Butter Cloth
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NEWSPAPER 2ND CLASS $2.99 VOLUME 73, NUMBER 49 NOVEMBER 24–30, 2017 THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY FOR 72 YEARS Los Angeles Denim Factories Are Struggling to Stay Alive By Deborah Belgum Senior Editor Los Angeles has always been the epicenter for manufac- turing blue jeans in the United States. Major labels such as True Religion, Lucky Brand, Hudson and 7 For All Man- kind built their reputations on that “Made in the USA” ca- chet, which signaled quality and prestige in their premium- denim products. It was a marketing tool that helped manufacturers sell their products to upscale department stores and boutiques around the world catering to a fashionable crowd that didn’t mind paying $200 to $400 for a pair of denim dungarees. But the rise in California and Los Angeles’ minimum wage, a move by blue-jeans owners to beef up profit mar- gins and consumers pulling back on their clothing expense accounts are crushing Los Angeles denim factories. Earlier this month, United Denim Inc. informed state employment officials that it planned by the end of the year to ➥ Denim page 3 J. RYAN ULSH / W HOTELS WORLDWIDE CFDA IN HOLLYWOOD: Designers in the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s {Fashion Incubator} program recently Lakers Star Invests In showcased their work at the W Hotel in Hollywood. For more from the event, see page 2. New Brand Butter Cloth Stitch Fix Initial Public Offering By Andrew Asch Retail Editor Former Los Angeles Lakers star Metta World Peace made sports headlines in October when he took a coaching By Andrew Asch Retail Editor footwear and accessories to its members for a fee. job with the South Bay Lakers, the development team for On Aug. 22, Stitch Fix announced that it had added more the NBA organization. San Francisco–headquartered fashion company Stitch than 100 new premium brands to its merchandise mix. Metta World Peace, who was born Ron Artest, recently Fix filed an initial public offering on Nov. 16, releasing 8 Women’s offerings include Alice & Olivia, Helmut Lang, became part of a fashion story. It was recently announced million shares of Class A common stock at a price of $15 Kate Spade, Rebecca Minkoff and Theory. Men’s brands that the hoops star joined Long Beach, Calif., shirting brand per share. It started trading on the NASDAQ Global Select include John Varvatos, Steven Alan, Theory and Todd Butter Cloth as an equity partner. His investment was not Market on Nov. 17 under the symbol SFIX, raised $120 mil- Snyder. disclosed, according to a brand statement. lion and was valued around $1.5 billion, according to media Subscription services such as Stitch Fix remain a good bet In a video statement, Metta World Peace said that he reports. for investors, said Syama Meagher, chief executive officer avoided wearing collared shirts in the past because he did Katrina Lake, Stitch Fix’s chief executive officer, started of Scaling Retail, a Los Angeles–headquartered consulting not feel comfortable in them. “Butter Cloth is one of the the fashion subscription service in 2011. Through computer group. best midday meeting shirts. It’s comfortable. I don’t have to questionnaires and the service’s algorithms and consulta- “Investors will make an ROI as long as Stitch Fix can worry about ripping my shirt. I can wear it with a jacket. I tions with human stylists, Stitch Fix assembles a profile of scale up the back end to adjust to the national audience,” she think it’s brilliant,” he said. fashion likes and dislikes for individual members of Stitch said. “A growing market requires bigger space, distribution Danh Tran, Butter Cloth’s founder, chief executive offi- Fix. The company later ships regular deliveries of clothes, centers and a challenge to standardize the customer.” ● cer and creative director, said that Metta World Peace would ➥ Butter Cloth page 6 Shopify Embeds UPS Services INSIDE: Where fashion gets down to business SM By Andrew Asch Retail Editor talk to a Shopify representative about shipping. The partnership between Shopify and UPS comes as both Shopify recently embedded a suite of UPS services on companies are ramping up for a busy holiday season. UPS its platform. anticipates that it will deliver more than 630 million pack- Now Shopify merchants can use Shopify’s platform to ages between Black Friday and New Year’s Eve. It is an in- manage shipping and will receive savings on UPS rates, ac- crease of more than 10 percent over holiday deliveries last cording to a statement from the cloud-based, multichannel year, according to a UPS statement. commerce platform. Shopify’s software is used by retailers to run their Web, 6 8 “Working with UPS helps