Project and Workroom Share Space, Energy
Reviews were mixed from exhibitors about the Project show, which featured more than 1,000 exhibitors. Some exhibitors said they would be hitting the road to compensate for the buyers they didn’t see during the show’s Feb. 14–16 run at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Others, including independent brands and biggies, said the show proved to be the busiest in seasons.
Organizers took a sunny view of the show. “The show exceeded all of our expectations. Brands were very happy, with many claiming a record show,” said Nancy Berger, Project’s vice president of marketing and communications. “Retail traffic was robust, signaling renewed confidence. There was incredible energy and enthusiasm.”
Jade Howe, owner of the Gardena, Calif.–based Howe menswear brand, said traffic in the aisles was, at times, “painfully light” but added that the caliber of buyer that shopped the show was good. “I’ve been [at Project] since the first show, so I do very consistent business there,” he said. Still, Howe echoed other exhibitors in noting the absence of some East Coast buyers at the Las Vegas shows. “I have never heard as many buyers saying they weren’t going to Vegas. It seems like buyer suicide to me. Vegas is still the mecca—no other place has the depth and scope of brands.”
While most brands focused on Fall, the Gant by Michael Bastian brand focused on technology. The booth “was devoid of samples—buyers could only place orders through a digital platform,” Berger said.
Workroom, billed as a platform for “nurturing progressive directional collections,” expanded in its third Las Vegas outing and enjoyed increased traffic this season thanks to its new placement directly on the Project show floor. Now featuring some established and emerging brands—including Filson, Wren, The West Is Dead, Ambsn, PRPS Japan, Kicking Mule, 10 Corso Colombo and Collina Strada—the mini-show joined footwear, women’s, men’s, “dual-gender lifestyle” and Project 10, a curated group of fashion brands, on the show floor.
Project organizers debuted a number of new initiatives at the show, including Town Square, a space “conceived as the heart of the show, a central meeting place where the community could interact, experience, learn and be entertained,” Berger said. “It included several key initiatives: StyleCaster Media Lounge (the first consumer-facing multi-media outpost at the show), Shine Creative Cinema Lounge (free 30-second brand videos shot live), Nolcha International Resource Center (educational content for companies looking to do business abroad or in the USA) and our first Las Vegas Pop-Up retail store by Mollaspace.” Also new was Project Love, the show’s charitable arm designed to promote social awareness.
For the second season in a row, the Brazilian Association of Fashion Designers, Texbrasil and the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association set up a booth at Project to highlight some up-and-coming Brazilian brands, including Cecilia Prado, Emporio Anna, Gloss Army, Karin Feller, Cavage, Madrih, Moreno Rosa and Carmen Steffens.
“We came to the last Project, but we weren’t doing wholesale at the time,” said Marc Willingham, president of U.S. operations for Brazilian footwear collection Carmen Steffens. “In 2011, we’re planning to expand with a united front. We are making our product available to better retailers. Outside the U.S., we’re opening an in-store shop at Galleries Lafayette, also at Barneys New York in Tokyo. We’re here making a presence. The timing is right. We feel the tides are turning. Retailers are looking for innovative things, and we bring something that people don’t have.”—Erin Barajas
