"Abbey didn't care about my resume," Blain said. "He cared about my birth certificate -- to make sure I was really from California and understand the California lifestyle."
The attention the local retail consulting firms help generate can create work for local manufacturers.
"It creates a reason for buyers to come to California and shop the market and see what's new, and it creates a buzz," said Lonnie Kane, president of Karen Kane Inc. in Los Angeles, a women's sportswear maker.
If, for example, Directives West likes a manufacturer's baby doll dress, it may appear in the firm's weekly "bulletin" to clients. Such exposure can be particularly helpful to start-up firms and emerging brands.
"You need all the PR and hype you can get," Kane said. "And having Sandy like your products or tell buyers you need to look at this line.... It can literally make a company turn a corner, from obscurity to being hot."
When apparel maker All Access launched in 1997, Directives West introduced it to retailers that knew nothing about the Montebello company's Self Esteem brand, co-owner Richard Clareman said. Richman's team talked up the line, he said, and persuaded retailers that "we could help them."
He also relied on Richman's competitors to expand his company's sales, which have now pushed past $200 million. "It's Doneger, Barbara and Sandy," he said. "They're amazing."
Identifying a line that looks great but lacks exposure is one of Blain's favorite challenges. She recalled a particularly feminine T-shirt line from Core Clothing, a downtown L.A. company that she introduced to one of Doneger's clients, Nordstrom.
"They bought it," she said. That got the attention of other retailers, who started buying it too. "That's the most exciting part of what we do."
"With the assistance of Doneger Group and the exposure, we've more than tripled our business," said Core owner Claudia Mihok.
Knowing what's likely to sell came naturally to Richman, whose family owned specialty stores on the East Coast when she was growing up.
"I used to go on buying trips with them," she said. "I always had a point of view."
And she's not shy about expressing it.
"She can be very blunt," said L.A. designer Sue Wong, a longtime friend. "Some people really see her as tough and powerful, and she can be intimidating."
But underneath that toughness is a "pussycat," Wong said. "It's not a pretty or soft business. You have to put on a tough front to really survive."
Surviving as a trend forecaster takes a certain knack, said Sandy Potter, Richman's former business partner. Watching trendy retailers is part of the trick. If shorts started selling at Fred Segal, for example, Directives West would urge J.C. Penney to stock up, she said.
"There's some very, very savvy retailers in Los Angeles," she said. "To be a competitor here, you've got to get it."
Fashion forecasters also look well past L.A. to track trends.
Fields, who has opened a New York office, is in London every month and Tokyo every six weeks. "I think it's necessary to be global," she said.
Richman is also a frequent flier. "I love L.A., I love New York, I love London, I love Paris," the West L.A. resident said. "Hong Kong is one of my favorite places, and China. And I love Tokyo."
Her favorite spot? "Home."
leslie.earnest@latimes.com
