California Apparel News

NEWSPAPER 2ND CLASS
ApparelNews
CALIFORNIA
63
years
$2.95 ($3.50 OUTSIDE CALIFORNIA) VOLUME 63, NUMBER 45 OCTOBER 19–25, 2007
JESSICA SILVERSTEIN
Where fashion gets down to business SM
THE VOICE
OF THE
INDUSTRY FOR
Trade Show Report
Attendance Up at L.A.
Textile Show Despite
Crowded Calendar
By Alison A. Nieder
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Traffic was unexpectedly brisk at the Oct. 15–17 run of
the Los Angeles International Textile Show at the California Market Center, where long lines at the registration
counter continued up until the last hour of the show and
trend presentations were packed with designers.
There were plenty of other industry events threatening
to draw off traffic from the show, including MercedesBenz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver
City, Calif., and ENK’s Children’s Club trade show in New
York, both running concurrently. Plus, with the bridal market in New York and the Los Angeles Fashion Market
both starting the following week, many regular attendees
opted to skip the show and meet with their key resources
at another time.
Ned Pilchman, president of New York–based Marteva
Textiles, said many of his childrenswear accounts were unable to attend the textile show.
Textile Show page 5
Charting Great Retail
in O.C.’s Great Park
By Andrew Asch
RETAIL EDITOR
Orange County in Southern California is still wideopen territory for many retail developers looking to capitalize on the region’s fairly well-to-do consumers.
Right now, they are honing in on the territory around
the Great Park of Orange County, an enormous park
being charted on the former site of the El Toro Marine
Corps base in Irvine, Calif., which closed in 1999.
The base encompassed 4,600 acres of land more than
35 miles south of Los Angeles. Great plans are underway
to build a park twice the size of New York’s Central Park.
It will be completed in phases over the next 20 years.
Surrounding the park will be homes, apartments, schools
and a better way of shopping.
At an Oct. 3 panel discussion in Irvine organized by
Orange County page 6
Inside:
New Resources … p. 8, 18
L.A. Fashion Week Calendar … p. 10
Spot Check … p. 10
Education Resource Guide … p. 19
Technology … special pullout section
L.A.
Fashion
Week
What’s Next
www.apparelnews.net
Suh-Tahn
Los Angeles Fashion Week
kicked off with a series of
independent runway shows
under the BoxEight banner, Gen
Art’s Fresh Faces in Fashion and
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week
at Smashbox Studios. California
Apparel News will be covering
the events over several issues.
Coverage begins on page 12.
JESSICA SILVERSTEIN
Gen Art
VOLKER CORELL
Gen Art’s “Fresh Faces in Fashion” show, staged Oct. 13 at the Petersen Automotive
Museum in Los Angeles, put the spotlight on eight emerging designers. The Spring ’08
collections varied from the Goth-tinged menswear of Endovanera to the more-defined
lines of Austrian-born Christian Weber.
Now in its 10th year, Gen Art has established itself as a proven springboard to fashion worthiness. Emcee and Gen Art alum Jeffrey Sebelia is a testament to that. He introduced eight emerging designers, led by Los Angeleno Dorothy Lee. Lee’s upbringing
as an architect’s daughter showed as she played with various shapes and forms. She
cut slits in shorts and provided details such as scalloped edges on jumpers as well as
other unique constructions, such as those found on a tiered-hem blouse.
Melissa Coker of Wren, a former Forever 21 and Old Navy designer, showed very
little influence from those mall-based retailers. Instead, she let loose with a blend of
modern youthfulness and sophistication, showing metallic brocade skirts and shorts as
well as colorful silk frocks.
David Michael Hershberger and Mitch Moseley of the 2-year-old mostly menswear
line Endovanera presented an inventive collection answering the need for young contemporary menswear with an edge. The designers showed mostly black and dark-hued
tailored items, matching cropped blazers and tux jackets with pants in a skinny silhouette. Hershberger likes to wrap and tuck, creating unique constructions.
CW Christian Weber
Shannon Nataf and Dimitri
Tcharfas, the design team behind
Suh-Tahn, displayed a series of
draped and complex pieces drawn
from architectural shapes found in
nature. Among the items were silk
mesh–strapped tops coupled with
“paper bag” slacks and silk-andleather suspender-strap gowns
detailed with silver studs.
Los Angeles designer Julie
Kwon of Rhys Dwfen took a seasonal departure from her love of
sweaters and added lighter, willowy silk dresses in bold colors,
such as the goldenrod dress she
showed. She featured short and
long silhouettes, embellishing
pieces with thick retro belts.
Orthodox’s Eric Niccoli showed
a ranging menswear collection
featuring everything from crystal- Endovanera
Marlova
studded parkas to a more domestic cardigan and shorts look,
while the Los Angeles–based
design team behind Marlova featured long and draped sweaters, tunics, and tops in viscose
and cashmere. Finally, Weber,
of CW Christian Weber, capped
the show with one of the most
sophisticated collections of the
event, showing looks including a
clean white trench coat with perforated leather trim, several openback dresses, a cropped bolero
and dresses that emphasized a
high waistline.
Accessories lines Anita Hopkins, Cerre, Manning and Shane
by Brooks Salzwedel were also
featured during the two-part
presentation.—Robert McAllister
Rhys Dwfen
Suh-Tahn
Dorothy Lee
Othodox
Wren
Bahar Shahpar
Eco-friendly styles are laying claim to all categories of fashion, and Brooklyn,
N.Y.–based Bahar Shahpar seems to be carving out a niche in wearable, highend contemporary styles.
On Oct. 13, Shahpar’s self-named Spring/Summer 2008 collection made its
Los Angeles debut at the EcoNouveau fashion, art and music event produced
at BoxEight, held at Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles.
Shahpar exhibited 15 runway looks stressing tailored silhouettes with a casual flair. The line featured shorts and dresses that fell just above the knee,
blouses that were colorful enough for a garden party and other tops that could
be plain enough for an afternoon at home. There was also a sexy two-piece
outfit composed of a cropped vest and body-hugging, wide-leg pants.
Shahpar constructed her collection out of materials such as hemp, hemp/silk,
organic cotton and other organic fibers from Japan. Along with debuting the Bahar Shahpar label in 2007, she also opened New York–based The Four Hundred
showroom, which specializes in organic fashion labels.—Andrew Asch
OCTOBER 19–25, 2007 CALIFORNIA APPAREL NEWS 13