Product, Price Key at WWDMAGIC
For some companies, the Aug. 17–19 run of WWDMAGIC was marked by high traffic and upbeat retailers.
“The first two days were phenomenal; Tuesday and Wednesday were really booming for us,” said Jerry Wexler, the West Coast representative for young contemporary label Mystree. “People are feeling up. I didn’t get any negatives.”
Even on the last day of the show, Mystree’s booth was jammed with retailers surveying the more than 800 samples on display.
Wexler said he typically lands new orders at WWDMAGIC, but still, he described the recent show as “one of the best shows that we’ve had as West Coast reps for this line.”
Los Angeles–based Rhapsody Couture returned to the show after seven or eight years away, said Marketing Team/Licensing Coordinator Jinny Hugh. The company brought its three newest licensed lines, Olivia, Betty Boop and Snoopy.
Although there were “not that many people overall,” Hugh said the company met with several boutique buyers and was getting good feedback on the collection, which pairs the familiar cartoon characters with contemporary designs.
“People really like our line because it’s prints on fashionable styles,” she said.
One high point: Buyers from MGM Grand and Paris Las Vegas stores stopped by the booth to look at the Olivia collection, Hugh said. The Las Vegas–based buyers said they do well with Olivia books and blush dolls, Hugh said.
New York–based Classique was showing its latest collection of printed dress line at WWDMAGIC and showing last season’s stock at the Offprice show at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.
Classique’s Aviv Zafrir said he saw both existing retailers and potential new ones at the show. “We have a lot of follow up to do with chain stores [after the show],” he said.
To capture buyers’ attention, Los Angeles–based contemporary line Velvet Heart set up a monitor at the front of a booth and was streaming a virtual fashion show of the latest collection using Tukatech’s 3-D Simulator patternmaking software.
“It’s a showstopper—a little tech added to fashion,” said Sales Executive Jordan Tsabag, who said the software allows him to send video files of the latest style to retailers rather than simply sending a jpeg image. The videos can also be uploaded to Facebook to demonstrate how the styles look on a moving body, rather than a static image. Tukatech’s Ram Sareen said another company, Manhattan Beach, Calif.–based active-apparel maker Green Apple, put the virtual fashion-show presentation on an iPad so they could walk around the show to meet with retailers.
But the show traffic fell short for some categories, according to some exhibitors.
“I don’t think this is the market for better goods in today’s challenging environment,” said Peter Jacobson, owner of the Creative Concepts showroom in Los Angeles and representative of the Indies collection. “Better buyers go to Los Angeles; they go to New York to find better, sophisticated product. I didn’t have a lot of traffic in Los Angeles, but I had better business than last year, and my business [overall] has been trending up.”—Alison A. Nieder
