Home Grown: A New Course for L.A. Fashion Week

by Rachel Brown and MARCY MEDINA

From WWD ISSUE 10/07/2009

 

LOS ANGELES — Fashion week here, which now stretches for several weeks, is trying to overcome an identity crisis. 

Many in the industry thought Los Angeles Fashion Week would implode with the exit of event producer IMG a year ago after a five-year run, but organizers have been able to return to the original goal — shows featuring local designers, timed with the city’s two apparel markets, and staged in landmark venues in the garment district and in Hollywood. 

Although sponsors are still scarce, the activity hints at optimism for the city’s fashion scene. 

“I have watched so many fashion weeks fail, so part of my mission is not just to be an exhibition space for designers, but also to support the industry’s new talent,” said Barbara Graff, a partner in the returning Downtown Fashion Week with Leanna Lewis and Juan Rodriguez. One of its shows featuring emerging designers is being sponsored by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs. 

Other new players also see opportunity in the region with the biggest retail market and clothing production center in the U.S. 

“People were disappointed with events in the past, but I see potential to build a fashion monster,” said Nicole Purcell, a partner in New York-based Rock Media and Entertainment. The firm recently merged with Gen Art, which has staged biannual events in Los Angeles since 1997, to become RMGA LLC. Their new three-day event, Rock Fashion Week L.A., will open with Gen Art’s Fresh Faces in Fashion show Oct. 29 at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. 

“Our merger has given Los Angeles Fashion Week an important anchor,” said Gen Art founder Ian Gerard. “It’s been flailing in the wind in terms of being a cohesive week, and everyone’s looking to someone to organize it. Creating multiple days in a well-regarded location is the first step to getting other groups to rally around the same time frame.” 

The IMG-produced Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City was criticized for subpar designers, lack of press, D-list celebrities and out-of-the-way location. 

“That was a tough draw because it is an industrial area,” said Mikey Koffman, who is producing a new event this season, L.A. Fashion Weekend, at Sunset Gower Studios. “Not a lot of celebrities and buyers want to go [there] because it is off the beaten path, and it doesn’t really have anything to do with fashion. By making the move to Hollywood, we are trying to give fashion week a Hollywood image.” 

Koffman acknowledged the past few seasons without Smashbox Studios co-owners Dean and Davis Factor have been “a little frustrating.” Davis Factor has said he will return to fashion week when the economic climate improves, adding, “I want to wait until I can do it right.”

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Rock-Themed Apparel Shows Strength in Market

 

 

 

by VALERIE SECKLER

From WWD ISSUE 10/07/2009

 

Don’t knock the rock.

Rock ’n’ roll merchandise ranging from graphic T-shirts — the hottest sellers at live shows — to hoodies, tote bags, bracelets, key chains and more, are showing staying power at concerts and gaining traction at major stores such as Wal-Mart, Target and J.C. Penney, said executives of Bravado, Live Nation Merchandise and The Thread Shop, key marketers of the artists and their products.

These purchases, with teens said to be the best customers, are translating into a business estimated at $2 billion to $3 billion worldwide annually at concert venues and in stores — half of it in the U.S. 

The allure of rock, pop and hip-hop musicians, including the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Metallica, AC/DC, Kiss, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney, is sparking concertgoers to spend an average of $10 to $15 per head to mark their experience at a show staged by the hottest acts, whose products command the highest sales. Besides the cachet of the stars themselves, demand is stoked by a desire to show the world that an act has played one’s town and the concertgoer was there by wearing a T-shirt bearing markers of the occasion: the tour’s name, date and location.

“Bands can do hundreds of thousands of dollars a night, depending on how big they are,” Michael Krassner, executive vice president of retail and licensing at Live Nation Merchandise, said of audience demand. “The issue is: Are the tickets being sold, rather than are the merch numbers the same?” 

While many of these souvenirs are priced within a predictable range, say, T-shirts at $15 to $40, big draws can pull considerably more for an item: an AC/DC leather jacket for $250 and hockey jersey for $150, or a Paul McCartney hoodie embellished with peace fingers and “’09” on the breast for $70 and an oversize program on heavy stock for his Summer Live ’09 tour for $30.

