S.L.A.T.E. Show Floor from Fall 2008
MAGIC Redesigns Itself
Yes, we just ran a trade show round-up story last week, but since January 9th, even more news has rolled in as the fashion trade show industry continues to re-invent itself during these challenging economic times. First, MAGIC has announced that it’s going to launch a Premium Women’s Section, which is an additional 6,000 square-feet dedicated to women. This show, called Premium WWDMAGIC, corresponds with the Premium at MAGIC section featured in the Central Hall showcasing top menswear. The Premium Women’s section will be housed however in the North Hall, along with its women’s and young contemporary. Brands include Dolce Vita, Royal Plush, Thursday Island, and Matiko footwear among others.
Not to be confused with Advanstar Fashion Group’s other trade show property, Project, over at the Mandalay Bay, the show directors describe the difference between the Premium sections of MAGIC and Project: Project, while scaled back, will host more advanced contemporary brands and directional brands that attract a strong following of high-end boutiques such as Atrium, Scoop, and American Rag. The Premium at WWDMAGIC section will look similar to the Premium at MAGIC men’s section with uniform booths and a cleaner, more pared down booth aesthetic -sort of like Project. (Yes, it gets a bit confusing still.) Pool will continue to be the location for more art-inspired exhibitors, and S.L.A.T.E. for streetwear.
Other changes include limited runway shows to keep buyers on the floor, and less trending presentations in MAGIC’s seminar series. Interestingly, as one of the most popular presentations on Global Youth Culture and Street Fashion, Label Networks was asked to come back and present We’ll be hosting our presentation on the second day of the show, February 18, at 10 a.m. (Pre-registration is required -see www.labelnetworks.com for details).
Birdseye View of Agenda from Fall 2008
More Meeting Rooms at ASR
Action Sports Retailer and Agenda meanwhile are also undergoing tightened show floors. Quiksilver and Hurley have dropped out of the January 22-24 winter show (see story from last week) and more brands are opting for meeting rooms rather than show floor booths such as Reef, who laid-off an estimated 42 people on January 6th, and Rip Curl. Volcom and Rusty are going with smaller areas. Agenda, meanwhile, which already announced that it was concentrating on more core brands, has picked up Vestal and Insight.
Bread & Butter%uFFFDs Sport & Street Downstairs Tier 2008
Bread & Butter’s Flea Market
On the flip side or providing more entertainment and networking aspects to trade shows, the United Nations of Bread & Butter in Barcelona, which kicks-off the whole mad trade show season January 21-23, covering Street Fashion, Denim, Sportswear, Function Wear, and Casual Dressed Up, has tallied some 800 exhibitors. They are also offering another new feature which happens to take place in our favorite area, the 3-tiered Sports & Street Area–a Flea Market made up of special collaborations and personal collection pieces. The Flea Market area features international streetwear stores such as Azita (Frankfurt), Caliroots (Stockholm), Reed Space (New York), Wood Wood (Berlin/Copenhagen), and Index Book (Barcelona), among others, featuring collection pieces from 10 Deep, Adidas, Alife NYC, Addict, Boneyard, Cheap Monday, Converse, Carhartt, Freshjive, King Stampede, Penfield, Pegleg, Opening Ceremony, Vans, Stussy, Surface to Air, and others. It’s a regular Who’s Who of cool international boutique collabs with the hottest in street fashion brands and is sure to generate significant traffic, if not its own show in the future.
Another fun feature is the Gumball 3000 -The Urban Superior Cup, featuring Superior exhibitors car racing each other in a Ferrari GTO, Lamborghini Countach, Porsche Turbo RSR934 Martini -all in model racing cars and splashed on a mega-screen in the main Luna Park area.
