What these firms do "is beyond the runway," says Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association. Metchek refers to Sandy
Richman--whose firm, Directives West, produced the L.A. Over Easy fashion show last month--as the West Coast "gatekeeper." The petite fashionista funnels tips to Macy's, Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penney,
Abercrombie & Fitch and other clients.
Barbara Fields has spent 28 years sending trend-spotters to high schools, clubs and concerts to monitor what youth wears. If the paparazzi are perched in front of a hot store or restaurant, "we're there as well," she says. The much-larger New York-based Doneger Group opened an office at the California Market Center in 2005, where its competitors also are housed. Now it's expanding.
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