To achieve success, contemporary designers adjust their business strategies as well as their looks.
With an increasing shortage of elbow room in the contemporary category, manufacturers are looking to stand out by taking a fresher approach to design and distribution.
Contemporary exhibitors at WWDMAGIC are exercising more selectivity with retailers instead of trying to be everywhere at once, and new companies are using the same discretion. The result is that, though still crowded, the show floor in Las Vegas is not quite as frenzied as last August. Trend-driven resources are contending with more unique, feminine designs, and vendors are making the necessary business adjustments.
“As always, we’re looking for the next important shift in the market,” said Laura McConnell, vice president of fashion at Advanstar Communications, parent company of MAGIC International. “Recently, we have focused more on collections, particularly in Pedestal.”
About 200 contemporary brands are participating at this edition of WWDMAGIC, according to McConnell, and Pedestal’s juried showcase features a handpicked group of standout domestic and international exhibitors who lend diversity and originality to a heavily populated category.
“There has to be a twist,” said Dana Halverstadt, executive vice president of sales for Marisa K, a division of Los Angeles-based Z. Cavaricci. “You’ve got to have an edge,” she added, referring to increasing competition from junior brands and celebrity lines.
The three-year-old Los Angeles-based company gets its edge from high-quality fabrics and hardware detailing. Halverstadt said buyers are spending more conservatively, automatically eliminating a number of potential retailers, but that pricing helps “the integrity of the brand stay at a high level.”
Marisa K constantly updates styles and makes monthly deliveries to specialty and major stores, even if the category’s current emphasis on collections introduces a new set of coordination concerns.
“It’s more challenging for us,” said Halverstadt. “We have to make sure the groups deliver together.”
For spring, pieces from collections such as Shimmer and Nautical wholesale for $40 to $250. Marisa K is found in six showrooms in the U.S. and Canada and will open one in Japan next year. The line also has garnered attention by dressing the stars of the Bravo cable network’s hit, “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” a show that was recently renewed for a second season.
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Instead of still trying to be everything to everyone, more and more contemporary resources are reevaluating their business plans and setting more realistic goals.
Meghan, a division of S&M Fashion Group out of Los Angeles, had focused solely on breaking into the West Coast market until ultimately taking its ready-to-wear and couture collections to showrooms in New York, London, Norway and Dubai. Its accounts include 140 domestic and 35 international specialty stores, as well as various department store holdings.
Sacha Hason, president and chief executive officer, names the Middle East as a top-selling region for the division’s high-end evening gowns, which wholesale for $298 to $895. Ready-to-wear offerings for spring include dresses and tops in mixed prints and fabrics, wholesaling for $59 to $298. The line also features some sportswear items, including jackets and fleeces that wholesale for $62 to $79. Hason projects more than $1 million in wholesale volume for this year, a 500 percent increase over 2005.
According to Hason, the company has had difficulty finding quality fabrics for its higher-end designs in the U.S. and plans to move production overseas in order to cut costs.
This ability to adapt in an ever-changing market is crucial to any manufacturer. XCVI Wearables, based in Los Angeles, started making casual athleticwear in 1996, and shifted to more tailored apparel about six years ago, a move that has proven lucrative. Sales from 2004 to 2005 experienced a 300 percent increase, and the company expects figures for 2006 to be double last year’s, according to spokeswoman Daniela Zeltzer.
This optimism is due in part to expansions, including a new corporate office, new showrooms in New York and Los Angeles and plans to break into the Atlanta and Dallas contemporary markets.
XCVI Wearables comes to WWDMAGIC with offerings such as tunics, balloon skirts and cropped pants, starting at $30 wholesale. The company has about 1,000 specialty store accounts and was picked up by Nordstrom two years ago, said Zeltzer.
Gradually establishing credibility also appeals to newer companies that are resisting the temptation to overexpose themselves.
Pedestal participant Kelly Nishimoto rejects “trying to get in[to a retail outlet] for the sake of getting in, by adopting a grassroots strategy,” said Paul Weinberg, president and ceo.
Recognizing the dangers of retail overkill, Weinberg said the Los Angeles-based line’s goal is “not to just explode, but to deliberately start small at the best boutiques in each area.” The year-old line has picked up about 60 specialty accounts since it launched, penetrating both coasts as well as Florida and Arizona.
The line’s spring collection features innovative silk and poly-rayon bodies in a variety of mixed prints, wholesaling from $27 to $380. As part of its future plans, Kelly Nishimoto will incorporate more fabrics and textures into its repertoire in order to keep designs fresh. Although wholesale volume projections for this year were not available, Weinberg said sales are up dramatically from last year, an increase he credits to “not being a designer du jour.
“We are trying to build a brand…a fashion house, without being too trendy,” said Weinberg. “The first year is about working kinks out and becoming credible as a supplier.”
Also starting with modest business goals and promising designs is Los Angeles-based Vintage Betty. Since its August 2005 launch at WWDMAGIC, the line has secured about 50 retail accounts, mostly specialty stores, and recently picked up a New York showroom, according to designer Abigail Mickelthwate.
And Vintage Betty already is discovering the importance of making adjustments to meet a rapidly changing market. Mickelthwate has added an
XL size to the line and will add an XXS for spring. “Focusing on developing a perfect fit is a big goal for us,” she said. “There’s an L.A. fit, and there’s a New York fit. We’re trying to find a middle ground between the two.”
Wholesale price points for retro dresses, skirts and tops start at $60 and run to $128. Mickelthwate projected $100,000 in wholesale volume for 2006.
To attract buyers at WWDMAGIC, the resource is styling its booth to reflect the designs, using vintage furniture and decorations with a sophisticated old-world feel.
“MAGIC customers are used to contemporary being very trendy,” said Mickelthwate. “Our main goal is to be detail-oriented.”