California Apparel News

MIAMI BEACH, FLA.—Miami Beach was buzzing as swimwear designers, editors and retailers flocked to the sunny city for swimwear’s biggest week in the United States. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim and SwimShow 2010 overlapped July 15–21 with runway shows, events and the annual trade show, which set the swim scene for Cruise 2010. In addition, there were several independent runway shows, cocktail parties and events that joined the anchor shows.

MBFW Swim, produced by IMG Fashion, kicked off the events on July 15 with the largest edition of runway shows to date. More than 12,000 attendees—including buyers, press and celebrities—took part in the fifth edition of the event, held at the historic Raleigh hotel. Twenty designers from Brazil, Australia, Canada, Colombia and various cities across the United States showcased their Cruise 2010 collections over the five-day run of shows. This season, there were several new additions to the shows, including Bohegrave;me Boutiques, which opened the event, as well as core contemporary and designer swim brands Vitamin A by Amahlia Stevens, Marysia Swim, Aqua Di Lara, White Sands Australia, Caffeacute; Swimwear, Mara Hoffman, V Del Sol, Crystal Jin, Tori Praver Swimwear and Mercedes-Benz Presents designer L*Space by Monica Wise. Returning designers included Red Carter, Cia.Mariacute;tima, Tibi, Luli Fama, True Religion Swimwear, Ed Hardy Swimwear, Poko Pano, ANK by Mirla Sabino and the Xtra Life Lycra group show, which paid homage to Invista’s 50th anniversary.

Several designers opted to show their lines at independent events around town. Keva by Keva J, Tyler Rose Swimwear, Liza & Tara Resort Wear and JOGO by Pooneh presented their collections in an “Emerging Designers” group show. Shay Todd and Inca presented their collections poolside at the W Hotel, and Ariel Raphael presented his collection at the rooftop lounge at the Gansevoort South Hotel. In addition, Tommy Hilfiger held a cocktail reception at his South Beach store, and Jantzen celebrated its100th anniversary with an exhibition titled “Beauty and the Beach: A Centennial Celebration of Swimwear” at the Wolfsonian-Florida International University. Steady, focused at SwimShow

It was business as usual at SwimShow 2010, produced by the Swimwear Association of Florida. Now in its 27th year, the show featured a mix of swim and resort looks across several categories, including contemporary, surf, maternity, children’s, misses and designer. The four-day trade event included the annual fashion show, the Swim Lounge happy hour and an attendee party at The Setai. According to Executive Show Director Judy Stein, there were 10 percent fewer exhibitors at this year’s show, but she was, nonetheless, pleased with the turnout. “We’re very excited with those numbers,” Stein said. “Under normal conditions we wouldn’t be happy, but in this particular economy, for a major trade show to be down 10 percent is really good. It’s a tough year.” And while the attendance of the show was noticeably less, most exhibitors were pleased with the quality of buyers. Manhattan Beachwear, Lenny, L*Space, Lunada Bay, O’Neill and C&M Camilla and Marc all reported positive results and orders from key accounts. Kerry Cushman, designer of Kushcush, said there was less qualifying to do, with fewer smaller and lesser-known boutiques in attendance. According to Susan Crank, president and chief executive of Lunada Bay, more appointments were scheduled this year than last year for its brands Becca by Rebecca Virtue, Betsey Johnson and Lucky Brand. “We’re very happy with the quality of accounts that are here,” Crank said. “We’re missing a few of our specialty stores, but we’ll be seeing them back in New York or at other shows.”

Sonia DeMello said she was pleased with the high quality of customers who stopped at her So De Mel Swim booth and felt satisfied with her orders by the second day of the show.

Buyers came from specialty stores, boutiques and department stores, such as Neiman Marcus, Scoop, Selfridges, Harrod’s, Bohegrave;me, Shopbop, Victoria’s Secret, Wynn Las Vegas, Macy’s, Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstorm, Anthropologie, Dianne’s Beachwear, Saks Fifth Avenue and Holt Renfrew. Ongoing trends and new hitsRetailers shopped for a range of looks varying from resort-oriented coverups and tops to new brands and unique styles. There were plenty of new brands to be found at the show, including Fox Head, Tavik, Kooey and Undrest. by the Sea. Some brands were fashion-focused and launched exciting, new lines, including Billabong’s Runway line and Jantzen’s Heritage Collection, while others, such as Karla Colletto, scaled back by placing its secondary line, K by Karla Colletto, on hold. Buyers were shopping for key trends of the season, including asymmetric styles, the one-piece, colorful prints with pops of neon, ’80s styles, high waists and vintage styles as well as bohemian looks with ethnic prints, tie-dye and plenty of fringe. Skimpy ruched Brazilian cuts were a breakout trend on the runway and already a hit at retail, according to Tom O’Hara, owner of the Mission Beach, Fla.–based Gone Bananas. Many retailers, including Splash in the Bahamas, felt that value and price points were key to making sales, while others, such as the Wynn Las Vegas, had customers that were more interested in quality and uniqueness offered by luxe brands such as Gottex, La Perla, Maryan Melhorn, Lenny, Shan, Cosabella Mare and Vix.

As always, manufacturers were looking to achieve a balance in price point and fashion to keep customers excited about spending. Several looked to being innovative to offer price-point solutions for retailers and to create value for customers. Becca by Rebecca Virtue created a color-coded program of basics that could merchandise back to fashionable pieces in the collection, and O’Neill offered volume discounts, terms dating and new “Cha-Ching” groups with price incentives such as a 60 percent IMU and priced-to-sell suits at an attractive range of $60 to $64 to help retailers see a profitable return on merchandise.