Building the Boutique

Q: Hi Kim! It’s pretty easy to find what’s hot currently even two-three months from now isn’t hard, but with the trade shows six months in advance… How do we know what’s going to be “it” fashion in 6 months? You always seem to know!

A: Very good question! Trend forecasting isn’t always that easy, but it’s not necessarily as hard to do as you think — all you have to do is keep your eyes and ears open. You really do need to immerse yourself in fashion, which shouldn’t be hard to do if you love fashion enough to open your own boutique. Pay attention to the runway shows — this is key. It’s pretty convenient since fashion happens before most of the markets. If you watch closely you’ll start to notice repitition. If you don’t notice anything, just log on to thefashionspot.com and visit their trends forum. You’ll see threads starting (and some bumped) about all the new trends people are spotting at fashion weeks.

Also, a lot of trends carry over from the year before or earlier in the year. For example — how long have booties been hot? Since I was in COLLEGE (I graduated 3 years ago, people). How long have open toed booties been hot? Eh, about 2 years or so? And what about cut-out booties? Since, say, last year. Trust me, they aren’t going anywhere come fall/winter.

So to sum it all up — watch fashoin shows, read TFS, shop a lot, read lots of fashion magazines and celebrity gossip blogs too. The last tip seems weird but honestly I’ve found at least half of the designers I carry through celebrities. And all trends cycle, so if you can think of a trend that was popular, say, 10 years ago, and a lot of other trends from that time have already come back into style, you can bet that one is about to step up to the plate again (I mean, hello leather pants and one shoudler tops that were all the rage when I was a Freshmen in high school).

Q: I’m planning my first trip to market. Is it mandatory to make appointments?

A: Yes. Well, actually it’s not, but I would STRONGLY recommend it to anyone who’s going for the first time. Why? It’s less work and less confusion for the showroom, and trust me, during market they already have tons of work and tons of confusion going on. It will also save you a headache if the showroom decides not to sell to you — and yes, this can happen. Some showrooms want to check out your area, make sure other boutiques nearby aren’t carrying the line, or they just might want to know who else you’re carrying and what your shop looks like, etc. Even if they do let you place an order, they might check later and decide not to actually FILL your order, so why set yourself up for the disappointment?

So this weekend I finally entered the world of “budget clothing”. For a now while I’ve been wondering where some shops get less expensive pieces. When you’re working with contemporary designers, it’s hard to find collections that retail under $100; I can count all of those labels on one hand, I can’t name one I actually like and would carry. So after a lot of research (ie. googling) I came across a couple of brands, which eventually lead me to the online showrooms. Turns out these showrooms are pretty much where I expected them to be — deep in the heart of the garment district. In fact I remember stumbling upon a few of them on accident while shopping with friends down there one time.

And, as usual, I’ve uncovered a whole new set of frustrations. Where do I begin…

So, I’m mainly looking for more affordable pieces for my shop at the salon. These lines are great because a lot of the tops retail for around $35 and the dresses a little bit more for that and the jeans actually LESS than that. Is the quality the same as pieces I carry now? Of course not, but some of it is a lot better than one would expect. But you have to look….and look, and look….and then look a lot more to find them. I mean, there’s a lot of horribly ugly crap in this market, and I really wonder who’s designing for these labels sometimes to be honest. But every once in a while you stumble upon a gem.

The real issue here is with minimums — not delivery minimums (they’re usually about $100), but size minimums, because budget lines come prepackaged with a set number of items in each size. Im used to buying four pieces and being able to choose which sizes I want, but with these lines you’re (on average) required to purchase six pieces (sometimes 5) and you don’t even get to choose the sizes. And for a small store, six pieces seems a bit daunting. If you’re talking jeans or shoes, be prepared to stock a lot more.

Even more frusterating, though, are the sizes. Just earlier today I was looking at a VERY promising line with peices retailing around $80 and $90 each. Only thing is they require you to buy 2 small, 2 medium and 1 large. Yeah, maybe in LA sizes 2 and 4 are more popular than 6 and 8, but in my town? Not so much. I asked the sales rep about this and she told me that I can “always add more larges on to the order”. Well thanks, but that’s not exactly what I was getting at.

To make matters even worse, most of these showrooms are closed on Saturdays….even during market week. I know they don’t work ahead of the season, but this I don’t get at all. I guess they think all buyers live in LA or can just abandon work in the middle of the week.

