english edge - California Apparel News

����������������������
The Professional Club (TPC) invites you to a
reception for fellow textile and apparel industry
professionals during the M.A.G.I.C./PROJECT event.
Please join us for after-show cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.
� ����� ��������������������������
� ����� ����������������
� ��������� ������������������������������
� � �������������
Brought to you by:
R.S.V.P. required by Feb. 8 as space is limited
For more information or to R.S.V.P., email
info@calfashion.org or call 213.688.6288
70% Off
SHOW SPECIAL
Subscribe NOW to
ApparelNews.net—
including exclusive
web-only content and
access to more than
12,000 archived
articles—to receive a
70% discount.*
That’s only
$30 a year!
Just enter
70% OFF in the
Coupon fi eld on the
subscription form.
*Available to new subscribers only.
70% OFF
8 CALIFORNIA APPAREL NEWS JANUARY 29–FEBRUARY 4, 2010
FMNC Continued from page 1
Renée Cohen of
Renée Cohen Sales in
Los Angeles also noticed
a 20 percent uptick in orders
over last year. And
The Kathy Franz Collection,
an accessories
showroom in Greenbrae,
Calif., was in positive
territory with a hefty 55
percent spike in sales
over 2009.
Confidence in the
economy was also reflected
in how far out
retailers were willing
to place future orders.
Reich man noted that
many buyers were making
orders with June 30 deliveries, believing
that summer would be a selling season.
At the same time, vendor Lynne Andresevic
of Los Angeles–based showroom
Crayola Sisters saw many boutiques ordering
goods for immediate delivery.
This was another sign that shoppers
would be out in the stores soon after stormy
weather kept consumers at home.
“They [buyers] were saying January
business was down because of the weather,
but they were still buying Immediates,” Andresevic
said.
Bright colors were very popular during
this market, Cohen said. Boutiques were
buying tops, jackets and various separates.
“They rarely buy complete outfits,” Cohen
said. “They are
item-driven.”
Independent
spirit
Fashion Market
Northern
California caters
primarily to independentretailers
located on
Northern California’s
main
streets and in the
boutique neighborhoods
of big
cities. They sell
stylish and casual
women’s
fashions classified
as the
misses market
for women ages
35 and up.
Fashion
Market Northern
California
serves many of
these boutiques
because of the
unique retail
culture from
the Bay Area
to the Oregon
border, said
Nina Perez of
the San Francis-
co–based Nina Perez Showroom, an exhibitor.
“There’s a Main Street culture
here. It is specialty boutique–driven,”
she said of the small-town feel of different
Northern California neighborhoods.
Retailers attending the show included
36-year-old bridal and special-occasions
store Trudy’s Bridal of Campbell, Calif.;
McCalou’s, a department-store chain
headquartered in Lafayette, Calif.; and
Alta, a specialty-store chain based in San
Jose, Calif.
Also attending were Rabat, a boutique
with San Francisco and Berkeley,
Calif., locations; Cotton Party, from
NEWS
ACCESSORIES UP: Accessories sales were popular at The Kathy
Franz Collection. Kathy Franz is pictured at right.
Chico, Calif.; and the gift shop of the University
of California, San Francisco.
Berkeley-based boutique By Hand made
orders for Los Angeles–based knits line
Necessitees Apparel. Sebastopol, Calif.–
based Shiki Monkey bought Johnny Was’
embroidery line, JWLA.
And many boutiques, such as Trudy’s Bridal,
focused on accessories. Trudy’s placed
orders for the jewelry line Ethel & Myrtle.
Many retailers gave high marks to the
show’s conveniences, such as plentiful
parking. For Lilly Stamets of UCSF’s
gift shop, the show was a place for inspiration.
“We always come to the show
for direction and for trends,” she said.
For Julia Lyman of Shiki Monkey, the
show’s ambience
was an important
selling
point. “What I
liked about the
show was that it
is more relaxed.
It’s not aggressive,
but we’d
like to see more
things for our
demographic, 16
to 40,” she said.
Attracting a
greater variety
of vendors is
an ambition for
Fashion Market
Northern California,
said Reichman,
who is on
the show’s board
of directors and
is co-chair of the
recently formed
New Exhibitor
Committee.
Retailers said
they wanted
more vendors
from labels sellingspecial-occasion,
bridal and
contemporary
fashions, Reichman
said. The
committee will
start the search
for new exhibitors to invite by the end of
February.
The show’s producers say they believe
Fashion Market Northern California has
the opportunity to become a bigger show
because many boutiques’ travel budgets are
decreasing. Also, there are only a handful of
fashion and accessories trade shows serving
the important Northern California market.
Those trade shows include CALA Apparel
Shows in San Francisco, scheduled for
Feb. 1–2, and the San Francisco International
Gift Fair, scheduled for Feb. 6–9.
The next Fashion Market Northern California
will be held April 10–13. ●
BUSY: Don Reichman, pictured standing, said business
was up during Fashion Market Northern California.
NORCAL: Nina Perez, pictured above, said Northern
California hosts a retail culture driven by independent
specialty boutiques.