Designers & Agents and Capsule bring newness to Los Angeles

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Oct 23, 2016

This week was a week of firsts for Los Angeles market. Capsule held its first women’s ready-to-wear and accessories show in Los Angeles and Designers & Agents brought its Made in NY Collective showcase to the West Coast.

 
A number of designers and brands from the Made in NY Collective showed in Los Angeles for the first time thanks to Designers & Agents. The trade show dedicated a wing of the space to the participating collective designers, which included Alasdair, Dan-yell, Christine Alcalay, Elise Ballegeer, Noorism, Off Season, SamChurch and Xiao Wang Jewelry.
 
Noorism Founder and Creative Director Noor Zakka was excited to show in Los Angeles and was pleased with the response from the buyers that attended the show. Zakka founded her women’s ready-to-wear brand Noorism in 2015, and the brand has been praised heavily for its unique collections made from reclaimed denim.

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The wing had much slower traffic compared to the main hall. Tania San Miguel of contemporary brand South Parade was very happy with the main hall’s foot traffic. Most buyers huddled in one area and moved collectively instead of roaming freely. Also, most of the attendees were from West Coast retailers, which says much about the buying and selling schedule in the western United States.
 
Christine Alcalay, founder and designer of her namesake label, and founder of women’s boutique Kiwi and men’s boutique Fig, was also pleased with the show and said that she is used to much noisier shows that took away from selling. Designers & Agents LA was 'strictly business', which she felt favorable about, though she was bothered by the foot traffic of the Made in NY Collective’s wing.
 
Capsule was ‘strictly business’ as well for its first-ever Los Angeles show. The brands were grouped by section, Accessories, The Beauty Lab, Axis and Women’s RTW, and the show itself was easy to navigate. Common Knowledge founder and designer Zara Dramov and designer Alyson Eastman made note of the steady foot traffic that picked up by the afternoon and the number of orders they made on the first day.
 
Dramov debuted a line of wristlets and one bag in particular that was inspired by origami, and Eastman debuted new leather jackets with removable sleeves, adding function to luxury.
 
Axis had a dedicated section at Capsule following their merger in 2016. The section housed brands such as Nux Activewear and We Are Handsome that boasted swim and activewear collections fit for the trade show’s first-ever retail store that opened in Los Angeles in October. Capsule Concept opened in early October with a Beach theme and will launch a Beauty concept in the coming months.
 
Capsule and Designers & Agents injected newness to Los Angeles market. The week is a local affair for West Coast brands and buyers that can be leveraged by trade shows and designers for expansion and growth. Late delivery brands and brands that don’t fully adhere to the fashion calendar are better suited for Los Angeles market, but don’t expect Los Angeles to surpass New York City or Las Vegas soon.