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It’s late here in Las Vegas on Day 1 of Fashion Week. I’m just back from the ENK party at Encore .. but more about that later.

Take a look at my blog on this morning’s festivities. This afternoon I walked the rest of the shows at the Sands Expo and Convention Center attached to the Venetian then did the brilliant ENK show at the Wynn.

CURVENV

CURVENV is a white and pink showcase of designer lingerie, men’s and women’s swimwear, underwear, shapewear, loungewear, sleepwear and foundation. The show was bigger this time having been moved from several function rooms in the Venetian to a large floor in the Sands Expo and Convention Center. It was a little quiet when I was there.

The increasing popularity of and progression in the styling of shapewear was evident.

Fine Lines Australia seemed to be doing good business.

(capsule)

The floor at (capsule)

The (capsule) website says it best, “(capsule) is the fashion and lifestyle trade event that fuses the best high-end contemporary brands, directional independent designers and super premium street wear labels. Presenting a highly-edited assemblage of collections from around the world, (capsule) reflects the look of the new consumer and presents a fresh approach to the fashion tradeshow.”

The show has the bare feeling of the original PoolTradeShow set-up when it was still by the pool at an off strip hotel. Homogenous metal racks and wooden furniture keep the focus on the product. Hip street and progressive contemporary labels created a cool vibe with plenty of foot traffic.

The workwear look was strong – check shirts, lots of dark denim, and work boots everywhere.

OFFPRICE

The OFFPRICE show is massive. I don’t know much about this world but there seemed to be something for everyone at 20 to 70% off wholesale clothing, accessories and footwear. I’m just not sure I saw much worth buying.

ENKVegas

The floor at ENKVegas

ENKVegas at the Wynn is one of my 2 favorite shows of the week – I’ll talk about the other in tomorrow’s blog.

ENK always put on classy, professional and well-appointed trade shows. Some veterans of many Intermezzos and Coteries in New York that I spoke to yesterday think that this is their best show. ENK do that bit extra – from the setting and layout, to the food at the buffet, right down to glasses they serve the champagne in at the end of the day.

Better contemporary men’s and women’s sportswear collections, denim, dresses, accessories and footwear brands are spread over two adjacent function rooms. There were more men’s than women’s collections. There was plenty of foot traffic.

Some of the highlights for me where:

• Blondes Make Better T-shirtsand their use of sustainable fabrics and silk screening processes.
  

  Charlotte Tarantola Faux Fur Capelet

• the Australian collection, Wish. Sales Manager, Emma Davis is happy with the buyer response. Their rabbit and faux fur trimmed pieces are doing well – people are shifting more to the faux. Printed denim, oversized and aztec theme knits, and 60’s/70’s influenced items are also drawing interest.
• the fabulous Charlotte Tarantola. Dana Pederson is the National Sales Manager and a longtime friend of mine in the industry. Dana thinks ENK is a great show and loves the intimate feel – most importantly, so do her buyers. Charlotte’s animal prints continue to do great business. I really like the faux fur capelet with reversible jersey on the inside.
• the women’s cashmeres and wools looked great.
• For Fall, boots are big – lace-up and slip-on, pointed and round toe.
• the dark, dark green that Fluxus is rocking.
• the Sterlingwear of Boston Pea Coat with leather lapels.

I finished the day at the ENK party at the Encore. Let’s just say they put on a great party too!

ENK party at Encore

Stay tuned for my Day 2 wrap-up tomorrow.

Paul Brindley

paulbrindleyconsults.com

Here we are again for the bi-annual fashion extravaganza that is the Las Vegas fashion trade show week.

Fall12 is breaking here this week. I’ll be covering most of the trade shows that spread out across the city.

I got into town at 5pm last night and headed straight over to the Venetian Hotel (where I am writing at the moment) to check in to the trade shows here. The Sands Expo and Convention Center hosts:

• CurveNV – designer lingerie and swimwear
• (capsule) – contemporary, independent fashion and lifestyle brands
• Moda Las Vegas and AccessoriesTheShow – contemporary and better women’s ready-to-wear and accessories
• MRKET – better menswear
• OFFPRICE – discount and close-out clothing, accessories and footwear

I just finished walking MRKET, Moda and the Accessories shows.

MRKET

This is the biggest MRKET yet, with over 550 booths of contemporary and better men’s ready-to-wear. The show tends to more of a traditional men’s customer with some contemporary labels mixed in.

The highlights for me were:

• Barbour Steve McQueen Collection 
• Cooper Jones
• English Laundry
• Gemelli
• Hawke & Co.
• Pantherella
• Robert Graham
• Rodd & Gunn New Zealand Limited
• Vicomte A.

