Happy holidays for local apparel makers; booming U.S. retail sales benefit Los Angeles rag trade.

This season's boom in apparel sales is bringing holiday cheer not only to L.A.'s department stores, but to local fashion designers and clothing manufacturers, as well.

As apparel continues to make a nationwide comeback after several years of flat sales, Southern California firms are leading the charge.

Local vendors making everything from women's sportswear to men's outerwear are providing some of the season's hottest sellers, according to Sandy Richman, principal with Directives West, a local apparel buying firm with clients ranging from Wal Mart to Saks Fifth Avenue.

"Business has come back from the dead," enthused Ronnie Shapiro, president of West L.A.-based Dumas Inc., which supplies women's wool blazers and coats to Robinson's-May stores and a number of regional department store chains across the country.

In Southern California, Shapiro said, business is up almost 25 percent over last year. Nationally, he added, Dumas is beating all of its sales projections.

Shapiro said the strong fourth quarter activity was partly the result of frigid early winter weather across the country, which always tends to drive up outerwear sales.

However, he added, "the cold weather has been a bonus. This year, we got there without the weather."

Meanwhile, local manufacturers in the crucial women's apparel sector - which accounts for some 70 percent of the apparel dollar - are experiencing similarly strong retail sales.

For example, L.A.-based women's sportswear manufacturers Leon Max Inc. and Group B. Clothing Company Inc. - which makes clothing under the Democracy and Michael Glasser labels - both reported strong single digit growth over 1995.

"Our retail is way up over last year," said Mark Lesser, president and co-owner of Wearable Integrity Inc., which produces women's casual dresses under the Barbara Lesser label.

"In 15 years of being in this industry, 1996 is by far the best year we've had," Lesser said, with sales almost double those of 1995.

The surge in apparel sales is not strictly a holiday phenomenon.

The industry has been on the rebound throughout much of 1996, according to John Konarski, vice president of research for the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Through the end of October, apparel sales nationwide were up 5.9 percent over last year, after experiencing three years of flat sales, Konarski said.

Meanwhile, in the ICSC's Pacific division, which includes California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii, apparel sales were even stronger, up 6.7 percent over last year.

The holiday season, Konarski said, could see even bigger gains. During the first 10 days following Thanksgiving, non-anchor apparel sales were up some 14.6 percent over last year, according to the ICSC.

"It's going to be a generally big Christmas and apparel is going to be one of the winners," he said.

Driving those holiday sales has been the absence of strong sellers in other categories, particularly in consumer electronics.

Last year, for example, the much-hyped launch of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95, spurred strong holiday sales throughout the personal computer market, said Jack Pickler, retail analyst with Prudential Securities Research in Richmond, Va.

"This year, people are going back to more traditional spending," he said, citing strong sales not just in apparel but in housewares and bath items. "We're seeing more spending on soft goods rather than software or hardware."

The question most manufacturers are asking is: Can the apparel trend sustain itself into 1997?

So far, the indications are that it can, designers say.

While most consumers are still scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping, clothing manufacturers are busy preparing their lines for the spring, typically the industry's strongest season, especially for women's sportswear lines.

And just like retail sales, department store orders for February and March merchandise are outpacing those placed at this time last year.

According to Lesser, spring orders at Wearable Integrity are about 20 percent ahead of 1995.

And Lesser isn't alone, said Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association.

Based on the surge of holiday sales, "the stores have placed better business than last year," Metchek said. "It remains to be seen whether consumers will buy. But the stores have been much more aggressive."