California Apparel News

LAS VEGAS—The massive apparel trade show scene in Las Vegas is growing.

Apparel buyers and executives visiting Las Vegas for the Aug. 26–29 run of MAGIC International had a broad marketplace to choose from, as the trade show giant added new lines, new pavilions and tweaked its existing sections at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) and the Sands Expo and Convention Center.

This run also boasted the return of five satellite shows, the addition of a new show and the promise of more to come next year.

Womenswear in Nevada (WWIN), a collection of upscale misses, plus-size apparel and accessories, returned to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, where upscale men’s show the West Coast Exclusive also set up shop. The Off-Price Specialist Show settled into its new home at the Sands Expo, downstairs from the WWDMAGIC women’s apparel show. (The Off-Price show moved to the site last February.) The Las Vegas Hilton was the venue for international sourcing show ASAP as well as a new off-price show, the International Discount Apparel Show. And alternative show POOL returned to Las Vegas for its second run, this time occupying convention space at the Alexis Park Resort and Convention Hall.

And next year, there should be two more shows for buyers to visit—a new upscale urban apparel show, Urban Rocks Fashion, which will be housed with the West Coast Collective at the Rio in February, and a West Coast swimwear show, the International Swimwear and Activewear Market (ISAM), which announced plans to host its show at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino next August.

Representatives at all the shows reported sporadic traffic as buyers navigated the many venues, and the majority of the business tended to be for immediate goods, but most show exhibitors said they were pleased with the quality of buyers and the quantity of sales.

Traffic Off at LVCC; Exhibitors Upbeat

Buyer traffic in the Designer and Casual Lifestyle sections was consistently flowing, but the Streetwear and the edge sections were noticeably off during the first three days of the show. However, exhibitors were focusing on the strong business that was coming through the doors.

“It’s been very quiet today and yesterday,” said Shanna Stocker, repping Burbank, Calif.-based Stage 28 in the edge. “Many people that we deal with didn’t want to make appointments, but they stopped by, looking for some immediate and Spring 2003.”

Many of the larger exhibitors were unaffected by the volume of traffic, since their focus is on appointments with regular customers.

Scott McCrorrie of Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Pony, showing a new limited signature line, reported that traffic appeared lighter than usual by the third day of the show. McCrorrie also said that his booth was unaffected by the traffic outside, because Pony sees buyers by appointment only.

Alain Mazer, director of public relations for Irvine, Calif.-based Ocean Pacific, reported that the show went “extraordinarily well,” driven largely by the new and improved Op line and the product extensions, including SevenTwo, a better collection launched at MAGIC last February. Op’s schedule was full with appointments, making foot traffic nearly irrelevant.

Ryan Heuser of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Paul Frank Industries and Brian Kail, senior vice president of sales for Vernon, Calif.-based Lucky Brand Dungarees, reported similar findings.

“Going into the market, it looked like our schedule might have been a little lighter than normal, but we’re seeing all of our appointments and they are writing paper,” said Kail. “We’re all appointment-driven—can’t take any walk-ups, because we just don’t have the room. We’ve been extremely busy seeing a lot of stores.”

Said Heuser, “I don’t think the foot traffic will hurt the established brands, but it may hurt the smaller guys who are here for the first time.”

However, some new and returning exhibitors were finding no downside in traffic at MAGIC.

Dan Fleyshman, owner of San Diego-based Who’s Your Daddy Clothing, showed a few pieces of his line in February but debuted the complete line to strong results this time out.

“Last show we just had T-shirts, but now we have complete outfits and a bigger booth, and this show is really the turning point for us,” he said. “We had 24 appointments and 12 were majors. We had a lot of walk-bys and we called as many people as we could.”

Redlands, Calif.-based Rosasen, a golf-inspired lifestyle brand for men, featuring shirts, jackets, shorts and caps, also found strong results with the traffic at their booth in Streetwear, according to Chris Rosasen, co-owner of the line, who said that traffic was better than at previous shows.

