Las Vegas highlights
If I seemed more relaxed this Vegas season it’s because I spent three days vacationing with my best friend in sunny Los Angeles before I arrived. That laid back LA lifestyle stayed with me throughout the four days of trade show craziness (and apparently continuing as I’m writing this blog) because I’m just keeping it simple with a hit list of some cool product from the shows.
Insubordinate Lads is a new bag line for spring 2012 by Rissy Woods, pictured above. All are made from Italian leather in New York and are lined with suiting or shirting fabrics for $225 to $650 retail.
Pvblic is a graphic-driven brand designed by Jayme Thaler and Tara Ocello. Every season they research a region or culture and design the collection around it (spring ’12 was inspired by Inca, Aztec and Myan cultures). T-shirts retail for $60, French terry shorts from $80 to $90, Sweatpants are $120 and are sold at retailers like Kitson, Bloomingdale’s and Alter in Brooklyn.
Luciano Moresco showed beautiful floral woven shirts for $325 retail. He said that at first, retailers are scared to buy the bold print but because they make a great window piece they’ll attract customers into the store and will actually sell.
Options by Matt Totillo may be known for woven shirts but he is offering “easy knits” for spring 2012. These gorgeous 60/40 linen/cotton blends retail for $120.
Zak is making his spring ’12 debut as a bridge between that action sports guy and the true contemporary customer. Denim retails for around $88, super-lightweight trousers around $80 to $90 and tanks are $42.
Feiyue is a French footwear brand that entered the U.S. market a few seasons ago. Most are unisex and wholesale from $22 to $44.
Dolo Clothing is a brand out of Boston founded in 2002 by Desmond Bellot. It was these cute Dolo Bear graphic T-shirts ($26 to $35 retail) that caught my eye. Bellot says a full lifestyle collection is in the works with the addition of accessories, sweaters, wovens and denim coming soon.
True Religion is putting an emphasis on non-denim for spring. I especially liked these shorts in over-dyed fabrics available in a variety of lengths and with or without abrasions.
Individualized Apparel created their spring 2012 collection with fabric from their 1961 archives. Jim Heiser told me they sent the actual cloth to a converter in order to maintain the exact coloration and pattern from the original fabric. Long and short sleeved styles are $65 wholesale and in addition to men’s styles, they’re offering super cute women’s shirt dresses.