Up-and-Comers
The fashion trade show landscape continues to expand as new, upstart shows have sprouted within the past five years to offer focused shopping experiences for niche brands and the buyers who seek them. The organizers hail from a range of backgrounds, including showroom representatives who understand the needs of exhibitors and retailers, established trade show organizers expanding into new markets, and young blood launching a new trade show venture. Here is a look at some of the newest kids on the block.—Rhea Cortado
(Capsule) and CompassWith an advisory board that includes top taste-making retailers and glossy-book fashion editors, expect a tight edit of high-end contemporary brands, directional designers and premium streetwear at Capsule’s trade shows. The exhibitor roster has included Opening Ceremony, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Orthodox, The Collection by Creative Recreation, The Generic Man and Fremont. Capsule was launched in July 2007 by New York–based media agency BPMW as a men’s trade show and now holds seasonal editions in New York for both men’s and women’s, Paris for men’s, and Las Vegas for men’s and women’s during the Las Vegas trade shows. Capsule also produces Compass, a men’s footwear show that boasts the same elite caliber of designers in the shoe game and runs concurrently with The WSA Show in Las Vegas.
GuildGuild was founded by Jason Fischer to create a shopping environment that didn’t feel like a trade show. Exhibitors are housed in suites at the Palms Place Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas during Las Vegas market week and hold flexible trade show hours (open until 9 p.m.). The show is a destination for boutiques seeking exclusive brands on the cutting fashion edge as well as Japanese buyers. Brands such as Esquivel shoes, K.Z.O., Unholy Matrimony and Apolis Activism are some of the past exhibitors.
ENK VegasThe heavyweight trade show organizer ENK—which produces Coterie, Intermezzo Collections, Accessorie Circuit, The Collective, Sole Commerce and Blue in New York, and The WSA Show and The Collections at WSA in Las Vegas—entered the crowded Las Vegas trade show scene in August 2008. ENK Vegas provides a more intimate setting than some of its behemoth competitors that also showcase contemporary collections. The show offers a juried selection of brands in a full spectrum of category offerings from upscale T-shirts, premium denim, directional contemporary collections and opening-price-point contemporary clothing for women and men. Past exhibitors have included J Brand, Rich & Skinny Jeans, Three Dots, Theory, Velvet and BB Dakota.
Thread SelectThread Select is not quite a trade show but rather a design collective founded by Lara Stone of the consumer shopping event Thread Show. Thread Show holds two-day consumer shopping events in San Francisco and San Diego and Seattle that showcase indie designers and artists at affordable prices. The bestselling designers at the Thread Shows are selected to join the Thread Select collective. Stone provides training wheels for the young designers by introducing them to doing business on a wholesale level. Thread Select’s booth has been to Pooltradeshow in Las Vegas, Focus in Los Angeles and Trafik Trade Show in Miami. Designers such as Micha Design jewelry, Nature’s Mistake T-shirts, AmyKathryn handbags, Handbag Lab and Delicate Raymond jewelry have participated.
ClassJason Bates, owner of the Derelicte Showroom in Los Angeles, launched the Class trade show in February 2008. Class is held in Los Angeles, normally a few weeks before the Las Vegas trade shows, and showcases boutique clothing and accessories brands in a low-key California atmosphere. In addition to Bates’ lines, which include WeSC, past exhibitors include Ambiguous Clothing, Christys London, Converse by John Varvatos, Ever and Pour La Victoire. September 2009 marked the debut of Class@ASR, a separate section at the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo in San Diego, where fashion-forward surf/skate brands such as Quiksilver for Women, RVCA and Insight rubbed booth shoulders with Kill City and Modern Amusement. The collaboration brought Class’ higher-end boutique lifestyle brands and buyers to ASR, home to core boardsports brands in surf, skate and snow.
Focus The Focus trade show—produced by and held at the California Market Center—launched in January 2009 to provide a space for young lines and designers to exhibit during Los Angeles Fashion Market. The trade show features indie, up-and-coming and artist-driven brands in contemporary women’s and men’s, streetwear, handmade jewelry, and specialty handbag lines with wholesale price points that run $20–$30 for tees and $51–$150 for contemporary clothing and accessories. Past exhibitors have included women’s streetwear line Dime Piece, Amanda Christine from Minnesota, Belgian line Filles A Papa, Denimocracy, Selima Optique, and Crow Thief accessories and clothing.
GlobalTex: LA International Textile & Sourcing Fair GlobalTex debuted in Los Angeles in April 2009. The trade show provides resources for each step in the manufacturing supply chain starting with fabric, trim, yarn and textile design and running to garment manufacturing and technology products that aid in the production process. The show boasts an international roster of top textile mills from Italy, France, China and India. GlobalTex is endorsed by the Textile Association of Los Angeles (TALA) and the California Fashion Association (CFA).
