L.A. STARS: HOODS, VELVETS
Byline: Kristi Ellis
LOS ANGELES — Retailers at the California Mart’s June market shopped for a wide scope of goods, from immediates to holiday, and orders ranged from hooded casual shirts and dresses in juniors and contemporary to iridescent stretch velvets in eveningwear.
The five-day market, which ran through June 12, pulled the customary light traffic for this particular show, but exhibitors seemed satisfied with bookings.
At the Johnny Was showroom, Deborah Kirkland, national sales manager and partner, said, “Was it the busiest show I’ve ever had? No. But we did have a decent show.”
Velvets with fur were among the top sellers, as were burnouts and “dressy casual” items, such as blouses in a variety of colors, she said.
At the Max Studio showroom, stretch velvets and matte jerseys were the highlight of the market, according to Susie Lehr, a sales executive.
She said that the line also got “a great reaction” to sweaters with three-quarter sleeves and chenille collars and iridescent stretch fabrics in suitings. Burgundy was the most popular color for holiday, she said.
Lehr said the pairing of dresses with coats was also popular, particularly a stretch knit sheath dress with a stretch velvet iridescent coat.
She added that twin sets and 27-inch skirts were also top selling items.
Although traffic was down, according to Lehr, she noted that the buyers who shopped were leaving orders.
“There might have been quieter traffic,” added a Mart spokeswoman, “but there were very serious orders that were placed by major buyers.”
At the neighboring The New Mart, which holds its market concurrently with the California Mart, a spokeswoman said that buyer attendance was 684, compared to 587 last year.
Scouting the market for trends, Sandy Potter, a partner in Directives West buying office here, said the newest directions in juniors are long jackets, a return to career, glitzier men’s wear elements and three-quarter length sleeves.
“In casualwear,” she added, “the single most important item that has translated into volume is the use of the hood.” Fox also noted that many of the office’s major clients had attended the show.
Her partner, Sandy Richman, said there were four key issues in the contemporary market for holiday: shine, velvet, fur trims and the color red.
“Plush casual” was also important, she said, pointing to chenilles, terry velvets and fleece.
Among retailers stretching their buy over the calendar, Kitty Bernharth, owner of Kitty B. in Beverly Hills, said that she was shopping for fill-ins and focusing on cottons and casual clothing. Orders were placed for Max & Mabel’s “easy-fitting sportswear,” she said. At the same time, for holiday, she booked Paul Santini’s silk and cut velour jackets and blouses, and took notes on Bob Mackie eveningwear.
“We do a lot of pantsuits, casualwear, and easy and soft dressing,” Bernharth said, noting she buys in the wholesale price range of $100-$1,000.
Kirsten Sommerfeld-Ricci, a dress and eveningwear buyer for the upscale Canadian specialty chain Holt Renfrew, said that she was shopping for new resources and holiday trends in the dress and eveningwear categories.
“I believe that metallics and Lurex is happening,” she said, adding that red is a strong color for holiday. She said she was also looking for beads and embellishments as well as fur trims.
“Today is more opulent and glamorous than the past, which was understated,” she said. Sommerfeld-Ricci placed orders for such lines as Duchess, ABS, Odessa and Johnny Was.
Molly Gordon, owner of Ovation, a three-store operation in San Francisco that carries contemporary and better lines, said she was shopping for dresses.
“I am looking for whimsical and retro looks. Everyone is sick of crepe prints,” Gordon said. “I found a great, refreshing dress line in Mario Balthazar,” she said, adding that it featured unusual fabrics in contemporary looks.
She also placed an order for dresses with ABS. “They had an outrageous $120 knockoff of the Dolce & Gabbana butterfly dress,” she said. Kenar, she added, had “a lot of great items.”
Gordon said the swing dance craze and styles are really popular in San Francisco and noted that her customers are shopping for the right skirts. The new length in skirts and dresses is 23 inches, she said.
Although the trend in pants is narrower, her customers are looking for regular legs, she said, but she has had a hard time finding normal cuts.
On a less than bright note, Gordon said that her $2.5 million business was off by about 20 percent in the first quarter due to lack of direction in the market and “lousy weather.”
Bunny Russell, owner of Silk N’ Spice in Ventura, Calif., said she focuses on an eclectic mix of accessories and apparel, carrying such lines as Tianello and Steffi Dobrindt.
“I live in an area that isn’t very trendy,” Russell said. “They stay with more traditional lines that last more than one season.”
Looking for “pretty and practical” clothes as well as unusual items and accessories, Russell said that she planned to shop and place orders at such lines as Citron, Evelyn, Blue Print, Z. Factory and Hanky Panky.