Comments on: LA Textile wholesale fabric show

By: Nina

Nina — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:15:29 +0000

Hi Everyone I was just reading all your comments, I am new at this and have been shopping for material @ LA the garment district….but I want to go to one of those shows. Can anyone tell me when the next LA textile show will be, I’m coming all the way from Hawaii just to purchase fabrics, but if I can hook up with a company that would send me fabrics direct, it would be awesome. I am also looking for hawaiian print fabrics. Any help would be appreciated….thank you all very much!

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:41:15 +0000

when do designers usually do runway shows for spring 2008

By: Susan

Susan — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 00:33:29 +0000

Hi Angel!
SYKA Textiles is in Vancouver and specializes in eco-friendly and organic fabrics. We are a wholesaler with no minimums. Please visit http://www.syka.ca for more details!

By: Angel

Angel — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 06:52:14 +0000

For a designer starting up in Vancouver, Canada wanting low minimums and mostly organic knits, which show is the best to attend?

By: Susan Patricia

Susan Patricia — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 00:15:08 +0000

All: Much appreciate all your help. (MW, I was told by a mill rep that NYC is not where to go anymore. I agree, the mill reps provided the fabric details and were very helpful.)

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 16:59:14 +0000

Susan,
I do not see any validity in your comment about “NYC is not where the DE wants to go anymore, I understand ” The jobber base in NY is more mature than any other US city, and offers the widest selection and availablity. Material World goes again in Miami first week of April.Many exhibiting mills/fabric sources realize they must bring down minimums and they do cater to upstarts.Ask if they will do smaller runs of a fabric on a sample basis. Ask what jobbers buy from them.Piggyback on another order?
Remember that fabric is generally less expensive direct, from mills and that they DO know it’s content/construction. You may also want to hook up with good fabric/textile agents. Many represent
several lines from all over the world. You have to go to these shows to find these agents. My previous post mentions the Internet as a
“Godsend” to fabric sourcing. Communication with fabric people has never been more accessible and quick, but that intial contact helps immensely. Overall, it would appear that fabric mills, both domestic and worldwide have altered business strategies to adapt to the new apparel industry.It is no secret that mills asking for huge minimums a few years ago, have either lowered
their standards or closed up shop.

By: MW

MW — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:48:57 +0000

Susan,

I would start with the closest show and since the Chicago show comes up before LA textile, it’s probably worth a shot seeing who you can find there. Often what you can do is get an exhibitor list and cross reference that with another show (many shows will send you their booklet after the show if they have them leftover).

You can do a lot of legwork with a show guide for a past show as many companies have regional sales reps across the country that show their line. A lot of them don’t but it is a start when you’re caught in a time where you need to source fabric but your larger shows are months away.

By: Susan Patricia

Susan Patricia — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:21:09 +0000

I am a DE in the midwest and have certainly been challenged by finding and purchasing the fabric I need for my start-up line. I went to NYC and meet with several mill reps and indeed found minimums and prices per yard too high (with shipping), although I found them very helpful and accomodating. I did find some fabric through a jobber but they couldn’t tell me anything about its content/construction and it was $10+ a yard. NYC is not where the DE wants to go anymore I understand. I unfortunately missed out on the October show but don’t want to miss the Spring release window. I see there is a show in Chicago Nov. 30th and Dec. 1. Do you know anything about it? OR, would anyone recommend that I go to LA and shift through the jobbers? Any suggestions are much a appreciated.

By: tom

tom — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 18:50:12 +0000

Christy,
You make a couple of very good points. Certainly trade shows of this type are very beneficial to most, but one should always look below the surface,and yes, dig, dig ,and dig. There are untold resources that don’t join these organizations such as TALA, and prefer to remain on their own. The Internet gives you immediate access to fabric and contracting sources, all around the world. Launching a clothing line in some ways, has never been easier. In the “old days”, trade fairs had yet to be invented, and personnel from apparel companies had to travel to mills around the world to find and secure fabrics,to be sewn in their own factories.(These points alone will have the “oldtimers” reminiscing).
As well, don’t mistake Material World as discriminating against DE’s because of price issues. I believe a majority of exhibitors realize the importance of emerging companies. They cater to wide variety of interests, including sewing technology,forecasting,logistics,contracting, in addition to textile sources.Many would say they embrace DE’s, and the potential revenues they represent .They too, offer some great seminars, many dealing with the issues of our changing industry, many free of charge. Have you ever tried contacting the numbers listed by the California Garment Contractor’s Association ? Sadly, many are not in service with no forwarding numbers. Perhaps, another sign of the times.
Tom

By: Christy Fisher

Christy Fisher — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 14:55:57 +0000

Hi again!
Miracle and I have had an e-mail conversation about some ofthe LA events and she asked if I would share some of these other tidbits with some of you who may not know them..so here is our e-mail conversation:
(from Miracle:)

Hi there,
Yes, I understand that TALA is *a* sponsor of the show, it was a change that has been corrected. As far as the other comments, you might want to post that in the blog comments section for other readers to benefit from because a lot of people don’t know about GCA, TALA or other textile resources.
Thanks,
Miracle

..so here’s my “stuff”:

Nice to meet you! Thanks for the reply..TALA is one of the sponsors..but not the “show”…
One of the complaints I hear from vendors about TALA:
Unless you are paying the $300 or so a year membership, then you are not listed in their directory, etc…so if you contact TALA , trying to track down a certain type of fabric or contractor (for example), you will only be given the names of those with paid membership to TALA..and there are TONS of others who are not TALA members that you may miss.. so my advice is to use TALA- sure, they are great- but don’t STOP there…you have to dig, dig, dig…The Garment Contractors Association in California is another good source…

Also going to these shows gets you a SHOW directory of ALL the vendors present at the show. It is a valuable tool in itself.