California Apparel News

NEW YORK—Buyers and media gamely traversed the New York City piers, an aircraft carrier, SoHo and downtown to cover three trade shows held July 18–21: Confirmed (formerly TBC), the Project Global Trade Show and The Collective from ENK International Inc.

Despite the proliferation of similar brands and the issue of traveling among the three venues, the general consensus was that each show had something very different, yet crucial to offer to the steadily growing contemporary menswear market—in other words, each offered an effective snapshot of the market.

Overall, show looks included striped woven shirts, denim, up scale sports brands, deconstructed T-shirts, elaborate art tees, West Coast influences, color infusion, blazers and unique accessories.

Project Global Trade ShowOwner/organizer: Sam Ben-AvrahamLocation: The Puck Building and the Altman Building and Metropolitan Pavillion. (Organizers shuttled buyers between the two venues in bright-yellow Hummer H2s.)Date: July 19–21Web site: www.projectshow.comExhibitors: 130 in the Altman Building and Metropolitan Pavillion and 100 in the Puck BuildingLooks: Denim, blazers, upscale sport looks and track jackets, polos with a twist and woven shirts, color, and West Coast and European influences

Project, the premium menswear show that burst onto the scene in early 2003, this year nearly doubled its attendance—to more than 250 exhibitors—from its last New York edition. Owner/organizer Sam Ben-Avraham described Project as “a combination of premium street and contemporary fashion—where leading directional brands can communicate with the world’s most innovative retailers.”

Ben-Avraham, who also owns New York– based retail store Atriumand the Moshi Moshi showroom, said the third run of the show continued to balance professionalism with a laidback, fun vibe. “The show exceeded our expectations, with over 4,000 retailers and media from around the world,” he said.

Designers and sales reps seemed to enjoy the relaxed, professional atmosphere and real sales.

“The show was highenergy, upbeat. Most importantly, this show is aimed at writing paper,” said Chris Smith, director of sales for Initium premium eyewear, which featured two music-influenced styles, “Troubadour” and “Roseland.”

There were some complaints about too many similar brands and the overuse of denim washes, but response was positive overall.

“I was very impressed with Project. We saw all our major retail customers and were sitting amongst our closest competitors, but there was so much denim and way too many washes,” said Jeff Halmos, partner in Huntington Beach, Calif.–based Trovata.

The show featured new denim lines, including Blue Blood and M Denim (by Lucky Brand Dungarees), as well as established directional designers, such as Kunna, Joie, Evisu and Chip & Pepper. Wrangler also launched a well-received specialty denim line as an extension of the traditional brand.

Streetwear continued its evolution into upscale fashion, as evidenced by fresh looks from Triple 5 Soul, Box Fresh, NC Unified, Itsus, Drunknmunky, Republica, and United Kingdom lines Box Fresh and Red Dot. The Sean John and Mark Ecko collections also stood out. Mark Ecko presented strong gingham shirts and blazers.

Retailer favorites Howe, Trovata and New York–based Triko continued to display mature, creative looks infused with a relaxed lifestyle aesthetic.

Sports brands and footwear also represented a large category for Project. Adidas Y-3 (a partnership between Adidas and Yohji Yamamoto), Umbro by Kim Jones, Vans, Ellesse, Fred Perry, Lacoste and Le Tigre presented a variety of high-end sophisticated polos and track jackets.

Austin, Texas–based Tomer provided aristocratic suiting and tailored looks in earthy colors. Tomer rep Neeshu Hajra said the company exhibited at The Collective last season but jumped to Project this time. “There were some great things at the show, but the market will eventually head away from denim and deconstruction,” he said.

Next stop: Los Angeles

Ben-Avraham plans to ride the momentum from New York into his first-ever Los Angeles Project show, which will be held Aug. 1–3 at the Cooper Design Space. According to Ben-Avraham, the Los Angeles show is completely booked and will feature many of the same players as the New York edition, including Ryan Kenny, Doc Martens, Evisu, Cut & Sew, Hummel, Trovata, Sean John, Original Penguin, Le Tigre, Triple 5 Soul, BoxFresh, Ringspun, Fred Perry, Buddhist Punk and Ben Sherman.

“Besides the city’s strong manufacturing center, there’s great retail, excellent trend spotting and a lot of excitement there,” Ben- Avraham said. “L.A. makes a perfect stage for doing business in the Pacific Rim.”

Confirmed Owners/organizers: Markus Klosseck and Pearl Lee Location: Intrepid Aircraft Carrier Museum Dates: July 18–19 Web site: www.2beconfirmed.com Exhibitors: Approximately 100 Looks: Emerging designers, high-end women’s T-shirts, art tees, unique accessories and West Coast lifestyle

In June, ENK International’s The Collective partnered with TBC, taking over operations and development of the New York show and changing its name to Confirmed.

Markus Klosseck originally launched the show as TBC in London in 2001 and in New York in 2002 as an “antidote” to traditional trade shows. In keeping with the show’s unconventional approach, this season’s show took place on the flight deck of the Intrepid aircraft carrier. (On the second day of the show, the flight deck flooded, keeping retailers at bay until about 11 a.m. Still, most designers gave the location positive reviews.)

Designers have traditionally looked to Confirmed as a marketing tool and press showcase for emerging designers. Many designers and reps at the show said they chose Confirmed so they would not get lost among the larger brands at other shows. They also said they opted for Confirmed to receive maximum press exposure.

