Apparel buyers coming to L.A. for fall fashion event.

Curious about what kinds of fashions are going to be hot next fall?

A good number of those choices will be made this week, when hundreds of retail buyers from around the world descend on Los Angeles for the FALL I Los Angeles fashion week, held at downtown L.A.'s CaliforniaMart from April 4 through 8.

Buyers for the nation's retailers - from specialty boutiques to department stores - will wander CaliforniaMart's 13 floors of showrooms and rifle through racks of clothing in search of new womenswear, menswear, accessories and footwear to put on their shelves this fall.

The event, one of five fashion weeks held each year at CaliforniaMart, represents a big push by Southern California's apparel industry to be recognized as a source for dressier, more structured fall fashions.

Traditionally, the region has been better known for its more casual spring and summer fashions.

"Casualwear has strictly been a spring look," said Corky Newman, CaliforniaMart's president and CEO. "But now, California designers are moving into traditional fall lines."

So what will retailers be buying for the fall?

"The color brown - we're calling it 'chocolate decadence,'" said Sandy Richman, owner of Directives West, an L.A. apparel buying firm with clients ranging from Wal Mart to Saks Fifth Avenue.

Brand names are also likely to fly off the racks. Richman said local labels will prove stiff competition for such superhot names as Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Nautica and DKNY.

Local names to watch include BCBG, Laundry by Shelli Segal, Lucky Brand Dungarees and Karen Kane.

"It's the name game," Richman said. "The branded business is excellent."

CaliforniaMart's biggest event of the year is its spring season market, which is held in October, said Newman.

But for the first time, this week's fall marketplace will have many of the same glitzy trappings as the spring event - including fashion shows, parties and live music - as well as a number of seminars to help retailers boost business.

"We want to build a fall market just as strong as our October (spring) market," Newman said.

Thanks to such trends as casual Fridays and the explosive growth of street-oriented fashion, Americans are dressing down more than ever, and they're doing it all year round - which has been a major boost for L.A. designers and manufacturers.

"No time of the year is the wrong time of the year (for casualwear)," said Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association. "The entire world has gotten more casual."

An apparel manufacturer can garner 30 percent of its seasonal orders from an event like this week's fashion-buying event, said Mark Lesser, co-owner of L.A.-based Wearable Integrity Inc., which sells women's casual dresses under the Barbara Lesser label and has been beefing up its fall selections.

"Every season is important," said Lesser. "You can't run a company on half-a-year's worth of business."

Last year, more than 30,000 retail buyers traveled to L.A. to visit CaliforniaMart. Officials at CaliforniaMart refused to disclose how many of those buyers attended the matt's fall shows.

The increased traffic at the CaliforniaMart also is expected to spill over into the showrooms at New Mart, the marketplace's smaller, more fashion-forward competitor across the street.

In fact, the New Mart sponsors a free breakfast every morning of the event, in an effort to get buyers to start their days there, said Bruce Entner, the buildings's general manager.

"They'll be coming over here," said Entner.

The New Mart also will hold a reception on Sunday, April 6 to unveil the building's new facade, which has been restored to its original, 1928 appearance.