LA Men's Market 2016 | Recap

Reporting from Lindsey Pierce & Romina Pizarro

At the heart of LA’s Fashion District,  The LA Men’s Market brought the best best brands and buyers from the menswear community to the California Market Center (CMC) in Downtown Los Angeles. The two day tradeshow took place March 29 and 30, 2016, exhibiting over 100 brands’ summer and holiday season collections from all categories–covering lifestyle, streetwear, footwear, contemporary, and action sports.

March 2016 marks the third year and sixth event of this tradeshow. Kellen Roland founded the event when he observed a need in two particular areas: a West coast brand and retail gathering in the cultural hotbed of L.A., and an event that specifically highlights holiday and summer collections over the more typical fall and spring collections.

From a brand’s perspective, this trade event offers an efficient way to showcase your lines and make meaningful connections. Roland acknowledges that every business in this era, from small brands to multi-million dollar companies, is looking for opportunities to cut costs. Where brands normally can only meet with a finite amount of buyers in a day, the trade event offers the space to multiply brand and buyer connections with less time and cost.

“This tradeshow serves as a breeding ground for relationships by bringing brands and retailers together,” says Kellen Roland, Founder of LAMM. “LA’s vibrancy and diversity in the fashion world creates a great environment to give people an opportunity to tell their stories at the event.”

The open booth layout on the show floor created an intimate setting that enhanced buyers’ experience  to connect with vendors to view their products. Some prominent brands in attendance included Brixton, Brothers Marshall, Crap Eyewear, Diamond Supply Co, Duvin Design Co, Electric, Globe, Herschel Supply Co, Huf, Katin, Native Shoes, Obey, Outcaste, Primitive Apparel, Slowtide, Stussy, Tavik and Wonderland.

Two encompassing patterns that many brands focused on were expanding their products to a wider audience and understanding what consumers look for. Brands such as Electric expanded their sunglasses to a new line for women, which shifts their action sports look to lifestyle while still integrating its So-Cal vibe. Electric showcased their first women-specific sunglass line, which launched just this past fall. Tavik also exemplified their innovativeness to integrate technology into their higher premium modern clothing, as well as adding liners into their jackets. Tavik captures one strategy of staying relevant to consumer needs, by offering the ability to charge your smartphone from their jacket liner.

It’s only a couple times a year that you get this many creatives, buyers, and sellers in a room together,” LAMM Founder, Kellen Roland

New and established brands alike featured their new collections, such as Diamond Supply Co’s launch on their skate lifestyle footwear that partners with professional skateboarders Brandon Biebel, Torey Pudwill, and Nick Tucker. Primitive Apparel also came out with a collaboration with Notorious B.I.G. and Anna Nicole Smith collection that includes sweat shirts, skateboards and candles.

The theme of brand collaboration stayed strong across the showroom, as Ezekial sported their “Now” collection, made in conjunction with a surf non-profit. Ezekial also highlighted a unique jeans collection that maintained the appearance of stylish and professional pants, but provided the softness and stretch of pants you can relax in through a special thread-weave (jeggings for men, perhaps?). Globe also responded to the shift toward broader consumer selection by creating their first multi-layer outerwear jacket.

Many brands that previously focused on a singular fashion arena or season have expanded their selection to serve multiple seasons and a wider audience. In order to stay relevant against hundreds of competing and similar collections, brands are seriously looking to consumer needs and desires to differentiate themselves. Along with the opportunity to showcase their best to multiple buyers in a day, the trade event allows for a space for brands to get inspired by seeing the innovations and additions that their contemporaries are creating.

“It’s only a couple times a year that you get this many creatives, buyers, and sellers in a room together,” LAMM Founder, Kellen Roland, comments. The LA Men’s Market offers a special opportunity to take advantage of creative energy and ideas, and make meaningful connections.

As for the future of the LA Men’s Market, Roland sees incremental growth. To him, it’s about adding the right brands at the right time.

Check back to follow the 2016 action sports fashion trends and recaps of all major trade shows.

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