So far, I’ve found a couple of great jewelry vendors and placed an order for a few pieces. I’m pretty excited about them; cute stuff, and it’s all going to retail under $25. Should be a great addition to the salon, since we have absolutely NO jewelry there. Crazy, huh?

I went down to LA for the day on Saturday (and just missed the bad weather, thank God!) for the Summer 2010 market. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to market, since I ordered a lot in small quantities last year via linesheets. Even if it’s a smaller market, compared to Fall or Spring, it was so nice to be at the industry trade shows again.

Transit
Our first stop was the Transit shoe show inside the California Market Center. Um, I like shoes, like most women, but the shoe show is always the most boring exhibit. There are so many vendors and they’re all selling the exact. same. thing. Same trendy strappy sandals, gladiators in every color, booties, and jeweled flats. *yawns* The only line that really stood out to me was LAMB. They have a pair of super high heeled sandals coming out that are REALLY unique looking; I can’t even explain what they look like, but you’ll know them when you see them. They’re also launching a line of leather thong sandals which are really cute, good prices too. But it looks like another boutique here in town has already snapped them up! Shoes would be great to have, but they’re such expensive inventory to carry with all the sizes and what not. Oh, and the fact that I don’t have any room for them might be a problem as well…

(more…)

Next weekend the LA fashion district will be gearing up for the Summer 2010 market, which I couldn’t be MORE excited about. I haven’t been to market in a while, since I didn’t buy ahead of time for Spring. Actually, I’ll be doing my Spring buying while I’m up there and taking a look at what’s in store for Summer. It sounds backwards, but since I’ve changed my business model a lot, and opening my retail location here in town is one of the reasons why.

As I mentioned a few months ago, opening up in a salon was such a last minute thing. I think I spoke with the owners a month or a month and a half before everything was up and running. We opened in November and the Spring ‘09 market took place in October. I ALMOST went to it and placed orders for a whole bunch of stuff, and honestly, I’m glad that I didn’t. Because now that I’ve gotten to know the clientèle here it’s definitely changed what things I would put in the shop (mainly price wise), and of course, buying for a brick and mortar location is much different than the web.

So my new model is to sell what I have BEFORE I buy more (and I recently learned that Banana Republic does this as well), and I plan to stick with it for a while. I’ve said before that depending on immediates is risky business, and it can be, but luckily I work with some pretty flexible lines. I’m also limiting my budget by a LOT, but considering how small my space is, a little bit goes a long way. So here’s what I’m planning on carrying…

Denim – finally! I found a great premium line that retails around $100 AND they get a ton of press.
Footwear – Okay, just flip flops. But it’s a start!
Maxi’s – Once again. But they’re such HOT sellers, and they’re inexpensive, easy to ship and hardly get returned.
Tops – I’m usually more cocktail dress focused but tops will definitely be a bigger selling point in the shop.

So I plan on bringing in at least two more lines, MAYBE 3 depending on how I can stretch my dollars. And on top of that I’m looking into jewelry, but I’ll talk more about that another time

Q: I would like to open [a boutique] at the end of summer 2010. Should I be purchasing clothing now? As I do not currently have a storefront I am concerned that it will be hard to get my inventory which is obviously so essential. I love the idea of immediates, but I realize I can’t count on them. When I try to get wholesale information online from certain labels, they seem to want a location, a website or even a photograph of the store. There was also a trade show I had looked into ( The Pool Trade Show) which wanted to see two completed invoices as part of the application. I do have a tax id number, but that’s about it at this point! Any help or advice you can give would be so appreciated! Best of luck to you this coming weekend as the holiday madness begins!!

A: If you’re opening at the end of summer, rest easy for now because the Fall collections (and even though it’s the end of Summer, you’ll want to have Fall merch at this time) start showing in February (at MAGIC in Las Vegas), and will continue to show into the next month in other cities like LA.

Pool isn’t a trade show I’d recommend going to for your first time. Try getting into the Brighte Enk, Designers & Agents and some of the other smaller ones (like Transit, etc) that happen in Los Angeles all at the same time. There’s also Market Tuesdays at the California Market Center. I was able to go to these shows (specifically Brighte) before I had a website or any invoices; they basically want to see your business license and business cards. Easy stuff! A lot of times you can use a deed as well.

If all else fails, I’d recommend securing your domain name and putting up a “coming soon” graphic of some sorts. And make it look nice and creative; have your web designer do it, and put your logo on it and maybe a fun, colorful background so the reps take it seriously.

Best of luck to you too!

Here’s a great question from the comment section this morning:

Q: How do immediates work? How long does it take to get them, do all lines do immediates?

