Las Vegas Trade shows are on the move.
This season, MAGIC is raising the curtain on its two-campus layout for the Feb. 16 to 18 program. The men’s wear venue, setting up shop in The Mandalay Bay Convention Center, comprises MAGIC Menswear, Project, Premium, Street and S.L.A.T.E., a venue dedicated to an edited mix of street, surf and skate brands. An expanded WWD MAGIC will constitute the women’s wear arena at the central hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, which also will house the Pool Trade Show, Sourcing at MAGIC and the premiere of the footwear expo FN Platform.
“What people are going to see in February is the culmination of plans we have been working on for years,” said Chris DeMoulin, MAGIC International president and executive vice president of MAGIC owner Advanstar. “The buyers have been asking us to make the shows more convenient.…They are encouraged about bringing all the men’s shows next to Project. They can focus on spending their time with brands rather than in cab lines.”
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The response to the changes has been positive so far, according to DeMoulin. In its survey research, he noted MAGIC has found that 90 percent of buyers intended to visit exhibitors at both The Mandalay Bay and LVCC. And MAGIC expects that buyer traffic will climb overall during the three-day series of shows. More than 2,000 brands have signed on, including Current Elliott, AG Adriano Goldschmied, Vince, Adrienne Vittadini, Stuart Weitzman, Nine West, DKNY, Trina Turk, Ella Moss, Stüssy, Obey, 10 Deep, Famous Stars & Straps and Perry Ellis.
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“It is really giving all the buyers [access] to the fashions, the trends and brands across the entire fashion landscape,” said DeMoulin of the updated layout. “We are looking forward to what we believe will be one of the most successful shows we have ever had.”
MAGIC has paid attention to the look and feel of its men’s and women’s exhibitions. It hired architectural firm Cleanroom Inc. to help each men’s wear show maintain its individual aesthetic identity. WWDMAGIC’s floor has been divided into three areas: Loft for youth-oriented brands such as Junk Food, Levi’s, Trinity and XOXO; Studio, with an eclectic mix of lines that includes Free People, Mac & Jac, Desigual and Hobo International, and Plaza, an open square to allow mingling with brands such as Karen Kane, 172 Grams, Fabrizio Gianni and Silk Culture.
“In the North Hall, there were booths in every single inch of space. We wanted to give a little bit more room to breathe,” said DeMoulin of the WWD MAGIC design improvements. “We will have more brands than we have ever had, but there is going to be a little more space and a little more focus on the fashion aspect of the industry in the space.”
The debut FN Platform, a joint venture between MAGIC and WWD sister publication Footwear News, will include more than 500 brands in women’s, men’s, kids’, athletic and comfort categories. (For more on FN Platform, see adjacent story.)
DeMoulin predicts FN Platform will spur a “huge increase” in footwear-only buyer registration. He added, however, that ready-to-wear buyers are also enthusiastic about attending FN Platform and, in market surveys conducted by MAGIC, about 70 percent of rtw buyers indicated they wanted to see an enlarged footwear presence at the shows. For buyers across the spectrum, DeMoulin said FN Platform would be a showcase “to really see the dynamics of what is going on in footwear in the context of the ready-to-wear business.”
Regardless of location or fashion category, trade show participants and organizers embark to Las Vegas with confidence that retailers will be in a buying mood. “Everybody was looking at last year in terms of trying to find out what the new [consumption] level was,” observed DeMoulin. “The feedback that we hear from vendors and buyers is that they have found that footing a little bit, and everybody is coming into this show [positively], to see which brands, trends and partners they will choose to grow their business going forward.”