LOS ANGELES — Two isn’t necessarily better than one when it comes to market weeks in Los Angeles.
The new Los Angeles Contemporary Market was staged three weeks earlier and split off for the first time from the April edition. The goal: to get a jump on the fall selling season, streamline the sourcing process and better coordinate with European vendor deadlines.
Still, the change left many participants insistent that the division must not be repeated for the market’s spring rendition in October.
Showroom owners from the California Market Center to the Cooper Design Space said that the dual markets disrupted buyer traffic and doubled the workload. Many couldn’t predict retailer attendance, especially those showrooms at the market center, which also catered to updated misses’ clientele.
“We saw Southern California buyers, but what was missing was the rest of the country,” said Michael Gae, co-owner of the Rep et Trois showroom at the market center.
Missy Arko, owner of the Fille showroom at the Cooper Design Space, said, “It’s frustrating. A lot of the buyers who were here came for D&A [the Designers & Agents show] and said they’d visit the showrooms in April.”
To the relief of many, Ed Mandelbaum, co-founder of the D&A show and one of the organizers of the new market, said a split market isn’t likely to be repeated in the fall. He said a show announcement is expected as early as this week.
“We have every indication to believe that there will be a unified market in October,” said Mandelbaum, who said traffic fell 7 percent to about 1,717 people compared with the D&A show last year.
The showroom owners at the New Mart building, such as Ginny Wong and Circle 5, reported healthy business.
“We’ve been writing orders like there’s no tomorrow,” said Wong, who noted strong buyer interest in the Tart line’s raw-edged wrap dresses and cotton sweats, and Lu Lu Lame’s delicately jeweled camisoles and velvet shrugs.
Officials at the market center, a cornerstone of the fashion district that couldn’t provide meatier marketing support of the new, earlier date because of budget constraints, said they hoped the two markets would produce a traffic level at least equal to last year’s single April event.
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“To split and/or fragment market dates within a specific geographic area is to dilute the effectiveness of each of the markets and is a show of disrespect for our retailers’ greatest commodity when they go to market — time,” said Cecil Strickland, executive director of retail relations at the market center.
Elyse Kroll, president of ENK International, which produces the Brighte event, said she expects to do an April show because of a softer market.
“Traffic patterns weren’t there,” Kroll said. “A number of our vendors did well, but it was an incomplete market.”
A number of retailers shopped the market, including Nordstrom and Barneys New York, as did specialty stores, some of which appreciated the market’s new schedule.
“It’s the perfect timing for us, because we like to work late into the season,” said Stefani Greenfield, co-owner of the Scoop stores, who was buying a lot of summer immediates such as sexy T-shirts from Fifi and Cadeau, silk camis from Gold Hawk and private label beach pants and cotton voile skirts from Tysa for her Hamptons and Miami locations. “We go to Europe and the shows and then come back and write orders here.”
Greenfield said she planned to return in April as does Jaye Hersh, co-owner of Intuition in West Los Angeles.
“For me, [the show was] fine and I picked up some great new handbag lines,” Hersh said. “But all the vendors were complaining.”
Hersh had denim on her mind and reordered from Antik, Stitch’s and 575.
Denim’s omnipresence at D&A didn’t subside with the launch of new lines, some begun by already established players such as R U Blue, a western-influenced line by Blue Cult. Others made debuts by breakaway designers, including Robin’s Jean, a new line of denim by Robin Chretien, a former designer with Hudson jeans. Former Von Dutch owner Michael Cassel with business partner Michael Paradise also came out with a line called Stronghold, using selvage shuttle denim. Stronghold was a denim line around Los Angeles at the turn of the 20th century.
“Authenticity sells itself,” Cassel said.
Giving the denim business legs this season was a heavy dose of embroidery, studding and hand-painted details as seen during Brighte at Switch USA and Streets Ahead, a onetime line of accessories that now includes ribbed tanks, blue jeans and a new collection of active sets emboldened with chunky jeweled crosses and fleur-de-lis.
And the addition of such bling bling has raised prices. Streets Ahead jeans wholesale from $97 to $397, but no one seemed to mind.
“They can’t get enough of it, and the blingier the better,” said Michelle Sack, co-owner of the line.
Men’s wear looks offered a sedate complement to the flashier styles. San Francisco-based Paola showed schoolboy pants in tweed fabrications with striped shirts laced with Lurex.
Eager to tap into the affluent U.S. shopper, foreign lines represented a strong resource base at D&A and Brighte, such as Paris-based Nell & Me, Amsterdam-based 10 Feet and Belgium-based Mist, despite the weak dollar. Mist, which was selling dressier styles, such as sequined satin tanks, V-neck dresses with tulle overlay and silk turtlenecks with flutter sleeves, said it wasn’t meeting resistance to its wholesale prices of $130 to $280.
“We’re not seeing any negative impact; we just got picked up by Barneys New York,” said Mist production coordinator Hanne Strobbe.
Tokyo-based Moyuru offered a rich collection of earth-toned knits, wools and silks in drapier fits, such as turtleneck dresses, wraps and coats, with wholesale prices ranging from $40 to $250.
“Buyers are appreciating the less-clingy fit the line offers compared to most contemporary brands,” said Aziza Chorsi, owner of American International Traders, Moyuru’s U.S. distributor.
Another trend on prominent display was the use of brocade, jacquard and men’s wear fabrics. A.B.S. by Allen Schwartz used the fabric in its jeans for embellishment, for cuff and lapel trim on jackets and striping on its men’s wear corsets. Jacquard jeans-style pants and jackets by Gasp were paired with crinkled silk camisoles and tanks with appliqués.
Bohemian flair lent itself to gypsy chic with flowing knits and distinctive crocheted styles. Sunner was a new line at D&A offering crocheted tunics with racerbacks and easy-fitting linen cotton dresses with crocheted details. Lilja Designs at D&A was selling briskly with its alpaca dresses in lace stitches and mohair dusters. T-shirt line My-Tee was offering open-work crocheted shrugs with gold sparkle closures.
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