Giles at Robert Graham told me that the company is expanding into tailored clothing with suits, sports coats, dress shirts, ties, and accessories including Italian leather shoulder bags, belts and wallets, and cufflinks. RG is focusing on fun and lots of color for Fall.

Rod Williams, the EVP North America for New Zealand’s Rodd & Gunn told me that they are having a great show. Rodd & Gunn’s soft launch in the US for Spring opened 20 doors “without trying”, in Rod’s words. The full launch for Fall12 looks like yielding another 70-80 retailers including 3 in Japan and 6 in Canada. Their knitwear has been their best seller. Rod thinks US buyers perceive knits as a strength for a New Zealand manufacturer so they start there. He also believes that because Rodd & Gunn have a full collection and are retailers themselves (with 80 stores in Australia and New Zealand) that buyers are more comfortable that they know what they are doing now and moving forward.

Ken Haruta, independent sales representative and owner of the West Coast Trend Show, had three collections at MRKET – 34 Heritage, Report Collection and SAXX Underwear. Ken has been in the business for 30 years and is always extremely knowledgeable and helpful.  Ken was very happy with the week and said, “it turned out to be a very successful show … stores were leaving paper (more than the past two shows) and seemed upbeat about things …”. Amen to that. Ken also had Leather Island Belts by Bill Lavin at Project which he thought “was the best show in years”.

English Laundry (one of my personal favs) looked great – clean lined, street elegant and colorful.

Color is big for Fall at MRKET – brights and burnts. Plaid and check are also popular.

Moda

Moda is largely a missy and better women’s ready-to-wear show with some contemporary incorporated.

Tami Smith from T. Smith & Co. showroom in LA is doing very well with the line, Analili.

Karen Anderson of KLA Showroom is also busy with Before & Again, Bibelot, and Cullen. (After show follow up: Karen thought that the foot traffic was a bit off from August. She is confident she will pick some new accounts from the show. Karen did not like the reconfiguration of the booths that made buyers walk through the men’s show before getting to Moda. Karen, who had just got back from vacation in Australia, mentioned that she worked 3 Australians accounts.)

Cashmere is doing well. Bright and burnt colors continue to be popular. There seems to be a lot of dark blue mixed in with the usual blacks and greys for Fall.

I’m heading off to Curve and capsule next.

The Curve lingerie show last night at the MGM was absolutely brilliant. Instead of just models walking around in skimpies, they had a fully choreographed show complete with chorus numbers and a superb solo piece. The opening had 12 topless dancers in Grenadier bearskin hats doing an amazing wind-up doll routine, the superb solo routine was done behind and using rubber prison cell bars, and the finale had the dancers coming out again in the featured lingerie. Between the set pieces, the featured lingerie was showcased in routines to pumping dance music. It was one of best and most innovative fashion shows that I have seen. Curve will be putting it on again in August. Don’t miss it!

Foot traffic here has been steady. It is a bit early to say whether it has been better than last show. I’ll keep you posted.

Now time for some lunch …

Paul Brindley

paul brindley consults

It looked relatively quiet to me in LA’s downtown Fashion District last week with buyers in town for the first Market Week of the year. What is Market Week?

With Fall 2012 breaking at the February round of Las Vegas fashion trade shows, retailers coming of a dubious holiday season, and a very soft January around town (see my last blog), I wasn’t expecting much in the way of buyer action. I didn’t think there was but the showrooms I spoke with seemed reasonably happy with the foot traffic.

As is usual for this market, the d&a show on the 3rd floor of the New Mart was small – only 27 collections. Most seemed to be writing immediate goods.

A familiar face was Ben De Luca of the hat manufacturer, Christy’s London. Ben tells me that wide brim floppy hats for women will continue to be the trend into Spring and Summer. Men are going for a wider brim in fedoras after the short brim Mad Men-style craze. An interesting note from Ben was that Christy’s are doing more domestic production, out of Rhode Island. This is a trend that I think we will start seeing more of – I’ll be blogging on this soon.

The popular Fluxus looked to be doing good business with it’s best of Spring immediates.

Local LA designer Lotta Stensson, who I mentioned in my last blog on the LA fashion retail scene, was there, and was happy with the way the week had gone.

The showrooms in the New Mart and Cooper buildings were the busiest as usual. The men’s and women’s contemporary showrooms on the 4th and 5th floors of the Cal Mart building seemed to be doing OK. The Lady Liberty, Academy Awards and 824 buildings on Los Angeles were quiet.

As is my want during market, I spent considerable time cruising the showrooms of the apparel buildings. It’s always fascinating to take in the general vibe, hear what buyers and reps are saying to each other (and see how many air kisses they can get off), pick up scuttlebutt in the elevators (like a buying consultant telling a group that the Cooper Building has taken over from the New Mart as the happening place to be), see what everyone is wearing (usually more interesting than what’s on the racks), and drop by the showrooms that I know.