“Apparel is the biggest driver in this business,” said Mathew Vlasic, vice president of merchandising at The Thread Shop, a Sony Music venture Vlasic started about two years ago, which he said has grown into a “multimillion-dollar business” through its wholesale unit and online boutique. In the U.S., T-shirts typically generate 80 to 85 percent of concert sales, versus 70 percent in the U.K. and 40 percent in Japan, said Dell Furano, chief executive officer of Live Nation Merchandise.

“The Brits and the Japanese love their programs and books,” Furano added of the two nationalities that spend 30 percent and 60 percent, respectively, of their outlays during live music events on such items.

At performances of artists considered a notch below megastars in their power to build audiences and sell product, like Lady Gaga, concertgoers are spending $5 to $10 per head, said Tom Bennett, chief executive officer at Bravado, a unit of Universal Music, whose sales of rock merchandise account for one-third of the sector’s business.

Among the artists whose live shows are resulting in top-performing merchandise sales this year, entertainment executives said, are Coldplay, Pink, Kings of Leon, Madonna and Iron Maiden. Big numbers are anticipated for U2, now on a tour that kicked off Sept. 12 in Chicago; Kiss, which hit the road Sept. 25 in Detroit, and Depeche Mode, which resumed concerts Oct. 1 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Beyond the sheer popularity of bands, cravings for collectibles — and simply to have something tangible in hand — during a time of music and movie downloads is keeping demand for rock memorabilia growing at a low-single-digit rate. 

“There’s a need or a want for stuff,” said Tom Cording, vice president of media relations at Sony Music-Legacy Recordings. “Even though we download music to our iPods and our cell phones, there’s nothing that’s going to replace buying a T-shirt at a concert. Everybody’s very merchandised. There’s everything but floor wax, at this point.”

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Memo Pad: More Changes at Condé Nast…

by WWD Staff

From WWD ISSUE 10/07/2009

WAIT, THERE’S MORE: Changes at Condé Nast continued Tuesday morning: Steven Deluca, publisher of Details since April 2008, was pushed out as the men’s title was moved under the purview of senior vice president and publishing director Bill Wackermann. Lucy Kriz will remain as Details’ associate publisher and will report to Wackermann. Deluca was notified late Monday afternoon he was being let go.

The move should put to rest rumors that Details would be closed after Condé Nast folded four unprofitable magazines Monday: Gourmet, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and Cookie. Speculation over Details’ future, as well as that of other Condé Nast titles, flourished as McKinsey & Co. was hired to advise on how to prune the firm’s unprofitable magazines and position it for growth. Details has seen its fashion and luxury advertising base decline during the crippling ad recession. Through October, ad pages fell 34 percent, to 627, while its larger sibling, GQ, saw a 32 percent drop in ad pages to 886. Details’ circulation has remained flat over several years at about 425,000, or about half that of GQ’s. Details now publishes 10 times annually after the magazine stopped producing an additional holiday issue last year.

However, Wackermann was positive about Details’ future, saying the title has a place at the company given its younger audience and edgier editorial voice. He also said editor in chief Dan Peres was the right man to steer the magazine into 2010. “I am honored to be involved with Details again, and the opportunity to work with Dan Peres. The market needs Details’ edgy and smart edit. There is nothing else like it,” said Wackermann.

And more changes at Condé Nast lie ahead. While 180 employees are exiting the building this week after the closures Monday, more are expected to follow suit as the remaining magazines finalize their 2010 budgets. Editors and publishers are charged with cutting their spending by as much as 25 percent by whatever means they choose — including job cuts, some of which could happen as soon as this week. — Stephanie D. Smith

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Brit Fest

by WWD Staff

From WWD ISSUE 10/07/2009

BRIT FEST: Joan Burstein, founder of London’s Browns boutique, feted British designers in Paris on Monday night, inviting Gareth Pugh, Henry Holland, Jonathan Saunders and Charlotte Dellal to a sumptuous apartment with a view of the Tuileries. Dellal graciously twirled on demand, purring, “It’s my mother’s vintage Lacroix.” Meanwhile, Alexandra Lanvin (wife of Hubert Lanvin, a direct descendent of Jeanne Lanvin), said she had just tapped Turkish-born, Berlin-based designer Burak Uyan to launch a new shoe line called Aperlaï, which is being unveiled in Paris this week.

 

–Nikki Cho Russo