Story and Photos by Kathleen Gasperini and Tom Wallace
From July 10-11, 2013 Agenda NYC at 82 Mercer Street transforms this hipster part of SoHo into a gathering of the tribes for industry players in streetwear, urbanwear, and skate-inspired footwear and apparel. It’s also home to creative wearable technologies such as Beats by Dre, G-Shock, and Agenda: NYC Limited Edition Caps by Flexfit with collabs with The Hundreds, WuTang, and The Seventh Letter, not to mention the cornerstone brands of sneaker culture such as Vans, Converse, Native, DVS, and Etnies.
This is wear unique collabs come to life as more streetwear brands continue to work with heritage brands and brethren to create exciting experiences in design for potential buyers. It’s also the location for checking-out some of the best trends in streetwear fashion from the attendees of the show who all illustrate the latest ways to combine for example, camo prints with paisley florals, leaning towards old-school Hawaiian.
Apparent this year at the show was a strong crossover of bright prints such as floral patterns with military Americana ranging from denim and board shorts with Native American print piping or camo, the button-down classic prep styles matched with angled prints in completely new colorwaves. Generally, there’s a strong 80’s vibe continuing and the leaders in the scene have certain staples in all of their collections including a mix of graphic T-shirts, denim, long-sleeved shirts, fitted silhouettes in button-downs, caps, backpacks, and designer headphones.
We what also always like about Agenda NYC is the strong connection with the city’s sense of urban coolness, complete with top artists painting on-site, DJ’s, unique food kiosks, and sense of community which may have something to do with space being tight and the business-minded aspects of East Coast industry there to get work while networking. Brands such as Married to the Mob and Endless Ammo show up at this show, along with 10 Deep (their hometown), Zoo York, Staple Designs, Rocksmith, Play Clothes, Leroy Jenkins, Wu Tang Brand, Mishka, and Burton. The East coast is clearly represented but also attracts west-coast buyers and brands ranging from Obey to RVCA, Etnies, and DC Shoes. To be in top stores in unique boutiques of New York are a sign of success, and top buyers attend this show to make sure their stores are on the leading-edge.
Another key component to Agenda NYC were the significant number of cool backpacks and bags. As accessories in general continue to be among the defining factor to one’s style, so too are the growing number of brightly patterned backpacks such as fish-patterned packs and prep styles by Herschel Supply Co., Native American prints on Burton bags and luggage, and the growing number of watch brands such as Flud and G-Shock, along with the growing importance of socks from brands like Stance.
Maybe it’s the lack of surf brands in the mix that makes Agenda NYC seem more authentic to the core of streetwear, but while smaller, it’s definitely a show charging the scene and generating significant buzz and business which makes for a great place to be.
Agenda moves onto Long Beach July 25-26 topped with the launch of their conference series called Agenda Emerge powered by Group Y on Friday, July 26 at the Long Beach Convention Center featuring speakers Marc Ecko, Bobby Hundreds, and Jeff Staple, and then to Las Vegas as part of Modern Assembly including shows Liberty, Stitch, (capsule), MRKET, the Accessories Show at the Sands Expo August 19-20, 2013.
Label Networks will be covering the latest from all of the shows and Agenda Emerge.
