She seeks chic so clients befriend trends
Paris, Milan and New York have their runways, but for "casual chic," Southern California is ground zero.
National retailers want the look and have come to depend on our local cognoscenti to advise them. What's hot here and will it sell in Boise or Birmingham or Boston? Retailers turn to consulting firms such as Directives West, Barbara Fields Buying Office and Doneger Group for the answer.
What these firms do "is beyond the runway," said Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Assn. "It's how the business works."
There was evidence last month, when hundreds of retail buyers packed the L.A. Over Easy fashion show. Sandy Richman, whose firm, Directives West, produced the event, took the stage and introduced Paris Hilton, who was launching a new clothing line. Hilton was nicely received, but it was clear once the program was over that Richman was the show's star.
"You look faaabulous," a buyer gushed as Richman walked to her office at the California Market Center after the program, wearing a gold lace tulip shirt, gold wedge shoes, a ruffled top with a deep scoop neck and a braided gold belt that, she pointed out, really was gold.
"You look magnificent. You look spectacular," another admirer effused. Then, the trump: "You look better than Paris Hilton."
If Richman knows anything, it's what looks good. The fashionista is a petite powerhouse, funneling tips to Macy's, Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penney, Abercrombie & Fitch and other clients. Metchek calls her the West Coast gatekeeper.
"These stores would be hard-pressed to find their way around this market without someone like Sandy," Metchek said.
Or Barbara Fields, who has spent 28 years tracking trends for teenage girls and young women. She sends her trend spotters to high schools, clubs and concerts to monitor what youth is wearing. If the paparazzi are perched in front of a hot store or restaurant, "we're there as well," she said.
"We have people that's all they do is cover things that are happening on the streets of L.A., constantly," she said.
The much larger New York-based Doneger Group opened an office in October 2005 at the California Market Center, where its competitors also are housed. Now it's expanding.
"There's a West Coast lifestyle that's very significant in terms of trends," President Abbey Doneger said. "It's important for us to be here." As West Coast director, he hired Janine Blain, a former Directives West employee who was born in Glendale.
