Traffic Brisk at WWDMAGIC

LAS VEGAS--WWDMAGIC opened its doors at the Las Vegas Convention Center Feb. 18–21 to a packed house of buyers and retailers swarming to place orders. There was a buzz sifting through the air, filled with an eagerness to find new lines and revisit existing ones. The Young Contemporary and Junior/Kids section was especially busy with traffic.

Samantha Hollinger, president of RD International, took over the family business. She is the third generation running the company, which her grandfather started 40 years ago in Montreal, Canada. Hollinger launched the New York office about three years ago.

The brand carries the traditional styles of RD, a young, contemporary mix composed primarily of knits. Hollinger said, “Our items are priced to help retailers make a nice margin,” with wholesale prices ranging from $20 to $60, depending if it is a woven sweater or jacket. RD sells in about 500 specialty stores.

“It has been an interesting show for us. People’s open-mindedness to new price points is changing. As a contemporary brand that hangs at Bloomingdale's, it is always a question if we should go to Project or WWDMAGIC, but we can be expansive as far as price points, so we create various markets. We have chosen MAGIC for this reason, and so far it has been a great show,” Hollinger said.  

She continued, “Buyers who previously would only shop higher price points are opening themselves up to us because perspective and value is there.”

Laura Weiss of BB Dakota called the show “great.” “It has been really busy as far as retailers placing orders which are mainly appointment based. We rely on appointments, but some walk-ins have stopped by,” Weiss said.

BB Dakota has several brands, including Jack by Dakota and Dakota Collective, which sells to retailers such as Revolve, Shopbop and Planet Blue as well as a combination of majors and high-end boutiques. Each line has a distinctive price point and customer in mind with the premium denim, which is all made domestically, coming in wholesale as low $40 and going up to $200. BB Dakota tops range from $30 to $120 for a leather piece. Jacks, which targets the young contemporary girl, ranges from $18 to $48.

Joseph Shiloach of Ocean Drive and Vintage Havana said his company is very item-driven with a current trend leaning toward bohemian looks. Their novelty top line includes mixed fabrics with a lot garment dying, crochet with chiffon trims, and specialty sweatshirt fabrications with their own "cashmere fleece."

“The show has been a huge success,” Shiloach said. The company currently sells to Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, but the heart and soul are specialty stores, with 3,500 active in the United States, as well as an international distribution. 

“This show is on the up. The last three shows increasingly getting better. People are definitely buying 30 percent more than before. When the recession hit, people were really down, and now everyone is in a good spirits and smiling. Eighty percent of the products wholesale for $20 to $30.

WWD’s Heart of Prêt, which premieres many top French and European designers, and White were both steady with foot traffic. 

The Lynn Girard showroom—which carries Eva Varro, Spanx, Fabrizio Gianni and other brands—had a lot of orders but not as many customers as usual, Girard said. 

Nancy Lehmann-Murphy, representing Italian collection Save the Queen from Florence, said the line has existed for about 30 years but entered the U.S. market about four years ago. The line is currently represented at The Isabella Co., which is a multi-line showroom based out of New York that imports and distributes European collections. 

Lehmann-Murphy said they were consistently busy with most business done with existing customers who booked appointments rather than walk-ins. “Buyers appreciate that our tops are different—not a basic top; we have prints that are very specific to Italian style,” Lehmann-Murphy said.  

Save the Queen started as a T-shirt company and evolved into jackets and bottoms that now wholesale starting at $120 and go up to $180 for a tee. Jackets range from $160 to $200,  and dresses are priced from $160 to $210.—Sarah Wolfson