Robert Nand of Creative Recreation Footwear, which makes what he refers to as “luxurious sneakers,” said he met with buyers from Barneys New York and Urban Outfitters, as well as with editors from “all the magazines at Confirmed.”

Gerald Lyons, a partner with Californiabased edgy accessories brand UHF, concurred.

“I liked the flavor and vibe,” Lyons said. “[It was a] good place for magazines to weed out the good emerging designers.”

Other striking accessories included ties by Tascot, undergarments from House of Bimbo, and sophisticated contemporary streetwear looks by Analog Lighting and Syndrome. Standout T-shirt lines included Dirty Laundry’s hand-designed women’s tees, Lemar & Dauley’s men’s shirts with soulful, artistic imagery, and Riv’s art tees and creative twists on the polo.

Larger brands—including Stetson, Onitsuka Tiger by Asics, and Reebok (which showed its new Diamond Collection)—also exhibited at Confirmed as a marketing ploy. Stetson launched its high-end Modern Collection at Confirmed and at Project to make the jump into a younger market.

“They see Stetson here and do a double take,” said Mondecai Marketing Creative Director Henry Hershkowitz. “They think of it as a stodgy old man’s hat, but we’re really doing something cool and unexpected by being here with the new line.”

The Collective Owner/organizer: Elyse N. Kroll Location: The Show Piers Dates: July 18–20 Web site: www.enkshows.com Exhibitors: Approximately 400 Looks: Suits and ties, casual dress-up looks, plenty of color, and European and West Coast influences

ENK celebrated 25 years and its 50th event this season with The Collective. The show— featuring men’s contemporary, suits and ties—has generally been the most traditional of the three events, but this year it had a fastgrowing area called The Section that featured slightly funkier and more directional brands. The Collective also partnered with new men’s shopping magazine Cargo to build a lounge environment for customers. Retailers and vendors warmly received the increasingly cool factor of The Collective, along with the show’s existing professionalism, broad retailer base and longevity.

“We are not interested in presenting redundant fashion—not in showing retailers 20 denim lines or 50 tee lines,” said Elyse N. Kroll, ENK chief executive officer. “We are doing what The Collective has always done, which is to choose the best of the market and merchandise it for the retailers to understand.”

Some key lines in The Section were Block Headwear, Hush Puppies, Alpana Bawa, Bamboo, Quiksilver Edition, Rykiel Homme, Agave, John Bartlett and Duncan Quinn.

Hat designer Block Headwear had exhibited at Confirmed before but now is committed to The Collective.

“We had a 35 percent increase in business versus the January Collective,” said Mike Sampson, Block Headwear managing director. “Regardless of the recent success of Project, buyers will always shop ENK. No show comes close to the longevity and reputation of The Collective.”

John Bartlett featured blazers, ties and casual-fitted suit combinations. The bestsellers, according to Director of Sales Scott Saltzman, were bright-colored striped shirts with interesting fabrications and colorful pocketsquares, as well as non-striped fancy dress shirts.

Rykiel Homme showed sweaters and outerwear with lush fabrications and tailored fits.

Duncan Quinn provided tailored suits and colorful ties—think Sean Connery’s “James Bond” meets Michael Caine’s “Get Carter.”

With a strong retailer and vendor base in place, Kroll said she is looking forward to the collaboration with Confirmed to strengthen her vision.

“Confirmed represents a future,” Kroll said. “These kids that are designing right now are planting seeds—some will have legs, some have vision and some are just playing. We are trying to have them meet our retailers and have our retailers meet them. Our goal is to have retailers recognize that they have to have clothing for both the 18 to 25 and 25 to 45 age groups—because each are money spenders. You have to have something available for both ends of the spectrum.”

Retailers respond

Retailers trekked among the three shows in search of newness. Some noted a sea of sameness, while others found new resources in unexpected places.

“There was an ocean of denim and rippedup and destroyed T-shirts,” said Karen Meena, general manager and buyer for Ron Robinson at Fred Segal Melrose and Fred Segal Santa Monica. “There were not a lot of people doing fresh, original designing, but there were notable standouts like Howe, Greyson NY [from the owners of DDC Lab], Triko and Penguin at Project and Theory at The Collective.”

Cat Birmingham, buyer for San Francisco– based Villains and Villains Vault, said that although she noticed some TBC resources had jumped to Project since last season, she still saw a need to shop all three shows.

“Project was amazing, but I still look to Confirmed for younger up-and-coming lines,” Birmingham said. “I just hope it can retain its fun vibe and feel as it goes forward with The Collective collaboration. We really found some great wovens, pants, fleece and higherend items from lines like Ever, Drifter, Salvage, Loomstate and Trovata.”

Darren Gold, owner of Alpha, a new men’s accessories store opening in Los Angeles, agreed that all the shows have something to offer buyers. But he noted there was a proliferation of many similar trends.

“So many brands with similar aesthetics end up showing at Project and TBC, so things that are different and new at The Collective really stand out. We actually found a lot of great product at The Collective, which we weren’t expecting, being a more fashion-forward store.”

Among Gold’s favorites were Nike White Label, Adidas Y-3, Rykiel Homme, Tateossian and John Bartlett.

Project’s Ben-Avraham acknowledged the redundancy seen at the show but said it was something menswear designers should anticipate.

“The women’s market has dealt with this for a while,” Ben-Avraham said. “As trends trickle down faster and faster, it’s important for everyone to keep innovating and pushing boundaries.”