And Bobby Bienveniste, co-owner of Los Angeles-based men’s line Eisbar, was also pleased with his booth in Streetwear.

“This is a really big improvement from last season,” he said. “A lot of retailers played it conservative after the economy went south, but now they need to fill their stores, so they are looking for immediates.”

Eisbar was showing forward garments with strong graphics and bottoms with “slimmer cuts than men are used to right now,” said Bienveniste.

Those slimmer cuts were the exact prescription for retailer Marilyn Lepercado, from the Woven Thread in Santa Barbara, Calif.

“This is my first time shopping at MAGIC, looking for upscale men’s and outergarments,” said Lepercado. “I’m also looking for the low-cut, tight jeans like the women have.”

MAGIC consolidated the Streetwear, Boardsports and edge sections at the previous show and the new format is settling in and working for exhibitors. Osa Odiase, owner of Los Angeles-based Live Mechanics, a graphic-heavy T-shirt and denim line, who was in the edge in February, reported doing much better in Streetwear this show.

“We are doing very well,” he said. “The word of mouth is going out and we’re getting people coming back and reordering. We have more people than last time, with walkups and appointments.”

Immediates Key at Sands

The traffic report was mixed at the Sands as exhibitors reported sluggish traffic, but organizers said the numbers were up.

Final attendance figures were not available as of press time. However, pre-registration for the show was up 10 percent over the February show, according to MAGIC organizers. (February’s attendance was likely off, though, due to the post–Sept. 11 decline in travel.) Representatives reported strong interest in immediate orders, noting that buyers were looking for fill-ins for the Holiday season.

However, the show also had its share of buyers who came to place orders for Cruise and early Spring.

Darren Wies, sales manager for Commerce, Calif.-based Devan, which produces a contemporary women’s collection as well as private-label apparel for Arden B. and Urban Outfitters, said he booked only a few appointments prior to the show, although he said foot traffic was steady.

Still, if there was a sense of caution among buyers, Wies was prepared.

“We’re still seeing buyers rebound from a tough year, so they’re buying closer to the season,” he said.

MAGIC organizers said they would continue to broaden the show’s offerings by adding new junior/contemporary and alternative labels in an effort to lure buyers to the show.

This year marked the return of WWDMAGIC’s Design Gallery for women’s contemporary collections after a oneyear hiatus. The Design Gallery, which was previously sponsored by DuPont Lycra, showed lines by Plenty by Tracy Reese, H. Starlet, Weston Wear, Illia, Sanctuary, Hype, Kablan, Marthe and Francois Girbaud, For Joseph, Ruth, Ella Moss, G.O.A. and Single. MAGIC spokeswoman Ernae Mothershed said the pavilions would become permanent fixtures at the show.

Still, with five satellite shows running concurrently with MAGIC, and seemingly more in the works, MAGIC organizers said they aren’t worried.

“The goal of the MAGIC marketplace is to produce a convenient, effective market for retailers and manufacturers to connect,” explained Mothershed. “Shows running concurrently with MAGIC only serve themselves by segmenting the market. MAGIC created the market in Las Vegas and these shows would not exist without our show.”

The trade show’s effort to offer a little bit of every fashion category hasn’t gone unnoticed either.

Assistant buyer Angela Ware of Gomi, a men’s and women’s contemporary boutique in Austin, Texas, said she was surprised by the number of new exhibitors at the show. Ware said she was interested in unique yet functional pieces by contemporary labels Hazel and SOWE.

Orange County, Calif.-based manufacturer Lacey J. offered fancy knit novelty shirts made with men’s shirting and knit combinations as well as fleece puckersleeve hoodies with lace insets. The collection— which is sold at Kitson in Los Angeles and Erica Dee in Corona del Mar, Calif.—retails between $24 and $60.

Several new lines debuted at WWDMAGIC, among them Los Angeles-based junior manufacturer Lucy Love’s swimwear collection and Hazel, a junior/ contemporary urban fashion collection produced by Los Angeles-based Portrait.