For instance, I called in to speak with Franco Nakagawa of Magnet Showroom in the Academy Awards Building on Los Angeles Street. Franco is interested in a couple of Australian collections that I have referred so I wanted to see how things were progressing. Franco specializes in edgy, fashion forward clothes and accessories that he sells to his worldwide customer base. He carries two collections that really caught my eye.

Gasoline Glamour is an feast for the senses. Jewelry, accessories, shoes and clothing of amazing color, studded, spiked and covered in Swarovski rhinestones and crystals. You want edgy, well you got it. You have to know who you are (or at least think you do) to wear this stuff with confidence. Gasoline Glamour is not for the faint hearted.

The new Italian collection, Ventidue (“22” in Italian, just in case) is another standout. This handmade collection of bags and accessories is manufactured in California with using Italian skins and hardware. The colors, textures and styles have a one-of-a-kind appeal. Check out the large leather Raffaella flap shoulder bags, and the small colorful, crystal and metal spiked Giulietta.

If the showrooms were telling the truth, the week was better than I thought it was – that’s good news given the continuing retail conditions.

It is going to be very interesting to see what happens in Vegas next month. There was some optimism in August that things were finally turning around for the last quarter of 2011. That didn’t happen. Once again, it’s fingers crossed all around.

Paul Brindley

paulbrindleyconsults.com

Following on my recent blog about U.S. retail sales during the past holiday season and with the first Los Angeles Market Week for 2012 starting tomorrow, I thought I would take a wander around some fashion retail districts in LA and take their pulse.

3rd Street

I met all-around Fab Person, Tracy Engelien of Tracy Engelien Sales at Joan’s on Third last Monday morning for an excellent coffee, and to plan out the day. Tracy’s own collection of basics, Boxie, is gaining momentum. We’ll have much more about and from Tracy in a coming blog.

We started right there on 3rd. We checked out longtime residents like Polkadots & Moonbeams, Noodle Stories, Douglas Fir and it’s shoe store, DF Feet – nothing much has changed there.

I liked the raw denim and workwear styles in the relatively new store, Civiliannaire. Civiliannaire, with two stores in LA and one in Montecito, is the new project from the guys that brought us Lucky Brand. The store manager, Akul told us that they are looking to expand their retail operations then focus on wholesaling – they already sell to American Rag, East Street Denim, and Atrium in NYC. Akul was very happy with their December but said that January had been slow.

Another store on 3rd worth browsing is the celeb-fav Lotta Boutique. Lotta designs her own prints and jewelry, and is known for her batik and tie-dye tunics and kaftans.

The clean, bright Turkish flavor of distant makes you feel like you are somewhere near a beach in the Eastern Mediterranean. 100% organic fabric textiles, handmade ceramics and jewelry, and one-of-a-kind pieces are their specialty.

Maybe it was this particular Monday but the vibe on 3rd was slow.

Robertson Blvd

Next we headed to where many people who shop LA do, on Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills. They could be renaming it “Kitson Blvd” now that there are four Kitson stores in 2 blocks – the original Kitson, Kitson Kids, Kitson Men and Kitson Studio. Fraser has presided over the creation of an empire since opening the first store in 2000.

One of the pioneers of this upscale retail street, Lisa Kline has closed completely after downsizing steadily from her women’s and kid’s stores to just men’s. The men’s store shuttered on December 16. Lisa is moving on to a new online project, Vaniti.com that launches in February. Lisa Kline was fixture on the street and such a “get” for designers for so long, it is ominous to see her gone. The John Varvardos store is also out.

The Australian collection Zimmermann brightens up the street with it’s beautiful swimwear and  flowing styles.

The Boho chic of LF Stores is huge with young fashionistas.

Intermix and 7 Jeans were glowing with neon styles.

The London collection, All Saints is cashing in on the comeback of the tough, workwear look for men. Their women’s is edgy and very structured using substantial materials. Their accessories stylishly mix heavy glass, crystal and metals.

The Lauren Moshi pop-up shop is a real treat. On display are the original art pieces that translate directly into their clothing collection. Each garment is itself an original artwork. It is a truly unique collection. The pop-up store should be there for another month or so. Get in and take a look while you can.

Lauren Moshi pop-up store on Robertson Blvd, Beverly Hills

All in all, Robertson was busy for a Monday. The Ivy was full. And there were customers in every store we visited. Those with the cash are obviously still shopping.

The Grove

We took a quick spin around the Grove. It was packed due to a TV taping near the fountain that included Mario Lopez and other minor celebs.

