Project Halls at The Sands from September, 2009
The rumors were swirling at MAGIC fashion trade show in August that it was going to move but many thought that Project, also owned by Advanstar, would be moving into the recently emptied South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Instead, as announced today, Wednesday, October 28, MAGIC (including menswear, and possibly S.L.A.T.E., Street,) will be held together with Project, which used to be at The Sands, at the Mandalay Bay. The show will run February 16-18, 2009, and will also include a new collaboration with Footwear News called the FN Platform consisting of some 600 footwear brands.
Obviously this has initiated speculation that MAGIC is simply getting smaller, and it has been, and hoping to attach itself more closely with Project. As we reported last Fall, the show was only in 2 Halls and was slower (other than certain time frames at S.L.A.T.E. and Pool), whereas Project had also scaled back, or edited more heavily as they described it, even though their show remains one of the top fashion trade shows in the U.S. that many in street, upper urbanwear, contemporary, and denim brands strive to exhibit at.
With the addition of the footwear platform (which may be at the Las Vegas Convention Center at the time of this report) obviously this will bring in more retailers and fill up space, which of course will give WSA a run for their money. Pool and the women’s WWD show will remain in the Las Vegas Convention Center for February.
If S.L.A.T.E. and Street remain in MAGIC, now at the Mandalay, along with Project, it will be interesting to see how this dynamic changes the shows overall. This location will be the popular choice to cover, at least from our perspective, not to mention that the Mandalay offers far better choices in food and beverages than the LVCC.
For more information about MAGIC, S.L.A.T.E., Pool, Project, do a keyword search on Label Networks.
