Here is an excellent post on the effectiveness of social commerce at this point in time: Is Social Commerce Fact Or Fiction?.
There’s a lag between the realization that social commerce is the next major increment in the e-commerce evolution and the cold, hard facts.
Why? Trust on the part of the consumer, and the effective social media strategies on the part of the e-tailers seem to be the main reasons. You’ll see more in the infographic.
Let me know if you agree.
Paul Brindley
It’s Fall12 Market Week in the downtown Los Angeles Fashion District. I got downtown around lunch yesterday for Day 1. The carparks were full. After the success of the Las Vegas trade shows and the good feedback from the recent New York shows, it looked like we were in for a big day.
I headed for the New Mart building to drop my bag at Michelle Roy Designs Showroom on the 8th floor. Michelle very kindly allows me to work out of her showroom during market. My good friend Tracy Engelien shows her brilliant new basics collection, Boxie, there. We all have a good laugh between buyer meetings and my recon missions around the fashion district. The elevators at the New Mart are usually a good indication of how busy market is. There are only two lifts servicing the 12 floors of showrooms. They are either so full you have to wait for the next one or you wait forever as they stop at every floor – sometimes they inexplicably skip the floor you are waiting on.
So I was expecting a long wait. But, nup – I got the first elevator that came and it wasn’t even half full. I asked myself, “Where is everyone?” It’s a question I heard all day.
My first mission of the day was to check out the relatively new accessories, lifestyle and gift show Coeur, on the 11th floor of the Cooper Building. This was only the second show for Coeur – their first was the Spring/Summer showcase at last October’s Market Week. They do two LA shows a year – Spring/Summer in October and Fall/Winter in March.
The 11th floor of the Cooper is a large, bright, naturally lit white space – perfect for a trade show. 70 brands are showing – mainly 
women’s with some unisex. The majority are US brands (mostly made in the US) with some French and German designers mixed in. The Co-Founder and Creative Director of Coeur, Henri Myers told me, “We are creating something different for the fashion retailer. We are looking to provide a diversity of options.”
As you would imagine at an accessories show, it is heavy on shoes, bags and jewelry. There are also some scents (Six Scents), leggings, scarves, and one knitwear and sweater line – Carolina K.
The trending native American motif is strong among the jewelry designers with lots of beading and turquoise. As is the use of brass.
Tote bags continue to be popular. Color blocking is all the rage. The raw unfinished leather look in bags is impressive.
Shoes are definitely the thing at present. Boots everywhere – ankle and calf lengths reign. I really like the embellished heels trend – lots of color, studs, jewels. You can just go for it right now with your shoes.
Some of the collections that caught my eye were:
The foot traffic at Coeur was quite good. I liked the sake tasting table. I think the show has a lot of potential. I look forward to seeing how it grows from here.
On the way down in the elevator, I was surprised to bump into the owners of a busy, highly regarded showroom in the New Mart. They are usually so busy at market, I had to ask what they were up to. Like a lot of people, they were trying to find out where everyone was. I’ll see if I can clear up that mystery today. But I suspect, we are experiencing buyer fatigue from the rolling trade show circuit that begins the year. The cars were there but where were the people?
Paul Brindley
I couldn’t agree more with this article on SocialMediaExaminer.com. It is very frustrating to have to search for the price of items on a website, and then find out that many times there are no prices listed.
I find this a common problem on fashion and apparel designers’ websites that don’t have shopping carts. Don’t be scared to list a recommended retail price – you can set it at the high end (2.6X over wholesale) so you won’t show up your retailers. People want to know how much things cost. You will be doing your customers a favor when they go looking for your stuff in stores.
If you are wholesaling and you don’t want to reveal your wholesale prices to the public, include a secure password-protected section on the website for retail buyers to access.
5 Reasons Your Content Marketing Must Address Price | Social Media Examiner.
Paul Brindley
We did this last year so let’s do it again. I want to look at what brought us here, where we are now and what to expect in 2012 for 
the women’s contemporary fashion market – all from the perspective of an expert in the field. So I turned to my close friend and pbc consultant, Tracy Engelien.
Tracy has previously shined as a senior sales executive for both large and small apparel manufacturers in the U.S. including BCBGMaxAzria. She spent years working with buyers in some of the most prestigious boutiques, specialty and high-end department stores in the U.S. A true industry insider, Tracy knows the west coast and national players, understands regional market trends, economies, and fashion preferences.
Until very recently, Tracy was the Prinicipal of Tracy Engelien Sales representing lifestyle, fitness and yoga brands … until she made the big move!
