NEW YORK — Sleepwear will be a growing presence at the eighth edition of Lingerie Americas that is set for a three-day run starting Feb. 25 at the landmark Altman Building and Metropolitan Pavilion here.
The trade fair will showcase 230 daywear, sleepwear, robe and foundations brands, 41 of which will be first-time exhibitors at Lingerie Americas.
Brands exhibiting for the first time include Joelle and Malitzia by La Perla, Vera Wang Intimates, Bristols 6, Disney Couture, Fayreform by Bendon, Lomar, Moving Comfort, Dreamlover, Utax and three French sleepwear brands: Le Chat, Pilus and Laurence Tavernier. French foundations label Lejaby, which is owned by The Warnaco Group, will also exhibit for the first time, but will be handled by Lejaby France.
Some 3,000 visitors have registered to attend, show officials said.
“The show is fully booked,” said Sylvain Heraud, project manager for the trade fair. “The net space of the show for exhibitors will be 20,000 square feet, while overall space will total 40,000 square feet, which will include a restaurant, cafes and a buyer’s lounge.”
The event will be staged on the main floor of the Altman Building and the first and third levels of the Metropolitan Pavilion.
Other exhibitors will include Natori, Louis Feraud, Gerhard Roesch, Pluto, Flora Nikrooz, Claire Pettibone, Bed Head, Lebkoff, Kenan and several brands from the Carole Hochman Design Group: Betsey Johnson Intimates, sleepwear by Oscar de la Renta and Carole Hochman, and robes and loungewear by Stan Herman.
“What’s really interesting is that since the show’s inception in August 2002 we have doubled the space for sleepwear,” said Heraud. “It shows it’s a very interesting market at the moment and that includes loungewear.”
Heraud said one of the highlights of the fair is a partnership with the Canadian Apparel Federation that is being called Wear Canada.
“The Canadian partnership will be represented in the lobby of the Metropolitan Pavilion, where eight Canadian brands will be displayed in a relaxing atmosphere in a sitting area with free drinks,” said Heraud. “The eight brands will display their best-selling item at retail for the current selling season.”
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The Canadian brands will be Arianne, Christine of Vancouver, Frou Frou, Grenier, Hanna, NK Attitude, Montelle and Patricia Fieldwalker.
“The Canadian market is such an active market for lingerie,” Heraud said. “It’s just great because Canadian brands have a certain quality, definitely the sleepwear.
“We still have a partnership with Invista as a very reliable sponsor of Lingerie Americas since its inception, as well as Network Dessous and The Best of Intima magazine, which will present its Best Shop Awards. The presentation by Intima will feature selections of the best retail displays and merchandising, and the winners will be announced Aug. 31 at the next Lingerie Americas show.”
Other special events will include two seminars: a workshop entitled “How to Grow Your Online Business,” to be presented Feb. 26 at 3:30 p.m. by Dan Sakrowitz, vice president of marketing and business development for specialty retailer Bare Necessities, and a fall-winter trend presentation by Carlin International on Feb. 27 at 3:30 p.m. The Intima event will be an ongoing audio-video presentation.
Regarding the show dates, which traditionally coincide with a March innerwear market, Heraud noted a schedule change was implemented because of consolidation at retail and changing buying patterns.
“The change was made because of Federated and the big department stores who buy in bulk,” he said. “They thought the March market was too late in the season for them. There was a lot of talk at the Intimate Apparel Council. Some executives wanted to keep the traditional March market and others wanted to move it ahead and please the retailers. So they compromised.”
The IAC, which sets the innerwear market’s annual market dates, decided to discontinue the January and March markets in 2007 and focus on four markets: February, May, August and November. The move apparently was jump-started by the IAC and Lingerie Americas in 2006, even though retailers attended this year’s January venue.
“The consequence of this change was to call the Altman Building and Metropolitan Pavilion management and book new dates,” Heraud said. “We tried to book our usual dates on a Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but it turned out we could only book Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It was a big concern for everybody regarding specialty store turnout on a Saturday.
“Specialty stores represent 70 percent of our visitors. As a result, we doubled our advertising and telemarketing budget for the U.S. to make sure everybody would be there. It’s similar to the Paris show’s change, which was one week ahead. But we are not affected by the Paris show and the Interfiliére. We are a finished products show.”