Nothing much seemed changed except M Fredric has moved on – Johnny Was is now in the space. Johnny Was, which has been around forever, continues to go strong and reinvent itself with a more contemporary look to go with the missy styles it is known for.

The Nordstrom here is a good one (despite there being a thick coat of dust on some of the menswear).

Regardless of the scrum watching the celebs do their thing, there seemed to be plenty of foot traffic and customers in stores.

Beverly Grove

Just up Beverly Blvd is Diane Merrick. Diane has been in business in LA for 40 years. I used to sell Wildlife Works to Diane when she was on Melrose in Beverly Hills.  Diane is a font of knowledge, and always a pleasure to catch up with.

She told us that she had a great Xmas season but that January had been slow. In the past, January had been a really good month for blowing out discount stock – not anymore. I asked Diane what she saw happening during 2012. She said she didn’t know but was sure that there will be less boutiques like hers. Coming from such an experienced, independent operator like Diane, it reinforces the concerns a lot of us have.

Our last stop was the unique row of 6 shops, Lost & Found. Each door has a different theme. In order, running west up Yucca Street, are children’s, men’s, home, women’s, gallery and gift. The stores have a hip, understated feel. Out on its own above Hollywood Boulevard, Lost & Found was well worth the trip. Apparently, their celebrity and working actor clients agree.

We popped back down to Loaded on Hollywood for a drink and to recap the day.

Unfortunately, we both came to the conclusion that what we had seen and heard only confirmed our doubts for fashion retail in 2012.

It is going to be very interesting at this LA Market Week to see and feel the mood of the showrooms and buyers. I hope to be reporting on some optimism but I’m certainly not optimistic.

Paul Brindley

paulbrindleyconsults.com

The first apparel trade show of the year in Los Angeles is also the closest to home. The Agenda Trade Show is literally two minutes down Ocean Blvd in the lovely seaside burgh we call home, Long Beach, California (a.k.a. the LBC).

The cavernous Long Beach Convention Center is home to the west coast version of Agenda (also held in NYC and Tokyo later this month). Agenda is a lively showcase of streetwear, lifestyle, and action sports collections. It’s got the lot – from clothing, footwear, bags, headwear, headphones, sunglasses, watches, swimwear, skateboards and accessories, surfboards and accessories down to cell phone skins, and everything else I have forgotten to mention. You can find a full exhibitor list here.

The check-in area set the tone. The backdrop was old scaffolding draped with a huge tarp splattered with paint and the Agenda logo. I was definitely over dressed in a button down shirt, jeans and boots – I should have gone with the logo tee, jeans and Converse sneakers that I originally planned (if I wore caps or hats more often, that too). The place was humming.

There was a real buzz when I got on to the main floor – people moving everywhere, lots of cell phone photos and video being shot, and electronica being spun by an above average DJ (rare for trade shows). I started my cruise through the booths by bumping into the line of buyers waiting at the Mighty Healthy – a good sign. The activity, the relaxed atmosphere, the constant chatter, and the good music going filled the huge room with plenty of energy. It was a nice change from the stuffy pretense and anxiety that can pervade the contemporary fashion trade show circuit these days.

It was great to see the very cool Australian collection, Deus Ex Machina. Deus is creating a lot of buzz around town and is about to open it’s own store on Abbott Kinney in Venice Beach. The US General Manager, Julian Heppenkausen (another Fremantle boy) told me that the store is nearly ready to go, and they are excited by the response the brand has received. I like the quality and styling of the classic motorcycle theme.

There were a number of collections with some eye-catching young contemporary pieces, including Elwood, Howe, Lira Clothing, and GPPR.

There were plenty of major brands in attendance including: Puma, Adidas, Lacoste, G-Shock, Hurley, Levi’s, Quiksilver, Stussy.

As usual, Pura Vida was there. 1% of the sales of the ever-growing range of the handmade bracelets and necklaces support the Surfrider Foundation. I see Pura Vida wherever I go.

I stopped by the Aerial7 booth to chat with their PR consultant, Janae Twisselman of JLT Productions, and take a look at her clients’ stuff. Aerial7 began by creating headphones for pro DJs. They are now making very cool audio products for us all with the goal of redefining the headphone as a fashion accessory. The collection is as eye-catching as it is high quality.

We all know those thick rubber bracelets that proclaim, “i ♥ boobies”. In response to that fact that only 5-10% of all incidences of breast cancer are hereditary meaning that most are caused by lifestyle and environmental factors, the Keep A Breast Foundation was showing it’s new body-friendly clothing line. This hip lifestyle collection of tops, tees, hoodies, skirts and pants is designed to wear throughout the day. It’s made from organically grown and recycled materials, and produced using low impact processes. Each hangtag includes a health tip, and 100% of net wholesale proceeds go to the cause. What more do you want!

