MIAMI — Bal Harbour Shops recently took its show on the road, all the way to Buenos Aires, to capitalize on a growing South American tourist trade.
Eighteen of the center’s 100 stores participated in an April fashion show held at the Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires. The Bal Harbour shops transported $400,000 worth of merchandise in 16 huge garment bags for the show, which used local models and segmented each store separately.
The luncheon event, which drew 300 people, targeted travel professionals, as well as Argentine society and local celebrities.
According to the Greater Miami Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, 296,000 Argentine tourists visited South Florida in 1993.
Approximately half of Bal Harbour’s clientele is made up of tourists, according to Enid Rosenthal, director of marketing, Bal Harbour Shops, reached by phone. Of that figure, between 35 and 40 percent is Latin American, and Argentina is a key country.
“From advance research, we learned that designer fashion and chic, put-together looks are very important to this customer, so we selected merchandise accordingly,” said Rosenthal.
“In addition to designer labels, South American customers always want current fashion,” she added. “Particularly in Buenos Aires, the locals are chic. Even the young people wear dresses and matching shoes and bags. There are no grunge looks on the streets. Everything is very elegant and sophisticated. Even casual looks are well put together.” The 110-piece show included Karl Lagerfeld, presented by Neiman Marcus, and Giorgio Armani and Thierry Mugler, from Saks Fifth Avenue, and such boutiques as Gucci, Fendi, Joan & David, Versace, Ungaro, Pilar Rossi and Lillie Rubin and jewelry from Tiffany.
Prior to the fashion show, Bal Harbour Village, which includes the shops as well as local hotels, presented a promotional video tape showing the various facilities available in this upscale Miami community.
Since the show, retailers have reported strong response from customers who either attended the show or heard of it.
“We had immediate response,” said Leoni Obando, director of corporate marketing for Fendi. “We’ve had specific requests for and have sold three out of five of the outfits we featured in the show. And it’s still early in the tourist season.”
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The three Fendi outfits included a tan raincoat, jacket, pants, chain belt, scarf and umbrella, totaling $3,500; a two-piece ivory wool jacket, pants and ivory silk blouse, priced at $2,700; and a green and brown animal-print silk blouse, ivory pants and umbrella, at $2,400.
Obando said Argentina is Fendi’s number one tourist draw, representing between 25 and 30 percent of total business, and that figure continues to grow.
“We work with local hotels to sponsor cocktail receptions and teas in the store for these customers,” she said. “Usually it takes months to judge response to big events like the recent fashion show, but we saw results within a week.”
A spokeswoman for Lilli Rubin, which had five pieces in the show, said several members of the audience had inquired about buying a beaded gown immediately after the show. “We couldn’t sell anything there because of customs,” she said. “The women came in the store a few weeks later and bought cocktail and daywear in addition to the gown.”
“The response has been wonderful,” said Norman Schnall, vice president, Tiffany & Co. “We opened here in October, and the event served as a great way to let our South American customers know that we’re here. We have quite a number of Argentine tourists who have come in because of the show and made nice comments. They really appreciated the fact that the mall would take a show all the way there.”
Schnall added that it was too early to judge sales response, since the real tourist season for South Americans starts in July.
Rosenthal said that the Buenos Aires event could become an annual affair. It also opens up the possibility of other international promotions, perhaps in Brazil. “We’ll be ready to do it again in six months,” Rosenthal said.