WWIN Expands at Rio

Approximately 6,500 buyers at WWIN, held Aug. 26–29 at the Rio, viewed 600 booths representing about 1,500 lines. The attendee figure represented a slight increase over last year’s total, according to Jeff Yunis, president of Coconut Grove, Fla.-based Specialty Trade Shows, organizer of WWIN.

About 45 new exhibitors joined WWIN in 70 booths that were added to a tented section of the show called the Garden Room, increasing the show’s size to 112,000 square feet, added Yunis.

“The waiting list for the show was so long, and we didn’t want to move the show unless we had to,” said Yunis.

The hotel, which also hosted West Coast Exclusive, a highend menswear show, in a separate exhibitor hall, is currently planning to expand its convention area in order to accommodate more exhibitors for future shows. But so far, buyer attendance has been equally beneficial to both shows, said Yunis.

“Some of [West Coast Collective’s] buyers have women’s departments and vice versa, so there’s really no competitiveness,” he said.

However, the steady increase of satellite shows to the marketplace has some hotels—including Mandalay Bay, which is set to open a newly expanded convention center early next year, with ISAM and the Western Shoe Show vying for exhibitor space—looking closely at their floor plans (see related story, page 1).

“The more buyers that come to Las Vegas, the better it is for everybody,” said Yunis.

WWIN’s offerings included better missy, special-occasion and plus-size apparel for women, as well as accessories.

The show offered a variety of collections that weren’t necessarily geared toward department stores, said Anna Sorrentino, a buyer from Fox-Tail, a better specialty boutique in Bloomingdale, Ill., that caters to missy customers.

Sorrentino said her store was looking for immediate orders for Holiday denim and novelty shirts with appliques and other embellishments.

Liz Espy of Los Angeles-based West Bank Clothing, which reps nearly a dozen lines, including From the Hip, Frission Cashmere, A. Gold E., Jon, Ted Baker London and Nicole Miller, said traffic was slow on the first day of the show but that business was picking up. Espy said her company saw about 20 buyers by the second day of the show, adding that many showed strong interest in denim skirts with floral appliques and tulle ruffle detailing by Jon and denim- styled linen pants by A. Gold E.

Nigel Stewart of Los Angeles-based Nigel Stewart Sales, which reps Vikki Vi and Softwear by Vikki Vi, offered four new collections at the show: Ole, a missy novelty T-shirt collection produced by Los Angeles-based Le Mieux; Overwear, a Los Angeles-based moderate leisure wear collection; Lauren K., a Los Angeles-based better casualwear collection; and Katherine Barclay, a Los Angeles-based contemporary missy collection.

The number of new Los Angeles-based missy and plussize resources joining WWIN is growing rapidly, said Yunis. He said Specialty Trade Shows is planning to join the China Textile Expo in 2003, which organizers hope to produce next summer in Los Angeles.

That show, which organizers also hope to produce next year at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, will be geared toward West Coast manufacturers looking to buy Chinese piece goods or expand their production into Asia, said Yunis.

West Coast Exclusive Shows Growth

The Spring 2003 installment of the West Coast Exclusive, which was held Aug. 25–27 at the Rio and was the show’s second run in the city, showed growth over the debut edition, with additional retailers and exhibitors turning out for it.

“We had a little over 600 retailers,” said Larry Hymes, cofounder of the Exclusive. “For anybody who said that it looked a little slower, it was because we took up six floors, and we’re twice the size of our last show.”

New lines debuting at the Exclusive reported doing strong business, with the opening day standing as the strongest. Warriare Boswell, designer of new resource Min Hu Dres, reported good order-writing and relationshipbuilding for the introduction of his line.

Boswell said he made a few appointments for the show, but the majority of his traffic came from people who received his promotional mailer prior to the show and dropped in to see him. At show’s end, Boswell said that some of the people who took notes on Aug. 25, including retailers from Michigan, Florida and California, came back to place orders on Aug. 27.