In all, there were over 450 brands in about 400 booths. The food trucks parked at the back and the bars spread throughout the room were doing beaucoup business. A good time was being had by all.

This was my first time at Agenda. I was impressed by the organization, presentation, branding, energy, buyer activity, and the range of brands.

If you have a streetwear or action sports collection, I would recommend you take a good look at doing this trade show.

Paul Brindley

paul brindley consults

So the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs tell us that U.S. retail sales this holiday season rose 4.5% over last year. It sure doesn’t feel like it.

The National Retail Federation thinks retail sales have increased 3.8% this holiday season, down from a 5.2% increase last year. Where?

NPD Group, a consumer and retail market research firm based in New York, opines that deals made a difference. Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD is quoted on Bloomberg.com as saying, “The holiday was better than expected. Consumers who were tired of living in this spending cocoon went out and bought what they needed and wanted.” Are you sure??

This sure looks like a painful holiday selling season to me. One of my social media clients has 2 retail stores in Los Angeles, one in the busy Belmont Store in Long Beach, and one in the economically devastated downtown San Pedro. I spent some time at both stores over the past week. How things have changed. 10 years ago, the Belmont Shore store used to have lines around the block at Xmas. Now, there are hardly lines at the cash register. As for San Pedro, you’d think it was a sleepy Sunday afternoon in the middle of summer most days rather than the week before Xmas – it was a ghost town.

I realize there are macro factors affecting both locations. Downtown San Pedro is lost as a retail center so not too much was expected. But Belmont Shore is supposed to be one of busiest specialty retail areas in this part of greater Long Beach. It is pretty clear that the affect of online retail that has been nibbling away at bricks and mortar retail sales in a serious way for years is now really starting to bite. comScore, a digital marketing intelligence collector, just released new numbers on U.S. online holiday spending for the season-to-date, and found that consumers continued to shop online in record numbers. For the first 56 days of the November-December 2011 holiday season, $35.3 billion was spent online – an increase of 15% over the corresponding days last year, and a new record. Ouch!

NPD Group’s assertion that the retailers that gave deals this year did better than expected may be accurate but what about margins? Sales are great but what about profits? Marshalls Department Stores lives on providing deals all year round. Their margins are dependent on their buying power. But how can you run a small retail business on the same principle? By the way, the woman at my local Marshalls thought that sales had not been as strong this year.

I am looking forward to seeing some of the sales data from sector to sector. In particular, the fashion sector. The chatter is that designers and sales showrooms in the Los Angeles fashion world are hurting. The fashion industry has been hit badly during this extended economic downtown. Things started to look up a little around mid-year. There was an air of optimism at the August round of fashion trade shows in Las Vegas (check out my blogs). That optimism evaporated as the year progressed. I know for a fact that a lot of inventory that was supposed to be hanging in retail stores for the holiday season got kicked back to the manufacturers. This means retailers aren’t moving goods, designers and manufacturers are sitting on inventory that cost to produce and has nowhere to go, and sales reps won’t be getting any commissions on those orders. Everyone is losing.

So do the numbers lie? You bet they do. Do I wish things were different? You bet I do. Am I being too pessimistic? I wish.

All the research firms and think tanks in the world can produce numbers that tell us that this is better than last year or that improved this year or things are on the upswing next year but on the street the pain continues. I am not saying to give up. The U.S. is still a huge market with incredible potential if you have the right product at the right price. But you better be ready to ride this economy out.

Keep an eye out for more on this from me soon.

Paul Brindley

paulbrindleyconsults.com

Here we are again in downtown Los Angeles for the October 2011 LA Fashion Market Week where we are focusing on the Spring 2012 collections, and filling in with end of year immediate goods – if we are lucky enough to need them.

In the U.S., Spring deliveries begin at the end of January and usually run through the end of March. Spring deliveries are crucial for most West Coast designers and manufacturers. With a natural emphasis on clothes for the warmer climate, Spring (and the flow on of designs for Summer deliveries) is usually make or break.

De Lacy is a good example. Bridget De Lacy is the designer and owner of De Lacy, a distinctive women’s contemporary collection based around item pieces that can be worn day or night, casual or dressy, and transition from season to season. Bridget thinks that her March delivery is one of the two most important of the year (the other being September): “Things are heating up, stores have sold through all their Fall and Winter deliveries and their sales are done. Plus De Lacy offers jersey which is a great transition fabric.”

Each LA Market Week, on the usually vacant third floor of the New Mart, you’ll find the Designers and Agents showcase – designersandagents.com.

