At the Los Angeles trade shows that ended earlier this week, the focus was on the resort season. But a handful of emerging brands are taking a seasonless approach to their business. Whether offshoots of established brands or undertakings by first-time solo entrepreneurs, they showed potential and a different point of view in denim, activewear, sportswear and accessories.
Brand: Penelope Piper Denim
Designer: Penelope Piper
Venue: Brand Assembly
Debut season: Fall 2016
Retail prices: $130 to $275
Retailers: None yet
Background: After designing stints at Vince, St. John Knits and Hudson Jeans, Los Angeles-based Penelope Piper is ready to give her interpretation of tailored denim. With her fall debut, amid a denim resurgence, she’s cutting trousers out of clean denim that shifts from light to medium to dark washes. In her resort collection, she’s offering shorts in a 10-ounce denim tinted a cool blue, along with four different pants, including gauchos and straight-leg trousers. Anticipating the spring season, she’s considering floral prints, white denim and bleached-out treatments. Blending polished sportswear with sturdy denim doesn’t apply only to what customers see on the outside. She references clean lines in the inside of the trousers, finishing the seams with white trim.
Related Galleries
Brand: Hansel From Basel
Designer: Hannah Byun
Venue: Designers & Agents
Debut season: Fall 2015 for apparel; 2006 for socks
Wholesale prices: $50 to $150 for apparel
Retailers: Steven Alan, Bird in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Individual Medley in Los Angeles
Background: Hansel From Basel is marking a decade in the socks business by launching its first full collection of apparel. Included in the mix of sportswear are cotton woven shirts, trousers, dresses, blouses and overall skirts. The debut for next spring follows a set of sweaters that premiered last fall and basic knits that came out this spring. It’s also a way for owner and designer Hannah Byun to break out from the niche sector, which she entered when she wanted to apply her artistic skills to her family’s socks manufacturing business based in Arcadia, Calif. While some retailers hesitate at the apparel prices, which are a tenfold increase from the socks that cost $6 to $12, the two divisions are intended to complement each other. While the clothing is muted in light gray, navy and white, the socks are knitted in bold colors and patterns. “There are very conscious decisions to keep [the apparel] simple and clean,” said Ginny Hwang, Hansel From Basel’s sales director. “The socks will pop with the clothes.”
Brand: Elektrix Love
Designer: Katie Tomasetta
Venue: ALT
Debut season: Spring 2015
Wholesale prices: $20 to $36
Retailers: Evolvefitwear.com, Round2 LA and Liveyourlifegear.com
Background: With her fuchsia hair and long pointy nails painted black and pink, Katie Tomasetta doesn’t appear to be the typical yogi. Nor is she the average activewear customer. “I was not finding leggings that were unique to my style,” she said. Last year, she launched her L.A.-based activewear business, targeting a customer who “wants something edgy,” she said. She’s also appealing to an eco-conscious crowd, as all of her designs are cut from stretchy polyester derived from recycled plastic bottles. Moreover, she has experience from her previous fashion venture, Bella Black Designs, which worked with latex. Her annual sales total less than $2 million, but she’s starting to drum up interest for her punk-inspired prints. Splashed across leggings, shorts, cropped tanks and hooded bodysuits, the images range from ripped denim to a gypsy with wild hair and a nose piercing. The out-there artwork doesn’t look out of place when paired with chunky black boots. After all, she said, “it’s also streetwear.”
Brand: Nat Kent Jewellery
Designer: Nat Kent
Venue: Hanger Showroom in California Market Center
Debut season: Fall 2014
Wholesale prices: $19.95 to $70
Retailers: Specialty stores including Jondie in Franklin, Tenn., Scarlet in Little Rock, Ark., Faye’s in Mequon, Wis., and Scout & Molly’s in Virginia and Florida
Background: Nat Kent redefines the concept of a working mom. The Australian schoolteacher started her namesake jewelry line right after returning from maternity leave. Emitting a Goth tribal vibe, she cradles freshwater pearls in black leather leaves, wraps amethyst studs in metallic hexagonal rings and twists 14-karat goldplated links into dainty chokers. Ever the considerate parent, she also makes sure the pieces encrusted with pyrite, lapis lazuli and other semiprecious stones in Australia are hypoallergenic.
Brand: Coastal Road
Designer: Christie Casillo
Venue: Select
Debut season: Spring 2014
Wholesale prices: $30 to $50 for jewelry; $92 to $250 for bags
Retailers: About 35 stores, including The Alys Shoppe in Alys Beach, Fla., and Red Bird Boutique in Austin, Texas
Background: Christie Casillo is mixing homegrown values with sophisticated style in her 2-year-old accessories business. Based in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., which, for those uninitiated with Southern geography, is located in the panhandle south of the Alabama border, she produces her jewelry in Florida and her handbags in New York. She also likes working with independent boutiques, which contribute to her annual sales that total less than $3 million. She had tallied 35 retail accounts until she came to Los Angeles to introduce herself to buyers on the West Coast. Having worked in fashion marketing and event designing with brands such as Judith March, she decided to go into business on her own after realizing the potential of embossed leather. The original cowhide is transformed into turquoise stingray, rainbow-spotted snakeskin and pink, gray and jade marble. In addition to clutches edged with zipper teeth and an envelope purse that swings across the body with a detachable strap, she also offers an unstructured tote that is cut with a deep V so that the bag doesn’t crush the ribs. The jewelry also melds leather with metal, as seen in bracelets secured with brushed stainless steel buttons and cord chokers that glimmer with statement beads.