California Apparel News

MAGIC International is gearing up to unveil its new floor plan, which places all its shows under one roof at the Las Vegas Convention Center, during the Aug. 31–Sept. 2 run of the giant trade show.

Earlier this year, organizers of the Woodland Hills, Calif.–based show announced plans to move its juniors and women’s section, WWDMAGIC, to the LVCC, where its men’s show, alternative show The Edge and childrenswear show MAGIC Kids are already housed.

MAGIC will feature about 3,300 companies, up from February’s tally of 3,000, said spokesperson Ernae Mothershed, who noted there are more than 1,000 new companies.

With the new layout, the show has moved attendee registration to a large air-conditioned tent in the parking lot. It is a long walk from WWDMAGIC in the North Hall to The Edge at the far end of the South Hall. For buyers who don’t want to trek across the entire show floor, shuttle buses will circle the show, dropping visitors off at the various hall entrances. There is a new covered walkway connecting the North and South halls, and buyers can traverse the halls in a golf cart.

There will also be a buyers’ resource booth in the main lobby, staffed by MAGIC’s retail relations staff, to help buyers track down resources and find the best routes through the show.

There are also more options for getting to the show. In addition to the shuttle buses between many Las Vegas hotels and the LVCC and an additional 100 Medallion cabs on duty, Las Vegas’ monorail is up and running with a slightly limited schedule. MAGIC has asked the city to expand the monorail’s hours to begin at 7 a.m. during the show. There is also an alternate parking lot across from the LVCC that has a shuttle bus to the show entrance.

Contemporary at camp and on the runway

Contemporary men’s streetwear will have a new home at the show with the introduction of High Five, which will feature emerging and established contemporary streetwear lines in a campground setting replete with tents and vintage trailers, camp snacks, lawn chairs and picnic tables.

Among the lines exhibiting are Unified, Stereo, Five Four, Mixwell, Ezekiel, Astronaut People Wear, Sessions, Elwood, Ubiquity, A. Tiziano, Redsand, Cabral, Auxfurd, Baja Brothers, Block Headwear, Archibald by Moonlight Graham, Black Fives, 191, Rip Curl, O.M.O., Touchbase, TheHundreds, Writer’s Bench Clothing Co., Mato, PR Flyers and Scifen.

MAGIC will also combine its contemporary men’s and women’s fashion show into a single show called “Pulse,” which will run Aug. 30–Sept. 1 at 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and Sept. 2 at 11 a.m. A separate “StyleFile” men’s fashion show will be held daily at 12:30 p.m., and a women’s “Concept” show will be held at 2 p.m. Aug. 30–Sept. 1. A childrenswear “Best of Spring 2005” show will he held daily at 9:30 a.m. All shows will take place in the grand lobby.

In WWDMAGIC, the Index Section will feature contemporary resources such as Bat’s Daughter and Harlow Jeans, and in the Gallery, updated resources will include Maggie London and Sigred Olsen Dresses.

Sourcing Options

With the elimination of quotas for World Trade Organization members right around the corner, MAGIC is making a push for its Sourcing Zone area. There are several seminars planned for sourcing executives on topics such as sourcing in sub-Saharan Africa under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, understanding the Customs- Trade Partnership Against Terrorism initiative, and ensuring supplychain security and sourcing issues before and after the Jan. 1, 2005, deadline for eliminating quotas for WTO members.

“The Sourcing Zone has really taken off for us,” Mothershed said. “This is the last big fashion event before the end of quotas.”

The third season of MAGIC’s fabric section, Fabric@MAGIC, has grown 73 percent from February’s show. This season, the section will feature 109 exhibitors from 13 countries, including 84 new exhibitors.

Organizers have added a Fabric & Trend Information Desk, which will be selling a Spring/Summer ’05 trend forecast for $50. Fabric@MAGIC exhibitors’ wares will also be on display on mannequins in the Fabric@MAGIC section and the American Trend & Color Committee will present its Spring/Summer 2005 trend forecast on Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and Sept. 1 at noon in the North Hall.

Social circuit

As always, there are plenty of celebrity tie-ins at MAGIC. Actress Anna Nicole Smith is launching a clothing line, and singer and actress Mandy Moore’s line Emblem will also be at the show with sister line 2 Love, which raises funds for charities through sales of celebrity-designed T-shirts. Actress Pamela Anderson’s lingerie line will return to the show. Actor Kevin Costner will be playing golf in the Presidents’ Club Golf Invitational on Aug. 29 at the Bali Hai Golf Club and will also show support for fianceacute;e Christine Baumgartner, who is launching accessories line Cat Bag Couture. And singer Boy George is tentatively scheduled to deejay at The Edge, where his T-shirt line, Rude, will debut.

The opening-night party will feature Maroon 5 and will raise funds for the Partnership Against Child Abuse. The party will be held poolside at the Hard Rock Hotel.

The Satellites

In addition to massive MAGIC International, several smaller satellite shows will set up during the week including:

bull; The Westcoast Exclusive, featuring upscale menswear for the boutique buyer, will host its show in a new location, the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The show will run Aug. 29–31. For more information, visit www.westcoastexclusive.com. bull; The Pool Trade Show, featuring contemporary streetwear and emerging lines, ill also occupy the Mandalay Bay ConventionCenter for the first time. The show will un Aug. 30–Sept. 1. For more information, visit www.pooltradeshow.com.

bull; WomensWear In Nevada’s mix of upscale isses and plus-size lines and its childrenswear segment, Kidshow, will return Aug. 30–Sept. 2 to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. For more information, visit www.spectrade.com.bull; ISAM will return to the marketplace in a new location, Caesars Palace. The show will run Aug. 30–Sept. 2. For more information, visit www.isamla.com.

bull; The Off-Price Specialist Show, which will run Aug. 27–31, will again set up shop at the Sands Expo & Convention Center. For more information, visit www.offpriceshow.com.bull; The ASAP Global Sourcing Show will return to the Hilton Convention Center with international manufacturers and a roster of sourcing seminars and matchmaking sessions. The show will run Aug. 29–Sept. 1. For more information, visit www.asapshow.com.