French Twist
Christian Audigier brings his own special touch to the trade show landscape with When I Move You Move
Christian Audigier isn’t afraid of a tight deadline. That fearless attitude is good because he will have only two months to pull together a just-confirmed New York edition of his new trade show, When I Move You Move (WIMYM). The event is scheduled for Jan. 18–20 at the Terminal Stores, located on 11th Avenue between 27th and 28th streets.
“I love to work in an emergency,” says the founder of Audigier Media Inc. The New York show will feature eight of Audigier’s brands, including Ed Hardy and Crystal Rock, and will span 100 product categories.
As of press time, only Audigier-owned brands were confirmed as exhibitors.
Audigier has his own way of doing things. By using the constant paparazzi exposure of celebrities as a form of free advertising for his fashion, Audigier built the brands Von Dutch and Ed Hardy at lightning speed.
His approach to his new trade show, which debuted Aug. 25–28 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, is exactly the same: Music, art and celebrity entertainment are just as important as product.
“My company is based on a huge marketing monster, so marketing a trade show is the same as marketing my brands,” he says. His big celebrity draw for the next Las Vegas show, scheduled for Feb. 16–19? “I’m working on Madonna,” Audigier says.
WIMYM’s debut show exceeded all expectations, says Kasandra Carlson, director of trade shows and events for Audigier Media. “For a first show, it was unbelievable,” she says.
For February, Carlson hopes to hit 300 exhibitor booths, up from 144. Expect more denim and top-tier brands to fill the 60,000 square feet of show space—the entire fourth-floor ballroom of the hotel, she says. Attendee traffic should jump by 35 percent to more than 8,000.
“It’s not as huge as MAGIC, but it’s also more intimate than other shows,” Carlson says. “And it’s focused on a specific lifestyle and product categories, so for new companies, or companies looking to attract additional retailers, they get to piggy-back on Christian’s retailers. And he has pretty much everyone you can think of in the mid- to upper-market sector.”
The title of the show, When I Move You Move, says it all about this marketplace tango. “I am in all the retail stores in the country,” Audigier says. “All the department stores are my customers, too, and they need to go with me.”
The show also directly benefits Audigier’s eight brands and 100 licensees. “I did better than I used to do at the Project show,” he says. “I have a lot of brands now and needed to have my own space and show.”
“In the trade show world, it’s not just about having a booth.” Carlson adds. “It’s also about the interaction and inspiration for the buyers, and Christian is obviously a master at providing that.”
As for whether all this entertainment translates into good business, Audigier is emphatic. “Absolutely,” he says. “Everyone wants to have celebrities wearing their clothes; it’s the new generation of business.”
As an example, Carlson points to Humanity, a new line that exhibited at WIMYM in August. In its first-ever show, the company wrote $800,000 in business, according to Carlson.
“We had a phenomenal response at the show,” says Hans Steimann, co-owner of Orange County, Calif.–based men’s jewelry line Blak Prince, which launched at the August WIMYM show. “We had a huge volume of sales. It was great exposure and a great experience. It’s an atmosphere that’s conducive to business, yet, at the same time, it’s done in a way where you can have fun.”
“We thought the atmosphere was absolutely first-class,” says Jeff Sommers of Madison, Wis.–based Ranghart. “It was four days of absolute heaven, as far as a trade show goes. We’ve done a lot of trade shows in the past, and this was by far the best as far as the overall atmosphere, look and feel goes.”
Carlson says feedback revealed that exhibitors were impressed by the quality of buyers. “Quantity isn’t always necessarily quality, which is what leads to writing business,” she notes.
Combined, Audigier brands wrote $60 million in August, Carlson says.
WIMYM also entices buyers and exhibitors with a number of perks, including free lunch and beverages for everyone, an hour-long open bar in the evening, extended hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and entertainment located conveniently on-site.
Naturally, all this doesn’t come cheap. Exhibitor rates are “basically double” those of other shows, according to Carlson. “But you get what you pay for in the way of amenities, the build-out of booths, hotel discounts and things that other shows don’t offer,” she says. For the August show, the average booth fee was $15,000.
For February, WIMYM will seek to improve the energy of the show, particularly regarding entertainment. Two ballrooms were used for the last show, spreading out and diluting the excitement.
The show also plans a broader marketing campaign; the last show included signs on 1,000 Las Vegas taxicabs.
In addition, VIP retailer services will be ramped up and will include “specialized transportation” to and from the MAGIC International and Project trade shows and VIP access to all events and the Christian Audigier Nightclub.
