NEWSPAPER 2ND CLASS $2.99 VOLUME 74, NUMBER 41 OCTOBER 5–11, 2018 THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY FOR 73 YEARS Vendors at L.A. Majors Market Claim Good Biz Despite Lighter Traffic By Andrew Asch Retail Editor Retailers placed orders and brands introduced new denim lines at the semiannual L.A. Majors Market in an ambience where vendors thought that buyer traffic was slower than in pre- vious years. The show, which focused on merchandise for big depart- ment stores and mass merchandisers, took place Oct. 1–3, pri- marily at the California Market Center. Retailers seen at the show included the Dillard’s depart- ment store, juniorswear-focused Rue 21 and Charlotte Russe as well as value-focused stores including Bealls, Ross Stores Inc. and Burlington. ➥ L.A. Majors page 15 L.A. Textile Show Reflects Apparel Industry Changes and CMC Transition By Dorothy Crouch Associate Editor During this week’s L.A. Textile show, attendees experi- enced the fruits of a new initiative to refresh the biannual event, which took place Oct. 3–5 at the California Market Center in downtown Los Angeles. With property management firm Brookfield Properties implementing updates and new construction projects at the 1.8 million-square-foot complex, the show is being pro- duced with a new approach. Describing the initiative to make textiles more exciting through artistic expression, Brookfield Properties’s Emilie ➥ L.A. Textile page 14 INSIDE: SPRING/SUMMER TRENDS Where fashion gets down to business SM Trend forecasting and buying consultants have been busy getting the word out about the latest for Spring/Summer 4 6 Stitch Fix to UK ... p. 2 2019. Directives West held a runway show highlighting NAFTA update ... p. 2 what will be selling in stores next spring. For more looks, Barbara Fields forecast ... p. 7 MintModa trends ... p. 8 see page 12. Fashion District Resources ... p. 16 Cloth + Trim—Denim Jacket Noisy May—Metallic Bra ANTHONY MITCHELL OF STUDIO 19 Cooper—Animal-Print Pant www.apparelnews.net 01,14-15.cover.indd 1 10/4/18 5:55 PM NEWS Stitch Fix Headed for Great Britain Next Year Stitch Fix Inc., an on-demand, personal- United States, and that is always a healthy Net income for the quarter was $18.3 mil- ing to satisfy customer demand in a timely styling service based in San Francisco that attribute. Also, the idea of having a person- lion on $318.3 million in net revenues, a 23 manner. “Normal wait times are coming offers online apparel subscriptions and per- al-shopping alternative is really a different percent increase over the previous fourth back,” said Mike Smith, the company’s chief sonal-shopping services, is branching out to model in the U.K. and one the consumers quarter’s revenues. operating officer. Great Britain next year. there are excited about.” For the full year, net revenue increased Since 2017, the company has expanded The company’s co-founder, Katrina Lake, Stitch Fix was founded in 2011 in Lake’s 26 percent to $1.2 billion and net income to- its merchandise to include both lower-priced made the announcement during an Oct. 1 apartment in Cambridge, Mass., while she taled $44.9 million compared to a $594,000 merchandise, which sells for $20 to $50 an earnings call for the fourth quarter of fiscal was studying at the Harvard Business net loss in fiscal 2017. item, and premium-brand offerings, which 2018 and the full year. School. The company began by catering Paul Yee, the chief financial officer, said go for $100 to $600. Lake, the company’s chief executive, only to women, but it has subsequently ex- the company continues to increase its mens- By the end of fiscal 2018, these two cat- said there were several reasons that Stitch panded to men’s clothing, plus sizes, mater- wear business, which was launched two egories together nearly doubled as a percent- Fix chose Great Britain as its first interna- nity wear and kids’. years ago. This growth has been helped by age of total women’s unit sales and helped tional site to send monthly boxes of cloth- Last year, the company went public, sell- the company expanding from two warehous- serve both a younger and an older client. ing to subscribers. “The U.K. is already an ing its stock on the Nasdaq. es to three warehouses, where automation is For fiscal 2019, the company is hoping to e-commerce, apparel-heavy economy. These For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, end- a major investment. expand its net revenues by 20 percent to 25 customers spend more online than in the ing July 28, the company had 2.7 million Childrenswear was added toward the end percent over fiscal 2018, which will