Another new resource, Wendell Wade Williams, also reported good results from the show.

“I’m getting very good responses,” Williams said. “People are coming by and other people are bringing people by.”

Other, more established exhibitors were seeing their usual customers and making appointments.

“Mainly we do business with our regular customers,” said J. Galceran from Torras of Barcelona, Spain, which sells leathers and silks.

Joseph Puskarich, from Zanella’s in Beverly Hills, Calif., has been showing independently in Las Vegas for more than 10 years, but this year he was showing in the same space as the Exclusive, although he wasn’t officially a part of the show. Puskarich said that he will be joining the show in February because his line fits in with the rest of the show’s offerings.

Puskarich also said that MAGIC never appealed to his company because the mixture was not appropriate.

“You can’t have a high-end Italian clothing line next to streetwear,” he said. “That doesn’t work for anyone.”

Hymes agreed, noting that the lines at the Exclusive are all high-end, no matter the category.

“This show is not only catering to the guy who wears a suit, but also to the guy who wants better sportswear,” said Hymes.

Retailers at the show reported a preference for the relaxed atmosphere of hotel showrooms.

“We were able to get the attention that we wanted on a walk-in basis without the disruptions,” said Ryan Gonzales of Peaches En Regalia in Del Mar, Calif. “Business might be slower [at the Exclusive than at MAGIC], but it’s concentrated on the better wholesalers. The volume of traffic here is conducive to business.”

Retailer Vernon James Webster of Michael’s Clothier in Houston agreed. Webster shops both MAGIC and the Exclusive and said he prefers the “special attention” of the latter.

Retailers such as Charles Devereaux from Downtown Fashions in Cincinnati were also shopping the Exclusive for different items that are hard to find at the bigger trade show.

“We come here to get innovative quality fashions that are ahead of the times,” Devereaux said. “We’re trying to find discount items in upscale lines, leather goods and one-of-a-kind items. We have suppliers here that we already deal with, so we’re looking for things that are out of the norm to offer our customers something different.”

Upscale Adds Urban

The next installment of the Exclusive in Las Vegas will be combined with Urban Rocks Fashion, a fashion and music showcase and conference originally planned for a fall launch in Los Angeles, according to Amy Freeman, head of marketing for the Exclusive.

“This way, the time period will be great for high-end urban rock clothing as well,” said Freeman. “It will be a separate event, but at the same hotel and at the same time. West Coast Exclusive will be in one tower and Urban Rocks Fashion in another.”

According to Hymes, the next Las Vegas show will start two full days before MAGIC to give the buyers more time to shop the alternative show before the bigger trade show starts.

ASAP Sourcing Show Grows in Second Run

The ASAP sourcing show, featuring exhibitors representing more than 200 companies and 20 countries, moved to the Las Vegas Hilton for its second run, Aug. 25–28, and opened to larger crowds after debuting last February at the Mirage hotel.

Designed as a one-stop source for buyers eyeing private-label opportunities, ASAP broadened its scope this time and teamed with the new International Discount Apparel Show, which allowed buyers to shop for off-price goods as well.

Another new feature was the one-on-one matchmaking sessions between buyers and companies aimed at giving buyers more quality time to learn about the different offerings, which included everything from Vietnamese-made outerwear to knitwear made in Shanghai to duty-free goods from South Africa. The feature proved to be popular, with all sessions being pre-booked.

With China entering the World Trade Organization and quotas on imports from China and other nations set to end within two years, offshore sources are positioning themselves to grow their export business, especially to the United States. At the same time, global competition is heating up, with emerging manufacturing nations such as Vietnam grabbing more market share.

“This show is something you’re going to see more of—it’s the future,” said Marty Eisner of Hua Xin International Inc., an offshore producer that markets Richard Harris men’s suits in the United States.