Known in shorthand as “D&A”, it describes itself as “an independent, international trade fair for collections and retailers who define the cutting edge in fashion and life style. Identifying emerging talent and creating an intimate, synergistic environment that fosters relationships between designers and buyers, each of D&A’s shows in Los Angeles and New York (which typically attract 3,000 retail and media visitors) are pre-edited, art-directed, and merchandised to create a sense of camaraderie and discovery.” All of which means, it sells itself as a hip and happening place to buy and sell … and I would have to agree.

This week the 3rd floor is full. There are over 100 booths with the usual eclectic mix of fashion forward men’s and women’s basics, separates and denim, shoes, hats, bags, jewelry and accessories. Some of the most notable collections and trends are:

• The color palette for Spring is at both ends of the spectrum with bright and neon pinks, reds, yellows and oranges hanging with greys, dark blues and black. Color Story (represented by the Aubrey Company) is a good example.
• Collections are being given depth and texture by the use of fleece, linen and wovens to hang along with the usual cottons, silks and rayons. Patterns are popular. Fluxus is using the range of colors and fabrics to beautiful effect.
• Medium sized bags are all the go – natural and colored leather, tribal and fringed, woven and geometric pattern. I liked the look of 49 Square Miles.
• Those large floppy sun hats that your Mum wore in the 70’s just keep on keeping on as do the short brim “Mad Men” style hats for men. Check out Christy’s London and Eugenia Kim.
• The semi precious stone boho chic look in jewelry never gets old. There is plenty on offer.
• It was fantastic to see Marithe + Francois Girbaud still at the forefront of contemporary ready-to-wear. They are only showing men’s this week. The collection is sleek and clean with their usual innovative use of design and color – like constructed v-neck tees with an inside chest pocket. Check out their website – it’s brilliant!
• The popular Genetic Denim was as busy as ever in their 4th year doing D&A.
• The Brasil Fashion section is small with only about 10 collections in 7 booths. There was nothing that really caught my eye.

This was not one of my more memorable D&A shows. While the collections were of the usual quality, nothing really jumped out at me. There was plenty of buyer traffic when I was there. And I’m sure that will continue until the D&A ends on Wednesday afternoon.

Paul Brindley

www.paulbrindleyconsults.com

It’s LA Market Week. You’re a contemporary fashion buyer standing out front of the New Mart Building on the corner of 9^th and Los Angeles Streets in the downtown Los Angeles Fashion District.

You’ve just schlepped the New Mart floors for appointments with showrooms that carry the lines you sell, to check out some new collections that you’ve scouted, and, of course, you’ve walked the booths of the Designers & Agents show on the 3^rd floor.

You could turn left, cross Los Angeles St and start into the Cooper Building or go straight across 9^th St into the hospital-like Cal Mart.

Or you could do something different, turn left up Los Angeles St., and check out what’s happening in just half a block away.

There are three buildings up Los Angeles St. that are well worth a visit – The Lady Liberty Building, The Academy Awards Building and The 824 Building. These former manufacturing and retailing locations have been converted into showroom space for apparel companies and small offices for industry professionals. They are populated by a generation of young, dynamic contemporary apparel movers and shakers that you really need to get to know.

The Lady Liberty Building

This 1914 building is the first you’ll come to at 843 Los Angeles St. It is also the most built-out with established contemporary men’s and women’s showrooms. There are three floors of two large showrooms per floor. Some of the showrooms accommodate a number of individual sales representatives under their own shingles. The others are large multi-line showrooms.

As an example, let’s look at the pioneer showroom of the building, Park LA Showroom. Park Women’s is on the 2^nd floor with Park Men’s on the 4^th. They are large, hip spaces with exposed beams and raw brink walls that suit the building perfectly. Park Women’s also hosts two independent sales firms – SparklingOrFlat Showroom and Seamless Showroom.

On the same floor is the bright, clean-lined The Bar Showroom. The Bar hosts a number of independent sales reps including the dynamic The Sydny with it’s inspired Australian collections, including bless’ed are the meek and Flannel. Leverage Los Angeles Showroom is also in here with the Australian collection, OHARA.

The Globe Showroom on the 2^nd floor is a clean, modern space with some excellent contemporary collections.

Citizens of Humanity denim is on the 5^th floor.

The Academy Award Building

At 817 Los Angeles St., the Academy Awards Building is just a few doors further along.

There are 3 floors of individual showrooms and offices, and a penthouse showroom with it’s own cool outside deck area that is home to the highly regarded, Dietch Public Relations.

The concrete floor and large metal-framed window showrooms hark back to LA’s “Chinatown” days. Some say that it reminds them of a New York setting. The rooftop is outfitted with salvage and re-purposed furniture. It is a funky, fun space that is full of potential.