A: This is a good question, and one I get a lot, and for a good reason. It seems that a lot of people who are new to this business are interested in immediates, and it’s not surprising, because investing thousands of dollars 4-6mos ahead of time is VERY daunting. I, personally, change my mind like clockwork so it’s tough. Right now with my brick and mortar retail space I’m doing everything on an immediate basis.

Some lines have immediates and some don’t. I’m lucky to work with a couple of great labels who not only have plenty of immediates but also are VERY flexible about reordering. But what I’m hearing is that with the economy changing lines are starting to cut only what is ordered, making immediates a bit more scarce (funny story though…the west coast sales rep for a certain brand told me this, and then the east coast sales rep for the exact same line emailed me telling me there were TONS of immediates…interesting!) So you really need to get to know the line before you risk waiting for immediates. Feel them out a bit; of course ask the sales rep, but also see for yourself. Try and get on the mailing list for the showroom (if they have one) because that’s one of the quickest ways to find out whats available. Also, visit their showrooms and visit them during trade shows; usually lines will show their immediates along with the upcoming season, and it’s a good way to gage how much they tend to keep available.

The way immediates tend to work is pretty simple. The merchandise for a season will become available, and will ship out to the stores that already placed orders first. Then whatever is left over after that will become available. The amount of time it takes just depends on how long it takes them to ship out all the orders placed. Generally each collection will have a 15 day window (which is why some linesheets will say a delivery is open 3/15 – 4/01) or longer. Once they become available and you place the order, it should ship out to you right away. How quickly you receive it after that just depends on where you live. It’s great being 90 miles away from LA because I can order something and get it in stock the next day.

So if you know you’re going to want immediates, email your sales rep around the time the delivery is set to ship. Ask them to email you with what’s available when it becomes available. Hope that helps! And as always, feel free to email me with questions or leave them in the comments section!

A couple of really good reader questions came in recently and I thought I’d share the answers with everyone

Q: I live in the Caribbean,meaning, only summer clothes and shoes is what I need during the whole year. So if I go to shows and showrooms in winter time can I still get summer dresses and sandals?

A. The answer to the first question is a big, huge YES. First off, most high end lines do Resort/Cruise collections, which are usually the first two deliveries of the year (right after holiday). The idea behind it is that people with money jet off to their exclusive resorts (the Carribean is probably one of those places!) and need swimsuits, shorts and other summer clothes. And even if you’re talking October/November/December, it’s still possible to get summery clothes, depending on the brand. See, I have the opposite problem that you have a lot of times; I have trouble finding warm clothes and sweaters because all the lines I work with are selling sheer dresses, maxi’s and halter tops during this time of the year. So don’t worry, it won’t be a problem at all. Just choose the right brands!

Q: I am planning on opening an online store next summer for fall, but am wondering how early I should start contacting reps? Do you have an office space or do you run it out of your home? Also, do you ever notice some brand reps who will not work with brand new stores? Thanks so much for your advice, you should write a book!

A. Buyers generally work 4-6 months ahead of the season. The Fall collections generally will start to show in mid February at MAGIC in Las Vegas (note that NYFW is also that month) and then they’ll show the next month in Los Angeles and New York. You’ll pretty much have that Febraury-April window to purchase for Fall, but I would recommend contacting the reps ahead of time to introduce yourself and find out what they’ll want to see from you in order to buy. That way you can have it ready for market.

I run everything out of my home. I do have RETAIL space now and I keep 90% of my clothes there and the rest I keep in my home or the trunk of my car!

It’s always different with reps, and it depends on the type of lines you’re looking for, and how exclusive or high end they are (but not, necessarily, how well known they are). And I’d love to write a book someday. Hopefully I will.

Itinerary
1:30 – Kathy Walker Sales
2:30 – Agent Icon
3:30 – Bluebird Showroom
4:30 – Bright ENK

This was my fifth trip to market week and I had more appointments than ever! The first two were at the New Mart and the second was at the Cooper Building, which I had been to before but only for the Designers & Agents trade show, and the last was Voom at the Brighte ENK trade show in the California Mart.

This was also the first time I got into LA and actually had time to spare. Usually I get there 15 minutes early or something and we’re scrambling to eat before our first appointment. But this time around I had an hour just to hang out and catch the trade shows. We went to Focus, which is on the top floor of the California Mart….now I understand why I never bothered to go up there before. They had such a poor selection of vendors up there, minus one or two.

