Champagne Italy Catalogue | Champagne Italy sells their clothing lines for wholesale. These photoshoot pictures show the variety of women's clothing that the clothing line sells. By Layne Kaplan
Tucked away on East Adams Boulevard is a wholesale fashion company that is becoming a staple in the Central-Alameda neighborhood in South Los Angeles. Champagne Italy might just employ a total of six staff members, but they are providing clothing to stores all across Los Angeles County and even the nation.
About Champagne Italy
Champagne Italy focuses on women’s dress clothing. Specifically, the clothing items are tailored towards special occasions, weddings, church and evening party dresses. In the warehouse, over 27,000 of pieces of women’s clothing and accessories and shoes are waiting to be bought.
Champagne Italy’s warehouse in South LA focuses on receiving, storing and then distributing of women’s dress clothing. The company began 14 years ago in South Los Angeles and moved to the East Adams Blvd location around seven years ago. Charles Choi acts as the sales manager of Champagne Italy, and he has been with the company since the beginning.
The creative, manufacturing and distributing processes
Champagne Italy does not manufacture the clothing and accessories in the South LA location nor the United States. Instead, Champagne Italy sends outthe designs and sizes to a company in South Korea. The company in South Korea then gathers all of the appropriate fabric and materials and sends them to a different textile company in China. That company sews the fabric, completes the final products and then sends them to Champagne Italy’s warehouse. From there, Champagne Italy distributes its products across the country and even out to Hawaii.
The buying process
Champagne Italy promotes their clothing lines through two different mediums. Firstly, buyers can look on Champagne Italy’s website at the different collections the company is selling. Secondly, and more commonly used, buyers can search and order through the company's catalogues. The company prints two catalogues a year that showcases the different outfits in the various colors and sizes.
| Champagne Italy Warehouse Tour Take a look at the vast warehouse that Champagne Italy stores its clothes, accessories, shoes and more. (Photos by: Layne Kaplan and Devin Altschul) |
It doesn’t matter which way someone looks at the outfits, it matter how they are bought. The only people that can buy from Champagne Italy are those with a retail business license. An individual just can’t look in a catalogue and order a suit.
A new buyer must pick out a minimum of six items of clothing from Champagne Italy to complete a purchase. These pieces typically range from $59-$399 depending on the piece and the material its made of.
But many of Champagne Italy’s clients are in Los Angeles County, specifically in the South Los Angeles area. Choi says that Champagne Italy’s next-door neighbor ClothingIsland.com buys about 50-60 pieces from the company every season.
Why locate in South Los Angeles?
Choi says that the South Los Angeles neighborhood is a perfect location for the company because he believes the city of Los Angeles works well with wholesale companies like Champagne Italy. If Champagne Italy were to manufacture their own clothing, Los Angeles might not be the best place for them. Maybe they would move next door to Vernon.
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| South L.A.: Local Shops in Central-Alameda| South LA's streets are covered in small retail stores and even some wholesale stores. Many of the stores buy from other manufacturing and wholesale clothing companies in their own neighborhood. And a majority of South LA store owners agree that they are in direct competition with downtown LA stores. |
| Vernon, Calif.: South L.A.'s Clothing Manurfacturing Neighbor | While companies in South LA distribute clothing, manufacturers and textile companies typically set up in Vernon, CA to make the wholesale clothing. And, many high-end retailers utilize South LA's manufacturing neighbor because the city's cheap rent a permitting processes. |
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