Tracy is now the owner and designer of Boxie. Boxie tees are 100% organic brilliant basics for women. Boxie is a resort lifestyle 
collection born and bred right here in Los Angeles. Boxie reflects the aesthetic of the California Riviera in carefree styles of cotton basic tees. Fashion pieces accentuate the collection with the same essential lively, clean colors and yummy, soft fabrics. Boxie tops can be paired with any style or look. You can wear them with suits, jeans, skirts or to the gym. Sleep in them. Layer them. Wrinkle them. The Boxie motto is Wash, Rinse & Repeat.
She has done it all. Who better to ask what’s going down?
Q: Use one word to describe 2011 in the women’s contemporary fashion world?
A: Regenerative.
Q: What was expected in 2011?
A: I think the expectation was there would be a second bottom to fall out economically. To some extent, the garment industry did see more fall out. However, I really believe companies regrouped and reorganized and put their plans together to achieve real growth for the future. They looked at a hard road of slow climbing out of 2011 into 2012 and reaching for 2013 as the next profitable year.
Q: What changed in the industry in 2011?
A: Retail became the big focus for corporate profits in 2011. Some examples are True Religion, Lululemon, Madewell, and J Brand. The wholesale segment was still finding it’s new place in the market and brand retailing became a driving force.
Q: What were the biggest trends of 2011?
A: Oy, I forget already! – feathers, animal prints, accessories, and SHOES.
Q: What do you think will continue?
A: Shoes and animal prints have continued strong into 2012. The printed denim trend for Spring12 is really present, and the shoe is a big focus still with all the ankle length trousers and crop styles out there.
Q: What is your trend outlook for 2012?
A: Highlighter colors are going to be the big deal all year. Brights, brights, brights. I notice a strong shift away from the Boho flowing silhouettes into more tailored details and dressing up more – think trousers, jackets, and blouses as key elements to any woman’s wardrobe. We are much more ladylike this year.
Q: What is the industry outlook for 2012?
A: Overall the outlook is positive. Again, I think we are looking at a year of slow growth and the setting up for a real push in 2013 for more dynamic strategies and creativity. There have been some interesting moves by big companies (Target, Kohl’s) already this year where they are opening up boutique-like stores in very specific locations in the States and testing that specialty market. Private label business is excellent because of that now. Smaller brands have an opportunity to support their own labels by producing limited products for the larger players. I also think we will be introduced to some new things by the end of the year.
Thank you for the insights, Tracy. With Fall12 breaking next week in Los Angeles at LA Fashion Market Week, we’ll see if the positivity that Tracy feels and the increased activity we experienced at the Las Vegas fashion trade shows continue picking up momentum. I have spoken to a number of LA showrooms that have had very good responses from buyers to their pre-market calling and promotions. It is going to be an interesting week. I’ll be there all week keeping you updated.
Paul Brindley
Las Vegas Fashion Trade Show February 2012 Blogs:
LAS VEGAS FASHION TRADE SHOWS – FEBRUARY 2012 – DAY 1 MORNING
Last week, I started writing this review of my final day at the February 2012 Las Vegas fashion trade shows with an old business axiom in mind – “it’s all about location, location, location” Why? Because for reasons that are privy to the high minds that produced the Project trade show at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, the booths on the floor had been completely reconfigured from the layout that people were accustomed to (I think buyers like the familiarity, I know I do – it saves lots of valuable time not having to reinvent the wheel every show). This had caused some choppy sales results for brands that usually do well at Project. I thought that was a interesting takeaway from the week, and a good way to theme this blog.
Lo and behold, I open my daily email update from Apparel News the next day, and the second article on the email is their review of the Vegas trade shows with the same quote in the first line! Except they called a maxim, instead of an axiom. Great minds think alike? I hope the folks at Apparel News think so.
The Mandalay Bay hosts 5 of the week’s showcases – Project and PoolTradeShow on the first floor, and Mens/Wear, s.l.a.t.e and Street on the second floor. I concentrated on Project and Pool.
PROJECT
Project is where you’ll find the most influential and commercially successful contemporary brands in the marketplace.
I dropped by to check out the traffic on Tuesday morning on my way to MAGIC – it was busy, busy. On Wednesday, it had dropped off considerably.
