MAGIC Shows Bright Prospects

Big return for WWIN

Some 3,200 exhibitors and more than 100,000 attendees are expected to roll into Las Vegas for the Feb. 13–16 run of MAGIC International. Organizers expect this show to top last year’s attendance of approximately 96,000 and to match attendance figures for the August 2000 edition. MAGIC’s overall square footage and the number of booths are up 10 percent over last February’s show, according to organizers, who pegged contemporary and accessories as the categories with the most growth, up 57 percent and 23 percent, respectively, over last year. The international presence at this year’s MAGIC has been expanded, with large delegations from China, Korea, Mexico and Turkey, among others, expected to attend. New-to-MAGIC Chinese exhibitors have booked almost 3,000 square feet of booth space in all, divided among three areas at the show, according to Denise C. Scher, fashion director of WWDMAGIC, the mega-show’s womenswear side. Turkey will have 27 booths at MAGIC and Mexico will have 10, doubling its presence from last year, Scher added.

“All of these foreign exhibitors are finding value in showing at the show,” Scher said. “It’s great exposure for them.” The Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) countries are one international area that won’t be represented on the floor, but that’s just a matter of time, according to Scher.

Recent gloom about the state of the U.S. economy and what it means for the international apparel business just might be banished, if only for the duration of the show, as buyers and sellers look ahead to a Fall season that’s bright—in both senses of the word.

MAGIC International breaks Fall “really early,” Scher said, and this year the Fall color palette on display at MAGIC’s three-times-daily fashion shows (11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.) will have labels like Red Alert and Violetta. Among the 30-plus companies and designers showing on the MAGIC runway will be XOXO, Bisou Bisou, Mac & Jac, Musi Furs, Blanc Noir, B. Lucid, Sigrid Olsen, Nina Leonard and Remy Leather Fashions.

Attendees, too, will be looking on the bright side, “looking to be optimistic,” despite recent economic news, according to Scher. “If you play into that whole gloom-and-doom thing, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy,” she said.

The international presence at the edge, MAGIC’s concept-driven, alternative-apparel show-within-a-show, will be more significant than ever as well, according to Ron Walden, the show’s manager.

All in all, this edge will be about 10 percent bigger than previous editions, with about 220 booths in the show, representing approximately 135 exhibitors. That’s up from about 200 booths one year ago, Walden said, noting that approximately 40 percent of the exhibitors are edge first-timers.

The edge is a “transitional category,” Walden said, pointing out that typically, after a year or two, the edge exhibitors will move over to MAGIC’s menswear or womenswear exhibition areas. The newest, freshest product at this year’s show will be from international companies, Walden said, citing Japanese exhibitors whose clothes are “very clean, but very detail oriented” and Canadian companies that offer a “new twist on streetwear, for both men and women, [with] a lot of pockets and zippers. [They are] unique cut-and-sewn pieces that definitely deviate from the norm,” he added.

What will it take to stand out in the 100,000-strong MAGIC throng?“Product is product,” Walden said, but a “lot of retailers are not going to get a chance to stop by and see your product if your booth presentation isn’t attractive.”

Having a real rock star signing autographs at your booth might attract visitors, too. Nikki Sixx, for one, a founding member of bad-boy rock group Mouml;tley Cruuml;e, promises to be on hand at the booth for Outlaw Girl, a junior lifestyle surf- and rock-inspired apparel line he co-owns. And there will be rock ’n’ roll aplenty at the various MAGIC parties, including B.B. King (at MAGIC’s opening-night party at the MGM Grand on the 13th) and the Black Crowes (at the Lucky Brand party at the Rio on Feb. 14th).

The Women’s Wear in Nevada (WWIN) show, which started in 1998, is also back at the Rio hotel’s exhibition hall, running concurrently with, but separate from, MAGIC. WWIN is aimed at missy and contemporary buyers in particular, according to show manager Roland Timney. Expect 470 booths at this WWIN, up from 410 at the last show, representing more than 300 different exhibitors, up approximately 50 from six months ago, according to Timney. “Many of these exhibitors are reps, so they bring in multiple lines,” he said, “so there’s actually over a thousand lines on the floor.”

If you’re looking for some concentrated education to round out your week in Sin City, MAGIC will be offering free seminars and panel discussions on a variety of topics. Among them: Doneger Design presents “David Wolfe’s Top 10 Trends,” at noon on Feb. 13, in room 103 of the Sands Expo Convention Center (SECC); Cotton Inc. presents “Spring/Summer 2002 Menswear Trend Direction,” also at noon on Feb. 13, in room 246 of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC); Fasturn, Inc. presents “Sourcing Gets Technical: Using Technology to Find Value in Your Supply Chain,” at 3 p.m. on Feb. 13, in room 246 of the LVCC; Childrenswear Marketing Division of the American Apparel & Footwear Association presents “CBI/Africa: Report Card After Five Months,” at 7 a.m. on Feb. 14 (breakfast included), on the second floor of the Las Vegas Hilton (LVH); NPDFashionworld presents “The Whys Behind the Buys,” at 9 a.m. on Feb. 14, in room 246 of the LVCC; the International Fashion Fabric Exhibition and the American Trend & Color Committee present “COLORQUAKE Fall/Winter 2001/02 Color Trend Forecast,” at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 14, on the second floor of the LVH; Cotton Inc. presents “Spring/Summer 2002 Womenswear Trend Direction,” at noon on Feb. 14, in room 103 of the SECC; Board-Trac presents “State of Retailing in the Action Sports Industry,” also at noon on Feb. 14, in room 246 of the LVCC; Tradeweave presents “Insight into the Online Vendor Showroom,” at 3 p.m. on Feb. 14, in room 246 of the LVCC; and Sports Illustrated presents “Work & Weekend: Why and How Men Shop for Contemporary Casualwear,” at 9 a.m. on Feb. 15, in room 246 of the LVCC.