California Apparel News

Introducing emerging designers will be the mission of new gallery section MAGIC LaunchPad. This section for emerging designers and brands will debut at MAGIC and will run Aug. 22–24 in the trade show’s men’s section at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

MAGIC LaunchPad will be co-produced by Fashion Business Inc., the Los Angeles–based nonprofit that provides the apparel industry with educational resources, business training and entrepreneurial development. Placement for the new 10-booth section was open to FBI members, and a few of the participants for the first MAGIC LaunchPad include International Citizen Design House, with offices in San Francisco and San Diego, as well as San Francisco footwear label Beneduci and activewear line The Continuous Line, located in Huntington Beach, Calif.

At LaunchPad, buyers will be able to browse designs of the emerging brands, make purchases from the designers and vote on the favorite new designer of LaunchPad. The winner will be awarded with a free booth at the February 2012 MAGIC, according to a statement from the trade show.

MAGIC also will debut the Heart of Pret, a show at WWDMAGIC devoted to French fashion design. Footwear show FNPlatform and Swim at WWDMAGIC, sponsored by ISAM, are also forecast to grow, according to statement from the trade show giant.—Andrew Asch