Fashion's Fresh Faces Inspire

LAS VEGAS—Change was in the air here at the Feb. 11-15 fashion week, the unofficial term for the semiannual gathering of apparel tradeshows around industry giant MAGIC Marketplace. MAGIC itself was one of three shows welcoming new leaders, who ushered in a spate of tweaks that, participants said, will be good for business.

Chris DeMoulin became president of Advanstar subsidiary MAGIC Intl. and executive vice president of the company's fashion group just 35 days before sitting down to talk with Tradeshow Week at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Stephanie Seeley, although hired last July, was running her first Pool show solo, as manager of the MAGIC-owned event for contemporary fashion held for the first time alongside MAGIC at the LVCC.

And, down the Strip at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, former ENK Intl. executive Lizette Chin was translating her varied experience in the men's wear business into the launch of MRket, the new name for the former West Coast Exclusive, which Business Journals bought last fall.

Although some designers and manufacturers worried that the softening economy and sluggish retail sales were putting a damper on enthusiasm, exhibitors and buyers alike had nothing but kudos for the changes the new crop of show managers were making, from better food and art on the showfloor, to fewer show days and more exhibitor training.

This was the first tradeshow DeMoulin ever produced — in any industry — but he was quick to point out he had exhibited in about 15 MAGICs in past stages of his career. He did not have exact figures for the show, joking that he had “a crack staff” to keep track of such things, but estimated there were about 4,000 exhibitors and 120,000 total attendees filling 1 million net square feet He added that pre-registration was “a fraction above” last February's event.

According to TSW research, that event filled nearly 1.1 million net sq. ft. with 4,090 exhibitors and an estimated 120,000 total attendees, including MAGIC, WWDMAGIC, MAGIC kids, Sourcing at MAGIC, Project and Pool. It typically falls in the top 10 of the TSW 200.

Still, exhibitors complained of light traffic on the showfloor during the third day, blaming consolidation in the retail sector and caution among buyers faced with uncertainty about business in the coming year.

It was in response to complaints like these that, a week before the show opened, MAGIC officials said they would cut the event from four days to three starting with the fall show.

Gregory Weisman, a fashion-industry attorney at Silver Freedman who's been attending MAGIC for a dozen years, said, “Historically the fourth day of the show has always been under-attended, and you have a lot of very expensive booths being staffed in an inefficient way. From what I understand, a lot of brand owners got together and lobbied MAGIC to do away with the fourth day, because they just weren't writing any paper on that day.”

Buyers applauded the decision. Louis Deerling, who owns two clothing stores in the northern suburbs of New York City, said, “Absolutely, I think it's a good idea. It's just too spread out and long.”

DeMoulin said he remembered what it was like, as an exhibitor, to endure that last “dead” day, but his vision for increasing the value of MAGIC expands beyond simply making it shorter. He described his plan for better understanding the needs of both exhibitors and buyers, and connecting the few hundred (out of many thousands) of each that are looking for each other, as one that will be data- and technology-facilitated, but “driven by good old-fashioned salesmanship.”

“The more we know about who all these people are, the more we can help them find each other,” he added.

… chartreuse, mustard and other interesting shades. The former buyer for Los Angeles-based American Rag, who joined past Pool manager Mindy Wiener last year as a consultant on the attendee's perspective (then took the reins when Wiener retired after the last show), has a colorful vision indeed.

She saw it come to life as Pool moved into the LVCC's Central Hall 5, closer than it had ever been to MAGIC, which acquired it three years ago. But with ceiling-to-floor drapes closing off C5, and with that hall's separate entrance bearing all the signage, shuttles, etc. of a standalone show, Pool got the best of both worlds, maintaining its separate identity while benefiting from MAGIC's traffic.

Seeley's concept for this year's show was to combine art and fashion by adding a gallery to the showfloor and giving a select group of designers the chance to create parts of the exhibition and marketing materials. Beyond that, Pool is distinctively crunchy, with an outside organic caterer providing lunch, recycling bins around the showfloor and a special bamboo-floored section, s(eco)nd, for Earth-friendly fashion.

Seeley also took a cue from MAGIC, which this year offered exhibitor and retailer training for the first time, and gave so-called “swimming lessons” to teach Pool participants to get the most from the show. She said she wanted to make sure the event was worth the investment, giving out free meal tickets and electrical services to help small startup exhibitors with costs.

They ate it up. Amy Sperber of 31 Corn Lane, said the new location was “bringing new clients to us that we never thought we'd see come. Pool was always a satellite show, a little harder to get to in the past. This is great.”

Lee Selman, co-owner of Quiet Hero, one of the featured designers, added, “I love Pool. Stephanie and everybody have been so supportive and helpful.”

Seeley said her vision for the next show is “to step up what we've done here.”

Asked whether the proximity to MAGIC would dilute the event, she responded, “We are not being absorbed by MAGIC. Pool is here to stay.”

Chin, whom Business Journals hired to run MRket shortly after acquiring it, had her work cut out for her. The Exclusive had been flagging, culminating in its last staging on an upper floor of the Venetian conference center, which exhibitors complained was hard to find.

As MRket, the show is in a ground-floor ballroom, next to sister events AccessoriesTheShow and Moda Las Vegas. Although Business Journals' look and feel are apparent in all three, MRket has its own registration, schedule, entrance and so on, to stay true to its clientele.

This clientele is demanding, and Chin answered it with swank decor, gourmet food, audiovisual effects to create ambience and other amenities.

It was a hit with exhibitors. Lambros Tsakanikas, sales director of Dion, an Exclusive exhibitor since it opened, said the new show was “first-class. They've turned it around already. Monday was the best day since '01. I did more business that day than the whole show last year.”

Chin agreed the show “beat our wildest expectations,” drawing 20,000 stores to see 165 collections the first day alone.

She said the Venetian was the show's home for the foreseeable future, and, now that she knows the space, is looking forward to doing much more with it.