Indeed, following ASAP’s entry, several other show producers are trying to take advantage of the changing global marketplace. Producers of the former Pan American Leather Fair are launching Source International in New York this January and the American Apparel and Footwear Association is launching a technology and sourcing show in conjunction with the Material World fabric show in Miami in 2004.

ASAP’s organizers think they have the head start, and improved traffic during the show’s second run offered support for further growth. The show’s producer, Pasadena, Calif.-based Cyber Merchants Exchange, continued its turnkey program, offering buyers the opportunity to secure deals without letters of credit.

Buyers had a variety of sources to choose from, with producers from Mexico and other Latin American countries, India, South Africa, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Cambodia as well as domestic producers on hand.

Many U.S. buyers appreciated the scope offered by the show, including Brian Jones of Aliso Viejo, Calif., who was seeking out new fabrics for his Hawaiian-shirt business, and Jamie Smith of Abigail Driscoll, a Pasadena, Calif.-based womenswear line, who was seeking new customers for her line of careerwear/eveningwear.

“We thought it was a wonderful show,” said Smith. “I felt we could look at products from other countries as well as ours.”

Thilo Steinheimer was showing a branded line of outerwear named Iguana aimed at the ski/snowboarding market. The line is produced by Higson International Ltd. in Indonesia and Myanmar, but the company also does a private-label business.

Said Steinheimer: “We’re looking for distributors for Iguana as well as manufacturing opportunities. There’s a lot of production knowledge in Indonesia now. We have hightech fabrics that require lots of detailed work and Indonesia can do that. The only thing is we get hurt by quotas, so we move some of the business to Burma [to compensate].”

Maggie Zhou, general manager of Global Purchase Inc., was promoting Shanghai’s production capabilities at ASAP.

“The [manufacturers here] want to get to know the U.S. market better,” she said.

“Shanghai is getting more convenient and easy to work with. You can find everything here.”

Charles Chiang, chief executive officer of Xua Xin, said ASAP’s presence reflects a more uniform global marketplace.

“Even in China now, the young people know the brands and check the price and quality,” he said.

Off-Price Show Goes Head-to-Head With IDAS

After a big period of growth, traffic leveled off at the latest edition of the Off-Price Specialist Show, held Aug. 23–27 at the Sands Expo. Still, the numbers were healthy, with 7,000 pre-registered attendees and another 5,000 estimated walk-in registrants, according to show president Tom Metsa.

The show caters to discount retailers looking for close-outs, overruns, irregulars and other goods offered by resellers, better known as jobbers. Close to 400 companies took booths and saw a growing international presence, which comprised about 20 percent of all buyers.

The action on the selling floor continued to be driven by branded goods. More specifically, urbanwear was getting lots of play, which has propelled growth for hiphop specialists including Carlen Enterprises of Long Beach, Calif., and Pacesetter Apparel of Atlanta.

“We’ve gone from zero to $30 million in two shows,” said Sandra Freede-Piontak of Carlen, which sells young men’s tops and bottoms from leading urban brands.

“Urban is definitely going mainstream. Aside from the hip factor, consumers are seeing the quality appeal, which they are finding superior to other labels [in discount stores],” said Freede-Piontak.

Jim Barker of Klayman Pants in St. Louis was getting off-and-on traffic for Dickies items, both for casual and workwear use.

“You’re seeing people getting more brand-conscious here,” he said.

The show faced some new competition with the debut of the International Discount Apparel Show (IDAS) at the Las Vegas Hilton. The show ran adjacent to the ASAP sourcing show. Las Vegas’ Fred Nassiri launched the event, which is aimed at giving manufacturers a direct link to buyers, cutting out the middleman. Ironically, Nassiri is one of those middlemen, being one of the Off-Price show’s biggest exhibitors, but that show does not allow manufacturers entry, so Nassiri saw an opportunity.

“They’re more comfortable here and with ASAP; they are able to see buyers from around the world,” said Nassiri, who sells brands including Ashworth, Coogi Australia, DKNY, Ecko, Polo and Armani.