On the 3^rd floor, you’ll find Tracy Engelien Sales Showroom specializing in lifestyle, fitness and yoga collections. One of Tracy’s manufacturers is the sleek, comfortable contemporary basics collection, Emma & Emilie.  As well as producing a sophisticated, cool line, the owner/designer of Emma & Emilie, Angelika McKay, is committed to sustainable local production. Angelika loves the building’s bohemian, creative vibe.

On the same floor, there is Magnet Showroom with it’s hip men’s and women’s young contemporary collections. So is xPose PR.

The 824 Building

Across the street is The 824 Building. Without a doubt, the anchor showroom in the building is T&A Showroom on the 4^th and 5^th floors. The principals of T&A are Alfred Davis and Tim Padilla. They have been here for 4 years and have seen the building grow in popularity as others have followed them.

They have had no trouble in getting buyers from Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Kitson, Lisa Klein, etc. to make the trek up Los Angeles St.

They have a huge open office/showroom space with a 1500 sq. ft. balcony that they use for entertaining and events.

AMH Showroom on the 3^rd floor has an excellent mix of men’s and women’s contemporary lines including the Australian collection, Afends.

The 824 building has 5 floors of showrooms and offices.

So next time you are at LA Market, do yourself a big favor; take the time to explore these up and coming LA Fashion District buildings. You’ll be glad you did.

Paul Brindley

www.paulbrindleyconsults.com

I spent Day 3 of the week, known ubiquitously as MAGIC, at the sprawling booth jungle that takes over the massive confines of the Las Vegas Convention Center, adjacent to the Las Vegas Hilton. The Convention Center is host to WWDMAGIC, ISAM Swimwear, Sourcing and Platform.

SOURCING at MAGIC

Sourcing was located in the South Hall of the Convention Center.

As the name promises, Sourcing “showcases more than 700 apparel, accessories and footwear resources, conveniently merchandised by country and category: contract and original design manufacturers; fabric, trim and component suppliers; and service and technology providers”.

I don’t know much about the sourcing world. However, I can imagine this would be a great place to start learning. I have no feedback on the effectiveness of the show. I plan more research on Sourcing at the February 2012 go-around.

PLATFORM

Platform is a massive shoe show, also located in the South Hall. I didn’t walk Platform this time but have in the past. If you love shoes, you’ll be in heaven. There are over 1500 exhibitors.

Like Sourcing, I will get direct feedback from exhibitors in February ’12.

WWDMAGIC

Easily the largest of the week’s showcases, WWDMAGIC takes up the Central and North Halls of the Convention Center. As the name suggests, the show is presented in collaboration with the industry’s leading newspaper masthead, Women’s Wear Daily.

WWDMAGIC likes to brand itself as Fashion’s most comprehensive collection of women’s apparel, accessories and footwear … It’s certainly comprehensive; it’s huge with more than 2000 labels on show. But you’ll soon find out that there is lots of the same being peddled here. There are quality contemporary collections located in the Premium and Young Contemporary sections on the main floor.

I am never quite sure just how buyer-busy the show is. There are so many people in the space, from sales reps to booth staff to vendors to industry folks to media, and, yes, to buyers, that is it hard to work out who’s who.

Like the rest of the week’s shows, the feedback was positive. I spoke with experienced women’s contemporary Los Angeles rep. Bernadette Mopera. Bern was working the Knitted Dove booth – one of her lines. She was happy with the traffic, and reiterated, “MAGIC is an important show for us”.

I thought the North Hall held more missy collections, though MAGIC billed the space as presenting …“an upscale and ultra-fashionable new environment featuring the most sophisticated and sought-after in women’s collections.” In general, I couldn’t agree.

My good friend and all around super sales rep, Tracy Engelien, and another friend, Angelika McKay whose hip emerging label, Emma & Emilie, Tracy represents shared a booth in the “White” section of the North Hall with another friend, the wonderful Michelle Roy of Michelle Roy Designs.

Luckily, they were placed in a row of booths with contemporary collections that channeled a steady flow of buyers. They had a very good show.

Conversely, an Australian collection that I have worked with took a flyer on the North Hall at the last minute. They were added to the back end of the North Hall and had a terrible week.

Such is trade show life. Like I say over and over, knowing which trade show to do is like reading tea leaves – many collections often see what they want to see in a show’s potential, and many times they get it wrong.

ISAM (International Swimwear / Activewear Market)

The swimwear section of WWDMAGIC was branded “SWIM at WWDMAGIC Sponsored by ISAM”. ISAM is an LA-based swim and active wear trade association. They have been affiliated with WWD MAGIC since 2005.

