Los Angeles Fashion — LA Fashion Guide
A guide to Los Angeles fashion — its schools, market buildings, fashion week and trade press for fashion students, industry professionals, buyers and Los Angeles fashion followers.
Welcome to the Los Angeles fashion section. Los Angeles is one of the world's working fashion capitals: a downtown Fashion District of showroom buildings and wholesale markets, a fashion school of national standing, a fashion week of its own, and a trade press that has reported on the largest apparel center in the country since 1945. This guide introduces the institutions that anchor the industry here, with their descriptions carried in the directory below.
Five anchors make up the directory: the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM), which educates students for the fashion, graphics, interior design and entertainment industries; Fashion Week LA, the calendar of events created in 2002 for the Los Angeles marketplace; the Cooper Design Space, the 1927 Fashion District building renovated as a home base for LA creatives; the California Market Center (CMC), the hub of the Los Angeles fashion industry at 9th & Main; and Apparel News, the trade publication group reporting on the apparel center since 1945.
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The Fashion District
The industry's geography is downtown. The Cooper Building was born in 1927 to suit LA's fashion designers and manufacturers, refashioned itself in the 1940s and 50s as the premier address for fashion industry showrooms, pioneered discount retail in the 80s and helped persuade the City Council in the 90s to establish the city's first Business Improvement District — the Fashion District's own. Renovated as Cooper Design Space, it now offers studio, office and showroom in a single location and embraces cross-pollination among fashion, media arts and publishing. A few blocks away, the California Market Center concentrates the market itself: hundreds of wholesale showrooms for fashion, textiles, gifts and home decor, plus offices, studios, design schools, restaurants and event venues.
Education and Events
FIDM supplies the industry's people. The specialized private college is small enough to know its students' names, in its own description, but big enough to have the industry contacts and resources to help them meet their goals — preparing students, as it puts it, not just for a job but for a career. Fashion Week LA supplies the calendar: created in 2002 on behalf of an organic group of designers, agents, editors and other market-makers committed to a vibrant Los Angeles marketplace, it became the longest running and most comprehensive calendar of events for LA Fashion Week — the same weeks whose runway shows are reviewed season by season elsewhere in this section of Apparel Search.
The Trade Press
Apparel News, owned by MnM Publishing, has been in business since 1945, producing publications that report on the largest apparel center in the country. Its management staff's combined experience in publishing and the apparel industry runs to more than 100 years. Between the school, the buildings, the calendar and the paper, the directory below is a working map of how Los Angeles fashion is organized — and the links above lead onward to the fashion district, events, schools and t-shirt printers pages of this section.
Using This Guide
The directory below rewards two readings. For the industry, it is a map of institutions: the school that trains the workforce, the two buildings that house the market, the calendar that organizes its week and the paper that reports on it. For the visitor, it is a set of doors — the CMC profile linked from the directory goes deeper on the market center, and the links above lead to the fashion district, fashion events and fashion schools pages, where this guide's anchors are taken up one by one. Los Angeles fashion is a place before it is a style, and this page is organized accordingly.
Los Angeles Fashion Directory
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) : FIDM is a specialized, private college dedicated to educating students for the Fashion, Graphics, Interior Design, and Entertainment Industries. It's a place where creativity and careers merge. Their hands-on and industry focused. They are small enough to know their students' names, but big enough to have the industry contacts and resources to help them meet their goals. They indicate that they don't just prepare their students for a job; they prepare them for a career.
Fashion Week LA : FashionWeekLA.com was created in 2002 on behalf of an organic group of designers, agents, editors, and other market-makers who are committed to creating a vibrant and exciting Los Angeles marketplace. It is the longest running and most comprehensive calendar of events for LA Fashion Week.
The Cooper Design Space : Long, long ago before a city spread far and wide away, Cooper Design Space was born the Cooper Building. Then as now at the heart of L.A.'s downtown Fashion District, Cooper stands 11 tall stories amidst the creative commerce that's thrived here for nine decades. Cooper's at it again: stepping up with Fashion District space fitted to L.A.'s lifestyle Creatives. The building was born in 1927 to suit L.A.'s fashion designers and manufacturers. During the 40s and 50s, Cooper refashioned itself to shine as L.A.'s premier address for fashion industry showrooms before there was a California Mart or a New Mart. The Cooper Building pioneered again during the 80s as one of America's first discount retail centers, a model for today's outlet malls. And in the 90s, The Cooper Building anted up for the Fashion District, working to persuade the L.A. City Council to establish the city's first Business Improvement District. Today, renovated as Cooper Design Space, the building at the corner of 9th and Los Angeles Streets is at it again as home base for L.A. creatives. The building hosts a space that embraces cross-pollination among L.A. lifestyle businesses in fashion, media arts and publishing. A space that encourages fluidity across functions by offering studio, office and showroom in a single location.
California Market Center (CMC) : is the hub of the Los Angeles fashion industry. Located on 9th & Main in downtown's Fashion District, the CMC is home to hundreds of wholesale showrooms for fashion, textiles, gifts and home decor, in addition to a range of offices, studio spaces, fashion design schools, restaurants, cafes, shops and special event venues. Learn more about CMC here on Apparel Search.
Apparel News : MnM Publishing, owner of the Apparel News Group, has been in business since 1945, producing a range of publications that report on the largest apparel center in the country. It is a privately held company, headed by owners Carl Wernicke and Teri Fellman, who succeeded long-time publisher and CEO Martin Wernicke. Publisher/general manager Molly Rhodes leads a management staff with combined experience of more than 100 years in publishing and the apparel industry.
Thank you for taking the time to view this section about fashion from Los Angeles. We hope that this area has been helpful for your research.
Common Questions
What is the California Market Center?
The hub of the Los Angeles fashion industry, located on 9th & Main in downtown's Fashion District: hundreds of wholesale showrooms for fashion, textiles, gifts and home decor, plus offices, studios, fashion design schools, restaurants and event venues.
What is FIDM?
The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, a specialized private college educating students for the fashion, graphics, interior design and entertainment industries, with hands-on, industry-focused programs.
What is Fashion Week LA?
FashionWeekLA.com, created in 2002 on behalf of designers, agents, editors and other market-makers; the longest running and most comprehensive calendar of events for LA Fashion Week.