We also zipped through the Transit shoe show quickly. Now, there are TONS of shoe vendors there, and good ones too. And they’re all producing the same things. I can tell you right now that styles won’t be changing next Spring from Spring 2008. Booties, gladiator sandals, ballerina flats and strappy heels in abundance. Shoes are something that will probably be out of my budget for a very long time now.

D&A at the Cooper building was a HUGE improvement over the last two times I visited it. I found a new line that I LOVE! It’s a brand new, unknown label Kitchen Orange. It’s definitely something I would consider but I’m so weary about adding more lines that have little press.

And I’m sure some of you have heard of Fluxus. I really regret not inquiring about this line when I was creating my budget for Spring. I thought they were only about gray knit vests but they have some impressive mini dresses, coats and shrugs for Spring. Ugh! If I hadn’t gone over budget (WAY over budget) I would’ve been all over that! Definitely in the Fall though, if not Summer.

Bags are also something I’m considering later on in 2009. I’m thinking Linea Pelle or Hayden Harnett. Or who knows, something new might come around.

D&A also has a special market for Green retailers this year, which is great! Didn’t get to check it out though, unfortunately.

Showrooms & Buying
There wasn’t too much that wowed me for Spring, at least not like Holiday, but I did find a bunch of SUPER cute dresses! I got that maxi dress from Lauren Conrad that I posted about last week, as well as an adorable black and blue printed chiffon bubble dress, a couple of wraps and some cute tees. I also ordered a bunch of maxi dresses from Gypsy 05 as well as their sweat suits. Ordering for Love Quotes Spring hasn’t opened yet but the colors are super pretty, albeit the same ones from last year. Boring!

Plastic Island…oh man, I’m glad I went back to this line! So many gorgeous, fashion forward pieces and at great prices too. There are two mini dresses I picked up that I’m absolutely in love with, a great white tuxedo jacket and this amazing navy skirt with tiered strips that totally reminds me of 3.1 Phillip Lim….just half the price and just as good quality.

I’m also looking to branch my merchandise out into basics, so I stocked up on PVC/latex/faux leather/whatever leggings, tanks and tees from LNA. I know, I know…every other boutique carries LNA but EVERYONE needs tees! And any extra search traffic is welcome.

Lastly, there was Voom. Voom always delivers and their Spring stuff is especially cute! I can’t wait for you guys to see this denim tube dress they have; it’s outlined with red and white strips and it has a dove cut out on it. I think it’s going to be next hit in the way the Eva Longoria elephant dress was.

Spring 2009 Preview
Most of you are probably worrying about getting your fall wardrobes together and not even thinking about next spring, but here’s a preview of the new stuff anyways. They should show up early February.

*The red jacket will actually be in this week!
TRENDSTALKING

Hot Colors:

Pale/dusty Blue

Periwinkle blue

Violet

Lilac

Silver

Mustard yellow

Sunshine yellow

Navy

Vintage rose

Pale green

Hot trends: Fringe, florals, tiered strips (aka mini layers), tuxedo style, leggings, burn out, maxi dresses, asymmetry, zippers….blah blah blah, not really anything new.

Just as my Lauren Conrad holiday merchandise arrives, Lauren debuts her collection for Spring 2009 at LA Fashion week. The timing is perfect since market week starts this weekend and I’ll be heading to buy on Saturday. Here are a few of the piece I have my eye on, and of course, I want your input!

That maxi dress was the strongest piece from the entire collection if you ask me. It’s just gorgeous and it screams Spring! The white dress is basic but nice and clean. I would probably get that one in black; white is a bit daunting for most of us girls.

For the first time Lauren introduced chiffon into her collection with three polka dotted prints. I really love this fabric! I think this dress is gorgeous in the pink but those tiny black roses are so unnecessary; there’s something about it that just doesn’t mesh. However, it works in the blue.

More pretty pretty florals. I’m really on the fence with that second dress, the halter one. It’s cute but it’s maybe a bit…matronly? I’m not sure if many 20 something girls would want to wear that style. Love the chiffon blouse though; that should look great in pink.

A couple other looks here. That first dress….hmm, as much as I love the print the bubble hem along with the short length seems a bit unflattering. It would’ve been perfect with just a normal hem! Lauren also added body suits to the line up; I’m seeing these on several linesheets, so I guess they’re making a comeback.

I’ll figure something out here. There are definitely a few promising pieces and I’ll probably buy 8 or 9 of them. Let me know what you think in the comments section!

Check out the entire collection over at my celeb blog, GirlsTalkinSmack.com >>