Lingerie Americas Cancelled, Curve Partners With Eurovet

The lingerie trade-show competition is over. Lingerie Americas, the international trade show launched in 2002, has “decided to stop its activity,” according to a company statement.

Lingerie Americas held bi-yearly lingerie trade shows in New York and Las Vegas.Remaining as the main trade-show resource for high-end and contemporary lingerie and swim in the United States is Riverside, Conn.-based CURVExpo, which produces two biannual shows, CurveNV in Las Vegas and CurveNY in New York.

In addition, CURVExpo has secured a global partner in Eurovet, the trade-show organizer that produces the powerhouse Salon International de La Lingerie and Mode City trade shows in Paris. Eurovet is taking a 30 percent stake in CURVExpo.

The consolidation to one lingerie and swim trade show comes as a relief to many exhibitors and buyers, many of whom had to choose which show to exhibit or attend.

Lingerie Americas, which was launched by Promincor, the French Federation of Lingerie and Swimwear, has held bi-yearly shows in New York since 2002. For most of that time, Lingerie Americas enjoyed a monopoly on the high-end and contemporary lingerie and swim trade-show game in North America.

In February 2007, CURVExpo, headed by industry veterans Jean-Luc Teinturier and Laurence Teinturier, launched CurveNV, an intimate-apparel and swim trade show at The Venetian in Las Vegas. CurveNV was held concurrently with the MAGIC Marketplace, Pooltradeshow, Project Global Trade Show, The Exclusive, ASAP Global Sourcing Show, Women’s Wear in Nevada show, Accessories The Show and Off-Price Specialist Show.

Soon the two trade shows were launching new editions in direct competition with each other.

bull; In August 2007, Lingerie Americas launched its own Las Vegas edition at The Venetian during the Las Vegas shows.

bull; For the February and August markets this year, Lingerie Americas was hosted by WWDMAGIC at the Las Vegas Hilton.

bull; In February of this year, CURVExpo launched a New York edition called CurveNY and forged a partnership with lingerie designer Samantha Chang’s Boutique Lingerie Show, which is known for featuring fashion-forward and up-and-coming brands. While the competing trade shows in Las Vegas were held during the same time period in different locations, the February shows in New York were a different story.

CurveNY’s first edition in February 2008 was held Feb. 3–5 at the Penn Plaza Pavilion during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York. Lingerie Americas held its New York show Feb. 24–26 after the important Valentine’s Day selling period.

Sandra Duschesne, owner of the showroom Mode Studio, represented the vintage-inspired lingerie line Wendy Glez at both CurveNY and CurveNV and said many buyers were forced to choose between attending CURVExpo shows or Lingerie Americas in both New York and Vegas.

“Some of the accounts, especially for New York, went to Lingerie Americas in New York because they had all the big French labels like Chantelle. So we would be missing [those stores] at CurveNY,” Duchesne said. “After they split up [into two shows] the traffic was never the same because it was divided.”

Lesley St. James, buyer for Luxe Lingerie in Beverly Hills, chose to attend Lingerie Americas in New York in February. The 12-year-old store carries a diverse set of brands, including Mimi Holiday, Lejaby, Carol Malony, Chantal Thomass and Scanty.

“It was kind of a no-win situation. You go to one, you miss something else,” St. James said. To make up the difference, she said, “We had to make appointments back home. We had them come to us.”

When the shows were held concurrently in August, St. James visited both CurveNY and Lingerie Americas. “Quite frankly, we always thought it should have only been one show. I don’t mind having two or three shows to go to. It was having the shows run concurrently with one another. That was the issue.”

Laurence Teinturier, executive vice president of CURVExpo, said streamlining into one show was in response to these concerns from buyers and exhibitors. “We’ve heard what they were saying,” she said. “Our mission was to listen to our partners.”

Lingerie Americas said in a company statement, “the core business of Promincor is not the trade shows’ management, and its mission statement is to make the business easier for its members. So, in this period of reduction of consumption, the offer of the manufacturers to the retailers should not be dispersed.” Promincor will continue its efforts to internationally promote the French lingerie industry through other planned events.

Eurovet’s stake in CURVExpo creates a more formidable global partnership and network for the lingerie and swim community. In addition to the top lingerie and swim shows, Salon International de La Lingerie and Mode City trade shows in Paris, Eurovet produces Interfiliegrave;re, a fabric show that specializes in textiles for the lingerie and swim market. In 2005, Eurovet entered the Asian market with a Hong Kong Mode Lingerie show and Shanghai Mode Lingerie show.

“Leveraging market knowledge and customer base gives Eurovet the opportunity to create the most powerful lingerie and swimwear trade-show company in the world,” said Marie-Laure Bellon-Homps, chief executive officer of Eurovet, in a company statement. “Both companies have developed strong customer loyalty, and we intend to continue and expand for an even better customer experience going forward.”

Teinturier added that CURVExpo will benefit greatly from Eurovet’s trade-show expertise.

“I think that people will see right away in the next shows that the format will be improved,” she said. “It has been our mission statement from the beginning to come up with a better format. The immediate result is that all the best brands in North America, either domestic or international, will be exhibiting at Curve in both places, so the retailers will have a one-stop shopping place.”