The Assemblist Letter 20 - Notes on Pre-Fall

Photos by Karen Hernandez for The Assemblist — **Photos by** Karen Hernandez for The Assemblist

WE ALWAYS LOVE GOING BACK TO LOS ANGELES - AT THIS POINT IT'S BECOME A SECOND HOME FOR BRAND ASSEMBLY.

What makes Pre-Fall different is that it serves as an official kick-off for everyone as they get back into the full swing of market season. It's a really fun and nice way to ease into the madness! We were really happy with this market in particular for many reasons. We had a lot of new brands and fantastic buyer turnout which is amazing, considering that we’re a relatively new show and company.

Because Pre-Fall is technically a lead into the season it’s still very important, but on a smaller scale. Now more than ever the contemporary world is becoming more adjusted to the "buy now wear now" situation, so I did see a lot more pure summer product as opposed to what you would consider Pre-Fall. We also had some new brands who were showing full summer and trend-wise I saw a lot of bright color.

THIS MARKET IS ALWAYS INTERESTING.

You’re getting the traffic, the buyers and more, but for us it’s really about continuing the momentum from season to season and seeing that the brands in our show are constantly improving over time. That’s why we like the transitional seasons. We wouldn’t want to just do this two times a year, go all out, and then there's nothing. There is a need for larger brands who deliver four times a year to have a market! We want to cater to them.

While we typically don’t like to introduce new brands for the in-between markets (because they are smaller) we were much more open to it this time around. Many of the brands that wanted to join us had summer deliveries. TOMS was a great new addition - they also set-up a coffee bar and donated coffee to show-goers which was great. We also had Charlie Jade which is very fun, Lotta Stensson who is very Resort, and Crippen and Imogene + Willie along with the same mainstays who always do really well! These include MiH Jeans, Calvin Rucker and Monrow.

Coming up, we have New York to tackle here at the Brand Assembly Square. This will feature some new brands along with our resident brands who are even expanding in size! The next time we’ll be back in Los Angeles will be in March and I’m really looking forward to that. Last October was really the first time we had this huge space to ourselves. Everything was a learning experience, considering that we doubled in size! Now we know what to expect and can make room for improvement and plan for fun new things. I’m really looking forward to being able to take what we’ve learned so far and apply it to the upcoming show. We’re working on a theme right now - something fun, bright and energetic, all elements that we always want to bring to the table when we do these shows. No matter what, we'll continue to assemble a fun and shoppable environment for both buyers and brands!