired the Modern showroom in Milan and a boutique publicity agency in Paris.
About 20 percent of Bodell’s sales are in Europe and Asia, and she’s keen on growing both markets by focusing on both overseas specialty and department retailers. Total sales for 2004 were $3.5 million for the brand, and Bodell is projecting an increase to $5 million this year.
Bodell will also launch her Italian-made line of leather boots, sandals and stilettos. She will also show the collection March 3-6 at the Hotel Ritz Vendôme.
“The shows in L.A. have been great, but I want to build my brand,” she said. “I want to show earlier, I want to show in front of more international buyers. I feel the whole vibe of the collection will work better in Paris.”