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are you strictly looking for brick & mortar stores in your area or are you open to online orders? also are there any fabrics in particular you're trying to obtain?
To be honest, I would be down for online stores but I would love to touch and feel the fabric before buying. If the online store would offer cheap samples then that might be a good alternative.
Mainly looking for wools, cotton jersey, blends, etc. Nothing in 'particular' per se, just anything that I think will go well with what I want to make.
"because the young are whores. dealers come to carol to get the rock"
To be honest, I would be down for online stores but I would love to touch and feel the fabric before buying. If the online store would offer cheap samples then that might be a good alternative.
Mainly looking for wools, cotton jersey, blends, etc. Nothing in 'particular' per se, just anything that I think will go well with what I want to make.
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I like International Silks & Woolen on Beverly Blvd. Had a hard time finding anything decent in the garment district.
last time i went to LA, i found a ton of good fabric stores in LA. but that was a while ago and i dont even remember the streets or names as i am not very familiar with the area, there is a listing i posted in the DIY section on fabric stores ,,,,,,,,,,I will find it and bump it for you
“You know,” he says, with a resilient smile, “it is a hard world for poets.”
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Mood sucks. The girl that works there (her parents own it) is annoying as hell and they carry the same cheap crap as everyone else. It just happened to be on Project Runway. And if you ever watched the show and saw the garments, the fabric was always crap so I never got it. International Silks and Woolens IS the best store in l.a. which is sad because they really don't have much and are WAAAYYYYY overpriced. Though, if you are a student just bust out your I.D. for a 20percent discount. And yeah, L.A. has a ton of fabric stores but certainly not a ton of good ones. All the fabric stores downtown have CHEAP crappy fabrics that people who make crap use. Though, if you MUST do something downtown go to the Michael Levines loft (across from the real michael levines, up the elevator) on weekends where can sometime find some cheap gems and buy that crap by the pound.
SERIOUSLY....your best bet in l.a. is to just WAIT for now until the big textile show comes to the mart. You just missed the last one!
www.californiamarketcenter.com There are a ton of great vendors that set up where you can actually buy THE REAL STUFF. none of this bullcrap that everybody can get ahold of. If you can't wait until then there are some actual textile vendors that have showrooms there, like the COTTON people where you can go in and check out the real deals (but theres not much, the show is when it really happens)...you can also talk to people there and some of the other showrooms around there and people at the Cooper Building and just ask where they source their stuff. they are usually really helpful. Just go in and ask seriously. It's your best bet because you wont find crap anywhere else. There is a book that they give out at the textile show with a grip of vendors and their info and alot of them are based in l.a. and cali. These are people that do custom stuff and awesome fabrics. Since this last one just wrapped up im sure you can still get ahold of the book if you go up there. I have the book from last year around here somewhere and theres one company in particular that makes some of ann demeulemeester's textiles that has amazing stuff. I just can't remember their name....it's like Tesli Group or something...I will hunt for it this weekend. ......
oh and most vendors will send you samples so you can check out the feel if you just write to them and aks em.
Keiji- Thanks so much for that info!!! Seriously, that is a big help.
I actually work in an industry where I see different fabric all of the time (as well as leather), but it's very hard for me to ask for personal sample yardage, so I have yet to take advantage out of a lot of the mills we use. I am definitely going to do some research on that show and some of the vendors that attend. I'm sure I can finagle some sample yards....
"because the young are whores. dealers come to carol to get the rock"
seriously. it's all about talking to people when it comes to getting fabric. because all the fabric that's out there for the general public is crap and it's like all the good stuff is sort of secretive in a way. but once you talk to people they'll "let you in"...i mean some fabric vendors or mills can sometimes be dodgy with samples but you just have to act like you mean business. I actually found a place that sells japanese denim with no minimum yardage...but you will find that dealing with the legit companies they have large minimums. sometimes you have to lie to them and tell them you may need 5000 or so yards just to get them to send you some samples. then later on you can be like i need 10 yards so i can make my samples,and if the samples work out im gonna get 10000 yards. just tell them what they want to hear. but the main point i guess is seriously go to the showrooms at cal mart and the cooper building and usually the designers are in the showrooms and you can be like "hey these are cool leather jackets, whered you source this fabric?" because you KNOW they didnt source it from any of those dodgy stores downtown, so the best bet in l.a. is to talk to the actual designers themselves to see where the get their goods! it sounds funny but honestly, spend a weekend hitting up all those crappy shops and you will find jack. that's santee alley business......theres also a place in the calmart called Fashion News and if you havent been there you need to go. It's a bookstore with NOTHING but fashion books and magazines and they see all the designers from l.a. come through there so they may have some books with vendor info and can for sure give you the good word on the haps. Most people who work in both buildings are nice and helpful.
Gotta check out that Fashion News spot, that sounds like something I have been looking for, for quite some time!
Yea, I deal with vendors on a daily basis and definitely know the routine on getting samples and such. I can't wait to delve a little deeper into this...Thank you once again Kenji! And if you don't mind, I may be pm'ing you in the future. [B]
"because the young are whores. dealers come to carol to get the rock"
oh its been so long i almost forgot....the FIDM student store downtown is open to the public and it sells header cards from legit fabric mills from all over and espec L.A. (header cards=cardboard hangers with company info, fabric info with fabric samples attached) i havent been there in years but i know they still do this and they have racks of header cards. they will most likely have a ton now that the textile show just ended today. so i would seriously get there tomorrow on the double! it's basically like thumbing through clothes on a rack but instead of clothes its hundreds of great fabric samples with vendor info attached. i think theyre like 4 for a dollar or something. yes, i could go on and on, im a freak when it comes to textiles. and fashion news is awesome, they have all the "A" magazines when they come out and alot of japanese fashion mags and all the collection mags from all over the world. just tons and tons of stuff. and books like crazy.
Now that you say that, I remember a friend telling me about the good information at FIDM in regards to fabrics and such. I'm going to try and get down there this weekend and see if I can't find some good things.
"because the young are whores. dealers come to carol to get the rock"
It's inside the cal market center on the first floor. If you walk in to the center on the side where that huge sculpture is outside it will be on your left. It's a small store but I can't imagine it being any bigger for it being just a fashion bookstore, because they have pretty much everything. Except Purple magazine, but Book Soup has that. But every other magazine you could think of they have. Every import Vogue, french, russian, korean, every indie japanese magazine, every indie uk magazine. they have it. they have alot of reference books too which is cool....
yeah, FIDM also sells fabric, but the real finds are the header cards. They are really there for students who do projects but they are goldmines for people who just want samples or good vendor info. It's usually packed on saturday morning, which is the best time to go because they bring out all the good stuff that morning for the ambush, then its slim pickens after that. I walked out of there once with 5 bolts of old-school tie fabric and about 50 header cards for 4 bucks.
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