not in- United States. That is an element we liked,” active clients, a 25 percent increase over the of fiscal 2018 with growth primarily in the clude the U.K. expansion. she said. “It is less discount-oriented than the same period last year. older girls’ category. The company is work- —Deborah Belgum NAFTA Turns Into a Three-Way Deal With a New Name With the last-minute announcement on sewing thread, pocket linings, elastic bands The TPLs on apparel made from wool Canadian dollars to 150 Canadian dollars. Sept. 30 that Canada would be joining the and coated fabrics made in the three countries sent from the United States to Canada have “One of the objectives in renegotiating the free-trade agreement with the United States must now come from the region. Visible lin- been reduced. trade agreement was to get Canada and Mexi- and Mexico, there will be a new North ings are exempt from this requirement. E-tailers are getting a bit of a boost. Mexi- co to increase their threshold on de minimis,” American Free Trade Agreement covering The trade-preference level for apparel sent co and Canada will increase their de minimis Hughes said, noting that the United States al- about $12.5 trillion in trade. from the United States to Canada has more shipment value levels, which is the minimum lows up to $800 shipped by e-tailers to come But it will no longer be referred to as NAF- than doubled. In the past, U.S. manufactur- value of an imported shipment that is subject into the U.S. duty-free. “This is a nice thing, TA. Its new name is the United States-Mexico- ers could send up to 9 million square-meter to duties and customs documentation. Mexico especially for smaller companies with custom- Canada Agreement, or USMCA. equivalents a year in clothing made from non- is doubling its de minimis from $50 to $100, ers in Mexico and Canada,” Hughes said. “It While the name is changed, many of the regional fabrics to our northern neighborhood. and Canada is upping its de minimis from 20 makes it easier to do business.”—D.B. provisions governing textiles and apparel will That has been upped to 20 million SMEs. remain the same. “For our sector, there were “This will be big for Southern California not the huge changes in the agreement that manufacturers,” said Steve Lamar, the execu- The National Retail Federation Sees a people had feared,” said Julie Hughes, the tive vice president of the American Apparel president of the U.S. Fashion Industry Asso- & Footwear Association, who has been fol- Strong Holiday Season ciation, a Washington, D.C., trade group repre- lowing the free-trade negotiations. “That is U.S. sales for the holiday 2018 season are proved wages, tamed inflation and an increase senting apparel importers and retailers. something we and many others have been expected to be better than last year. in net worth all provide the capacity and the Slight tweaks to the new accord mean that asking for.” According to the National Retail Federa- confidence to spend,” Kleinhenz said. tion, there should be a 4.3 percent to 4.8 per- In past years, NRF’s annual forecast was re- cent rise over last year’s strong holiday season. leased during a conference call with reporters Excluding autos, gas and restaurants, U.S. and Wall Street analysts. On Oct. 3, the fore- retailers stand to rack up a total of $717.45 bil- cast was released in a live video stream web- lion to $720.89 billion in sales, according to cast by YouTube. an NRF forecast released Oct. 3. That is a lot Kleinhenz was asked how consumers will stronger than last year’s $687.90 billion in hol- finance shopping lists during the upcoming iday sales, which were up 5.3 percent over the season with healthcare and gas prices inching previous year and had the highest year-over- up. Kleinhenz conceded that the 2018 holiday year increase since 2010, when a 5.2 percent season won’t be a cakewalk. rise was recorded, said Matthew Shay, NRF “Retailers will not only be competing with president and chief executive officer. other retailers. They’ll be competing with bud- “Thanks to a healthy economy and strong gets that will be stretched. Healthcare costs, consumer confidence, we believe that this holi- rents and energy are all going up at a consider- day season will continue to reflect the growth able pace,” he said. we’ve seen over the past year,” he said. He also noted that many shoppers increas- Jack Kleinhenz, NRF’s chief economist, ingly spend dollars on fine restaurants and trips said almost every economic element is in place over gifts, and retailers will have to compete to make consumers comfortable spending a lot for those shoppers’ attention.