level the playing field for small mobile and social-media shops as well as traditional bricks- businesses to compete against larger brands with guaranteed and-mortar boutiques. Schneider joins Komen ... p. 2 delivery times and competitive rates previously unavailable This year, Shopify unveiled the Frenzy mobile app in the Celebrating Brazil in LA ... p. 3 to many small- and medium-sized merchants,” said Maia United States. The Frenzy mobile app gives retailers a forum to Junk Food teams with Levi’s ... p. 7 Benson, Shopify’s head of global shipping and fulfillment. produce “Drop Zones,” or places where they can hold a physi- The platform’s shipping services include UPS 2nd-Day cal market to sell goods. In June, the Anti Social Social Club LA’s “Project Runway” winner ... p. 8 Air and UPS Ground. Tracking and billing are integrated brand produced a Drop Zone in Los Angeles’ Elysian Park. The Made in America Resources ... p. 9 into the platform. Shopify’s UPS deal also will feature a Frenzy app was used to process sales transactions in the drop- dedicated hotline, (833) BFCM-WIN, where businesses can zone area. Payments were made through Apple Pay. ● www.apparelnews.net 01,3,6.cover.indd 1 11/22/17 5:04 PM NEWS Paula Schneider Takes Over as Head of Susan G. Komen After decades of work- les apparel brands—includ- Harvard-trained physician who left as head Big Strike, a juniorswear label in Gardena, ing in the apparel industry, ing Warnaco Swim Group, of the nonprofit at the end of last year. Calif., acquired by the private-investment Paula Schneider is moving American Apparel and Laun- “Paula is respected as a leader who moti- company The Gores Group, based in Bev- her career in a different di- dry by Shelli Segal—is a vates teams to achieve and exceed goals, and erly Hills, Calif. rection by taking over as breast-cancer survivor. She was we are delighted to welcome her to the Su- Nearly two years later, she took over as president and chief execu- diagnosed with breast cancer in san G. Komen team as we move forward to chief executive of American Apparel after tive of Susan G. Komen, 2007 while working at Warna- achieve our bold goal to reduce U.S. breast- the brand’s founder and previous CEO, Dov the world’s largest breast- co and lost her mother to meta- cancer deaths by half by 2026,” said Komen Charney, was fired by the board of directors. cancer organization. static breast cancer in 2010. Board Chair Connie O’Neill. During Schneider’s time there, the company Schneider, who took over “I know from personal ex- Schneider’s long career in the fashion in- filed for bankruptcy twice. The label was the job on Nov. 6, will be re- perience the devastation of dustry began when she created Take Twoo, sold early this year to the Canadian company siding in Dallas, where the Paula Schneider breast cancer and the power a multi-line sales firm that helped launch Gildan Activewear. nonprofit is headquartered. and impact of the Komen mis- BCBGMaxAzria. Later, she became presi- Schneider resigned last year as CEO In her new job, she will be responsible for sion to end it,” she said in a statement. “I dent of sales for nearly a decade at BCBG- of American Apparel to take charge of the strategic direction and daily operations am determined to do all that I can to build MaxAzria until she left to become the presi- three Los Angeles contemporary brands ac- of Komen’s worldwide network, which in- on this iconic organization’s mission to end dent of Laundry by Shelli Segal. quired last year by Delta Galil, an Israeli cludes more than 80 Komen affiliates serv- breast cancer, for everyone and forever.” Nearly five years later, she became presi- clothing company. Those labels were 7 For ing millions of women through community The board of directors for Susan G. Ko- dent of Warnaco Swimwear Group, whose All Mankind, Splendid and Ella Moss. health and education programs. men named Schneider to the post in late brands included Speedo and Calvin Klein. After seven months as the brands’ CEO, The former head of several Los Ange- September. She replaces Dr. Judy Salerno, a Later, she became the chief executive of Schneider left in May.—Deborah Belgum CFDA Hosts Incubator Showcase in Hollywood The Council of Fashion Designers of in the incubator program have the oppor- fashion looking to creative America returned to the W Hotel in Holly- tunity to travel to key markets around the fashion capitals outside of wood for a Nov. 16 showcase featuring de- country, including Los Angeles, for the last NYC.” signers in the CFDA {Fashion Incubator} stop on the tour. The incubator designers program. The designers were mentored by image met with media, influencers, This year’s showcase included contem- architect Law Roach.