Welcome to Project
It seemed massive this time; with a higher proportion of men’s to women’s collections than usual. (The Spring show in August is usually bigger for women’s due mainly to the compression of the other trade shows around the country at this time of the year). For us trained seals, it took some getting used to. As I mentioned above, the producers reconfigured the floor set-up; they flipped the men’s booths with the women’s so that the main entrance lead into the men’s section, and they moved Workroom from it’s own nook and had it floating in the sea of booths. The feedback on foot traffic and sales from the collections was mixed but largely positive.
The main trends were consistent with the other shows in town:
The Australian Connection
It was like Australia Week at Project. Lots of Australian collections were showing with quite a few featured in the Workroom section. I didn’t like the fact that Workroom had been moved from it’s previous location. It is only three shows ago that Workroom was walled off from the rest of Project and you had to specially register to attend. The space had the look and feel of a working collective. Since then, it has been steadily integrated into Project proper.
Workroom is the most fashion forward section of the entire MAGIC Marketplace. The clothing, accessories and shoe brands are carefully selected, juried, and well worth a close look.
A number of US-based showrooms specializing in Australian contemporary women’s collections were there; most notably, LA’s The SYDNY Showroom (Workroom) and the bi-coastal Melt Management (Project). The showrooms do both the sales and PR for their clients, as well as consulting on brand strategy, product placement, and market planning. I know that SYDNY also does the product distribution for their clients. The biggest barrier to success for an international brand is creating the right partnerships in the market. The holistic approaches of these two firms ensures probability of success is maximized and risk is minimized.
Elizabeth Lewis, one of the partners in The SYDNY, was very happy with week. The SYDNY were showing Samantha Wills jewelry, Lilya and bless’ed are the meek. All the collections did well. Elizabeth was especially happy with Lilya which is selling well everywhere in the US. It is a medium price point range with soft knits and pastels in a 60’s and 70’s feel which are great for layering – as Elizabeth expertly pointed out, “…. it’s something Anita Pallenberg would wear back in the day …”
Elizabeth working the SYDNY booth at Workroom
Other notable Australian collections in Workroom were the well established trend-setter Ksubi, the fashion forward and sophisticated Shakuhachi and an exciting newcomer to the US, Elliat.
It was great to see a couple of collections that I saw and spoke with at the Rosemount (now Mercedes) Fashion Week in Sydney last year at Project – Friend of Mine (repped by Melt) and Talulah (by New York based Bui-Lavry PR).
Back in the USA
Alfred Davis, one of the partners of the highly regarded LA showroom, T & A Showroom had a bumper show with all his lines, in particular the new Simon Hart by Dorsia and the on-trend Publish men’s collections.
The fabulous Chelsea with German bag collection, George Gina & Lucy told me all their 16 lines everything were selling well. Lots of bright colors and color blocking are big for them into Fall. Plus I got to pick up their always fun giveaways. This time they were thick rubber bracelets with affirmations and purple and orange cut-out cardboard ears as GGL Bullshit Protectors guaranteed as “essential protection against any gossip, shit talk & fashion chit-chat”. Love it!
Monica Gordon, owner of Chantal Accessories Showroom in the New Mart in Los Angeles, reported that she “had a good show” and opened new domestic accounts with the stylishly edgy bag collection, christopher.kon.
I missed one of my favorite people this time, Ginny Wong. She was at a meeting when I dropped by. Her peeps told me that they were definitely feeling the effects of the booth reconfiguring. While the show had been OK, they hadn’t seen as many of the buyers they usually do. Ginny has had the same cluster of booths for a while. I always knew where to go to find her.
From what I saw and from what I heard, Project was a busy show. Buyers were writing orders and leaving paper, and most showrooms and salespeople were very happy with the week. We have seen these mirages over the past couple of years. Let’s hope that this time the improvement is real and lasting.
POOL
Pool was fun as usual. Lots of emerging young contemporary designers showing the full range of clothing, shoes, bags, hats, jewelry, accessories of all kinds. There is also a cash and carry section.
Pool gets busy
The whole section is bright and colorful. They have drink, food and candy giveaways each day.
Again, the color palette in Pool was mostly brights, brights, brights. As usual, lots of junior and young contemporary fashions mixed in with accessories and shoes.
I really liked the wearable art accessories of Studio Manhattan Art + Design, and the eco-friendly watches of Sprout.
The Rockabilly/Punkabilly styles of Queen of Heartz and Rock Rebel Shop, and the ‘Scare Wear’ of Kreepsville 666 spiced up the aisles.
Well, that’s it for the Las Vegas round of fashion trade shows for February ’12. Make sure you check out my series of blogs covering the week. I would love your feedback. If you have any questions about anything in the blogs or about paul brindley consults, please contact me at info@paulbrindleyconsults.com.
