Los Angeles Fashion Market Week Spring ’13, Designers and Agents Trade Show

It was fingers crossed as I headed to the downtown Los Angeles Fashion District for Day 1 of the all important Spring ’13 Market Week.  I haven’t been as convinced as others that the fashion retail sector is seeing better days.  The last thing the local industry needs right now is a soft Market Week.

What is Market Week? It is when the seasonal business of fashion happens in the wholesale showrooms and trade shows of the main wholesale centers: the California Market Center, the New Mart, the Cooper Design Space, and other venues in the Fashion District.

Five times a year, US and international wholesale buyers roam the showrooms and booth shows determined to stay within their budget as they buy what’s hot, pass on what’s not, and perhaps gamble on some possibilities.  Most buyers who want to stay in business know what works for their customer, and what to gamble on to freshen up their floors.

So it was fantastic to see the week get off to a flying start today with strong buyer traffic and a genuine buzz in the air.  A couple of industry veterans I spoke with said they hadn’t felt such a positive vibe in a long time.  I’ll be at market every day visiting all the showroom buildings and booth shows, and reporting back that that the optimism flowed through the week – hopefully.

Four times a year, on the usually vacant third floor of the New Mart, you’ll find the Designers and Agents showcase.

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 and 130 brands with the usual eclectic mix of fashion forward men’s and women’s basics, separates and denim, shoes, hats, bags, jewelry and accessories.  Today, there was excellent energy and buyer traffic.  Buyers weren’t just looking.  There was plenty of paper being written.

I was very impressed by the clean, stylish new denim collection, Lorem.  Lorem is the inspiration of LA designer, Lukus Eichmann.  Black and white Japanese denim and US indigo denim is set off by Italian hardware, tape piping, and style innovations such as “shadow pockets” two-tone pockets inside pockets and 9″ zippers that allow you to adjust the leg from bootcut to straight leg. The denim jacket with leather half sleeve can also be seen in the photo on the right.

Other collections that caught my eye were:

• Calleen Cordero shoes that my fab friend and jewelry designer, Michelle Roy swears by.
• Hollywood Trading Company and their tasseled beat up gym shoes.
• The skull print scarves of Italy’s Richiami.
• The colors and textures of Robin’s Jeans.
• The very hip men’s and women’s jewelry of Scosha by NY based Australian designer, Scosha Woolridge.

The gypsy, hippie, bo-ho look is still going strong.  I liked what Star Mela is doing with their looks.

Beading is everywhere, particularly the use of micro beading on bracelets, earrings and belts.  Some of it is running at high price point, well above what the article appears to be worth.  I was assured that the price point is supported by the work involved.

All in all, it was a very positive start to the week.  Could we really actually be seeing some real actual improvement in the retail sector?  I think I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for now.

More tomorrow …

Paul Brindley
paul brindley consults