Touted as the largest swim show on the west coast, there seemed plenty of buyer interest. I caught up with Monica and Janna from Chantal Accessories Showroom in LA. They represent the brilliant Australian swimwear collection, Lisa Blue.

Janna told that me, “it’s been awesome” and that “more people have been buying than last year”.

I asked a veteran swimwear rep, “Why do ISAM as opposed to the CurveNV swim show?”. She said that the ISAM show gave her more opportunity to reach the boutique and specialty stores buyers that attended MAGIC, as opposed to being at the swim buyer only environment at Curve. That rings true. While the MODA show is adjacent to Curve at the Venetian, the buyer has to make the extra effort of going from show to show. While at WWDMAGIC, they just walk the same floor.

Well, that about wraps it up for my reviews of the August 2011 round of fashion trade shows in Las Vegas. All in all, given the economic woes that we continue to endure, the week has to be considered positive. With most industry folks reporting sales holding steady or increasing on last year, we have to grateful for small mercies. Let’s hope things are on the uptick when we’ll be back in February 2012 to do it all again.

Make sure to check out my Day 1 and 2 reviews at the paul brindley consults website. I encourage you post any comments on the blogs. If you have any questions about my blogs or the US fashion world in general, please contact me directly at info@paulbrindleyconsults.com.

Until next time …

Paul Brindley

www.paulbrindleyconsults.com

I was a bit slow out of the gate on Tuesday morning for Day 2 for the Vegas fashion trade show extravaganza after being kidnapped by Tracy and Angelika on Monday night, and being forced to dance into the night at the PoolTradeShow Opening Party. With true Aussie spirit, it didn’t take long for me to get into high gear, and burst out into the 112 degree heat.

I decided to spend Day 2 schlepping between hotels in the burning August sun checking out some shows that I hadn’t been to before.

ENKVEGAS

ENKVegas was at the resplendent Wynn Hotel. Their website describes the show as “a tightly merchandised event featuring premium & advanced product for men and women …” I would agree. Better contemporary men’s and women’s ready-to-wear collections were spread over two adjacent function rooms.

After the massive spaces of the Mandalay Bay Hotel based MAGIC shows, the “intimate, efficient, easy to navigate” confines of the ENK show made for a great feel.

ENK always put on professional and well-appointed fashion shows. As a veteran of many Intermezzos and Coteries in New York, it was good to see that the quality was still there.  There were more men’s than women’s collections. And there seemed to be more buyer action at the men’s booths. However, that could have just been a snapshot.

And, In true ENK style, the lunch was delicious.

After the long march through the Wynn, I headed next door to the Venetian Hotel through the Vegas broiler. The Venetian hosts MODA Las Vegas, CurveNV and MRKETLV.

MODA Las Vegas

MODA is a largely Missy show at the Sands Convention Center at the Venetian. There are over 300 collections represented. It is another forest of booths like WWD MAGIC at the Las Vegas Convention Center (more about that in my Day 3 wrap).

I visited a couple of very experienced and respected LA based reps that I know, and the feedback was good. Karen Anderson of KLA Showroom was very happy with the show. It was the first time Karen had done MODA, and she said she would be back.

Tami Smith of T. Smith & Co. is a MODA veteran. Tami said she had a great show. She does MODA because she thinks buyers have more time to browse lines than at the other shows. She also represents more contemporary collections, which she think stand out amongst the majority of more Missy lines.

CURVENV

CURVExpo runs designer lingerie and swimwear shows in New York and Las Vegas. CurveNV includes swimwear, lingerie, underwear, sleepwear and activewear. Women’s and men’s brands are represented.

With the increasing interest that I have been getting from Australian swimwear collections wanting to launch in the US, I wanted to compare CurveNV with the ISAM swimwear show that is part of WWD MAGIC – we’ll get to that in my Day 3 wrap.

I bumped straight into the successful Australian swimwear brand, Seafolly. Many other big names were there – DKNY, Michael Kors, Betsey Johnson, Juicy Couture – to name a few.

The show felt a little cramped for space, and I didn’t see a lot of buyer action when I was there.

MRKETLV

MRKETLV is exclusively a men’s show that promotes to classic and contemporary buyers. It is a big show – way bigger than MAGIC Men’s at the Mandalay Bay. A lot of the big names were there. Maybe it was the size of the show and/or the time I was there but it didn’t seem busy.

They did, however, put on a very nice hot lunch. Even though I had eaten at ENK, I couldn’t resist the juicy steak medallions!

My long Day 2 ended back at WWD MAGIC at the LV Convention Center where I hooked up with my kidnappers of Monday night, Tracy and Angelika, before heading off for dinner and a much quieter night.

I’ll pick up at MAGIC in my Day 3 review. See you then …

Paul Brindley

www.paulbrindleyconsults.com