SMALL BUSINESS: MADE IN L.A. - Trendy brand keeps it local - Fashions move so fast for jeans and T-shirt maker Monarchy Collection that sending out to Asia would take too long.
Inside a glistening building in an otherwise gritty industrial zone near downtown Los Angeles, young men with trendy hair and tattooed arms sit in front of oversize computer screens and click to the low thump of a hip-hop tune.
The place could pass for a video-gamer boot camp were it not for the piles of pricey jeans and T-shirts in every corner of the room. These are clothing designers for Monarchy Collection, which is bucking an outsourcing movement that has decimated much of Los Angeles' garment manufacturing industry.
"Everything is made within a two-mile radius of this building" for quick response to fleeting trends, said Monarchy co-owner Eric Kim, 35. Chimed in business partner Henry Kim, 37 (no relation), "This is our way of remaining competitive."
The 2-year-old company makes highly stylized casual clothing for the young hipster crowd, which is constantly on the prowl for fresh and unique looks. Monarchy feeds those mercurial appetites using T-shirts with elaborate graphics and stitching that retail for as much as $75 apiece at boutiques and department stores, including Nordstrom. Its clothing line -- including hoodies, jackets and $200 jeans -- will bring the company an estimated $25 million in revenue this year.
At a time when more and more clothing companies are seeking cheaper manufacturing abroad, dozens of fledgling labels like Monarchy aren't. This new collection of manufacturer is capitalizing on Los Angeles' growing status as a fashion hub and helping stem some of the job losses to China, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries -- and redefining an industry that has long been a staple of the local economy.
"Outsourcing doesn't work with this group because it is about creativity," said Lonnie Kane, president of the California Fashion Assn., a trade group. "They create something and they need to get it to the market fast, and they better be thinking what's next."
Making clothes in China is cheaper, but it also takes anywhere from three weeks to three months for products to reach stores in the U.S.
"A lot can change in that time," said Jim Shaffer, co-owner of Blue Tattoo, another Los Angeles-based maker of high-end casual wear. "Producing locally gives you a better response time."
Response time matters less for mass-produced clothing, and that's why most of the companies that supply apparel to large retailers such as Macy's and Kmart have moved their production abroad where labor is cheaper.
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