“Every manufacturer has excess inventory but they don’t always have the right outlets to sell. We hope this is it,” he said.

The debut was a bit slow, according to Miguel Visoso of Kamikam in Los Angeles, but others said they got the traffic by making appointments and getting the word out on the show. The next IDAS will run Feb. 17–20.

New Venue for POOL’s Second Run

The second edition of the POOL trade show was held Aug. 26–29 at the Alexis Resort and Convention Center. This time out, the show received raves from exhibitors for its improved organization compared to that seen at its inaugural edition, which took place in February at the Stratosphere hotel.

The show featured over 75 men’s and women’s emerging designers, better streetwear, artist tees and street-tinged contemporary and couture, showing mostly Holiday items.

Exhibitor, designer and retailer feedback at POOL was mostly positive and the looks were mostly ahead of the curve.

The show heavily featured artist T-shirt lines as well as a handful of contemporary women’s labels including Mhope, Anja Flint and Imani Lanier. Other exhibitors included RUCA, Adidas, Reebok, MilkCrate Athletics, Green Apple Tree, Minnesota- Los Angelistic, Dita and Muchacho (by Plum’s Christina Ramirez).

Show organizer Rhonda Walker of Republica of Style said that she has positioned POOL as both a cost-effective alternative to MAGIC and a cutting-edge creative resource for select buyers.

“This show is really about emerging designers, geared towards people who have a certain amount of exclusivity,” Walker said. “I curate the show much like an art exhibit. They have to apply and their line has to be approved by me—the result is a nice mix of tees, denim and couture.”

The show drew many small, independent companies that might not be able to afford MAGIC’s exhibition costs, which average $4,000. In comparison, POOL charged exhibitors $500.

Retailers in attendance included Ron Herman-Fred Segal, Melrose, Urban Outfitters, Villains, Canal Jeans, Allston Beat, Carve and American Rag, in addition to a large contingent of Japanese distributors.

“The show is good because it has hardto- find, up-and-coming designers,” said Tak Kato, owner of Carve and Beatnik stores in Fullerton, Calif. “In this economy, it is important to pick up these lines in order to stand out as a retail destination. The creativity present here is pumping new excitement into the industry and definitely at retail.”

Margaret Spencer of Boston-based retailer Allston Beat echoed the sentiment.

“I love it—lots of great product and cool new designers we’ve never seen before, fresh ideas, interesting, different things we haven’t seen anywhere else,” she said.

The buzz leading up to the event helped secure Los Angeles-based labels Mhope and Anja Flint as exhibitors.

The show seemed well-suited for Anja Flint, according to rep Shane Markland, who said the show was drawing a good mix of retailers, including better contemporary, juniors and streetwear buyers.

“Our line is a higher-end look with a streetwear sense and our price point is more fashion and less street,” he said, adding, “We do POOL because of the cost and the vibe— POOL is real people doing real clothes as opposed to corporations doing corporate clothes.”

But sprinkled amongst the indie designers were some major brands that were looking to tap into the hipness-by-association benefits of POOL.

Adidas, which does not exhibit at MAGIC, was looking to reinforce the fashion side of its image and branch into boutiques and higher-end specialty shops, according to Michael Bates, director of sales for Adidas Sports Heritage division (formerly called Adidas Originals).

“Most people don’t realize we are in the fashion market because we are known as a sports brand,” he said. “POOL helps us in this respect because it gives us access to the stores we are trying to penetrate.”

Next Stop: Downtown L.A.

Walker said she likes POOL’s relaxed, “real” atmosphere and plans to keep the size of the show and the costs small.

But she does have plans to expand the number of POOL shows per year to four— two in Las Vegas, one in Los Angeles and a fourth show in a location yet to be determined.

POOL will have its first California run during Los Angeles Fashion Week. The show will run Nov. 3–4 at the Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. More information is available on the POOL Web site [www.pooltradeshow.com] or at (323) 666-5587.