During the Oct. 14–­16 edition of L.A. Market Week, buyers visited the Fashion District in downtown Los Angeles to place those last-minute Immediates orders for Holiday and consider trends for the following Spring. At the California Market Center, showrooms saw optimistic buyers who wanted unique pieces and a shopping experience without distractions.

CMC buyers enjoy last fashion market of 2019

Retailers and fashion consultants shopping L.A. Market Week flagged different trends going around the CMC and checked out the Label Array show, which is produced in the building.

During market week, retail community and platform The Boutique Hub produced The Boutique Hub Los Angeles Experience in the CMC Fashion Theater. The three-day summit featured an orientation to buying in the Los Angeles market, said Ashley Alderson, founder and chief executive officer of The Boutique Hub. It also offered a members-only buying event, which featured a number of vendors ranging from Chinese Laundry to brands such as the B&S Clothing Co., which produced its first West Coast trade show at L.A. Market Week. About 100 retailers attended the members-only show, Alderson said.

Philippe Brenot, senior director of retail procurement for the hospitality company Miraval Group, said the current and upcoming seasons would be marked by specific trends.

“Animal prints will be important for Holiday. Spring is tie-dye,” he said during a stop at the Romy M Showroom at the CMC.

Mercedes Gonzalez, a retail consultant and president of Global Purchasing Companies, also said that animal prints would be popular, but designers are beginning to experiment with styles that place images of animals onto animal-skin prints.

“Every store should look like a jungle,” she said. “Blazers are huge. If you don’t have blazers, you are losing money.”

CMC showroom owners said traffic was mostly good. Rose Marie Migliazzo of Romy M said that about 75 percent of her clients were looking for Immediates that would be delivered for the holidays.

More than 100 brands exhibited at the Label Array show, which ran on the 13th floor of the CMC. The show marked the fifth time that Label Array has been produced at the CMC. It featured diverse categories ranging from footwear to contemporary apparel. The show also produced a Canadian Fashion Suite for more than [ten] Canadian clothing [and lifestyle] brands, marking the first time that some of these brands have exhibited on America’s West Coast.

Showing moderately priced brands such as Jess & Jane, Harry Wallach worked with retailers such as Eve & Me from Modesto, Calif., and The Dressing Room from Tehachapi, Calif.

“I thought my customers wouldn’t find me in Label Array,” he said of his first time exhibiting at the show. “But they did.”

Tesha Rosenwinkel started her online Hazel Rose Boutique in June and said jumpsuits have been popular with her online shoppers and at pop-up shops that she produces at California State University, Long Beach and at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. She browsed Label Array searching for new styles.

“Rocker tees and graphic tees are huge,” Rosenwinkel said, in addition to teddy-bear jackets, which are outerwear pieces distinguished by a fuzzy, shaggy fit.

Source: By Andrew Asch and Dorothy Crouch, Apparel News | Thursday, October 17th, 2019

(This article has been edited to feature only sections pertaining to the CMC. Original, complete article provided in the link above.)