Cheers, Paul
Related Blogs
LAS VEGAS FASHION TRADE SHOWS – FEBRUARY 2012 – DAY 1 MORNING
Make sure you check out my Day 1 blogs.
I spent today at the MAGIC trade shows at the Las Vegas Convention Center. On the way there, I dropped by Project and PoolTradeShow shows at the Mandalay Bay to check out the foot traffic – it was huge. The energy at the shows was electric. More about those tomorrow.
At the Las Vegas Convention Center, I walked:
There is more than product on display. There are fashion shows, buying workshops, roundtable discussions, market forecasting, industry service providers and seminars highlighting e-tailing, emerging technologies, social media, and more. It’s all here.
WWDMAGIC
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.
The main floor at Central Hall
WWDMAGIC likes to brand itself as Fashion’s most comprehensive collection of women’s apparel, accessories and footwear … across every pricepoint and trend. It’s certainly comprehensive; there are more than 2000 labels on show. There is so much here that you need to know what you are looking for or it starts to feel like you are standing still and the booths are moving past you. There are quality contemporary collections located in the Premium and Young Contemporary sections in the Central Hall, and some in the North Hall.
The great news is that the activity on the floor was markedly better than in August.
Industry veteran Leila Ross of Leila Ross Showroom in Los Angeles (working the Anama booth) told me that they had “been slammed”. Leila thinks, ” .. maybe things are finally turning around”. I would take this to the bank because Leila told me 2 years ago that the market was worst she had seen it and it would get worse – she was right. Let’s hope she is right again.
I then bumped into Rose Cato who used to work for Leila and is now with Live Free Fashions. Rose was very happy with the show. Rose introduced me to Stephen and Jen Kelly of Bird & Vine. Bird & Vine is another of a growing trend – it is made in the US. As their Facebook page says, it embodies the free spirit of chic California style. It is all about comfortable, feminine clothing with a hint of edginess. Jen was very happy with the foot traffic, and buyers have been leaving orders.
The fabulous Aimee Mercer, the new Sales Manager, Major/Discount Channels for BB Dakota said they had a huge show with their BB Dakota and Jack Fall
collections. I dropped by the booth a number of times to try and catch up but they were jamming constantly. They were showing jackets and coats in a range of silhouettes from London Rocker and LA Gal in buttery leather, suede’s and shearling to Jackie O styles in wools, plush and tweeds.
Aimee said they also booked tons of sweaters, which hit that “sweet spot” price point. We are using luxe yarns to create solid knits, Navajo prints and cables.
Another good friend, Bernadette of Bernadette Mopera & Co., took a different view, “MAGIC was a little strange .. too many vendors and little customers or too much ground they are covering … ” However, Bern went on to say that she did very well especially with Knitted Dove sweaters (recently worn by Zooey Deschanel on her hit series, New Girl) … “Fall is her season.”
Zooey Deschanel in Knitted Dove on "New Girl"
Betsy Johnson get mobbed at MAGIC
Check out this shot of the scrum that was pressing in on the Betsy Johnson booth for Betsy’s personal appearance. She is a legend of the industry.
Rande Cohen was busy as usual at the PJ Salvage booth.
ISAM Swim was smaller than August but that is due to selling seasons.
FN PLATFORM
Platform is enormous. There are over 1500 brands. When you see how big it is, it is amazing to think they sell it out!
The trend for Fall is boots, boots, boots of all lengths – ankle and calf length were most popular.
The innovative new Mojito
The standout collection for me was the English brand, Hakes. Julian Hakes is an architect who has designed an innovative new style called the Mojito. The Mojito does not have a foot plate. It has a piece that wraps around the foot to support the ball and heel, and to take the flex of the shoe. They look really stiff and hard, and I wondered how comfortable they are. The fabulous Michelle Roy of Michelle Roy Designs, who took me to the booth, tried them on. She said they are very comfortable. They are made of carbon fibre and laminated with rubber on the side. The inside lining is leather. You are definitely going to hear more about Hakes.
more Mojitos
Sourcing at MAGIC
Sourcing is another enormous trade show. There are more than 800 apparel, accessories and footwear resources, merchandised by country and category: contract and original design manufacturers; fabric, trim and component suppliers; and service and technology providers.
Market leaders like Pantone are there.
Tomorrow is Project and Pool …
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:
Charlotte Tarantola Faux Fur Capelet
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
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:
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:
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
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