California Trade Group Aims to Move Fashion Forward
The California Fashion Assn. is an advocacy and networking organization for the Los Angeles-area garment industry. It has a membership of 250 from all walks of the apparel world, including manufacturers, contractors, suppliers, financiers and attorneys. Executive Director Ilse Metchek recently answered three of the most frequently asked questions the organization receives.
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Q: How can I access new apparel manufacturing technologies?
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A: New technologies are available, but small businesses have found it difficult to access them on their own. Eighty percent of our industry’s businesses have fewer than 50 employees.
The North American Defense Bank Fund was set up to help industries affected by the North American Free Trade Agreement. No industry was more affected by NAFTA than this industry, but not a penny has come this way to help businesses become more competitive with new technologies. The minimum loan you can ask for is $250,000, and none of the small businesses need $250,000. Four years into NAFTA, there has yet to be access to technological loans for the development of the businesses in this industry.
What our businesses, particularly contractors, have to do is form partnerships or strategic alliances with manufacturers for loan guarantees to access that technology.
We have studies that prove technology benefits productivity. With all the concern about the business that goes to Mexico, new technology allows us to compete against cheap labor with speedy turnaround times. With new technology--like high-speed sewing, cutting and fusing machines--we can produce clothing faster, better and with less damage. In all cases where you see new technology in a contracting shop, the manufacturer has fronted the money so that the merchandise can be made more effectively. For the most part, the contractors can’t get their own credit.
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Q: How can I start exporting my products and take advantage of the global economy?
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A: All the world loves California fashion. You see our designs on MTV, “Saturday Night Live,” “Beverly Hills, 90210,” but very little of what we make here is being exported. Only 15% of the local industry exports, which is unfortunate because the very nature of the California look is exportable. We have a built-in market for our product, but we have not really accessed it.
Our industry needs to take more interest in the assistance available from the Commerce Department and the California Trade and Commerce Commission. There are all kinds of programs available. Because we have been such a domestically focused industry all these years, we haven’t looked at all the rules and regulations for doing business overseas.
These programs can help us access those markets. These agencies have this information available, but it’s up to the manufacturers to make themselves more aware of how to use it. If you want to grow, you must broaden your customer base; and if you can’t do it within the United States, you certainly can do it abroad. The opportunities are really there. It’s a matter of getting to them. Fashion trends we do a lot of research on, but we do not do research on business opportunities, and I think it’s time we learned how.
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Q: Where can I find qualified employees?
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A: The answer is basically networking because there are no training programs available for people who choose to come into this industry except at the design level. For people who choose to make manual labor their kind of work, there is no training apparatus for the apparel industry. There is just no training apparatus in this city in general for manufacturing. You need to network within the industry to find people.
If you were looking for assembly workers, you would call us and we would put you in touch with the Garment Contractors Assn. If you were looking for front-office employees such as accountants, we would refer you to any of the headhunters that are part of our association. There are many avenues, but the avenues do take a degree of networking expertise that you can’t get if you’re sitting in the back room. If you try to figure it out on your own, it will be a problem. You short-circuit yourself by not being involved with other people in the industry.
To contact the California Fashion Assn., call (213) 688-6288 or e-mail calfashion@
hotmail.com. The association’s Web site can be found at https://www.californiafashion.org.
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If you have a question about how to start or operate a small business, mail it to Karen E. Klein, Los Angeles Times, 1333 S. Mayflower Ave., Suite 100, Monrovia, CA 91016, or e-mail it to kklein6349@aol.com. Include your name, address and telephone number. This column is designed to answer questions of general interest. It should not be construed as legal advice.
