Even in a temperamental economy, Project Global Tradeshows gives no signs of scaling back, particularly its Las Vegas venture.
Producing its fourth event under the ownership of Advanstar Communications, Project plans to devote 60 percent more vendor space to the show floor at the Sands Expo Convention Center for the Aug. 28-30 edition. To help fill out its venue, Project is launching a kids’ category and relying on vendors’ own booth expansions.
Lest industry observers worry that Project’s growth is compromising its cachet, show organizers aren’t skimping when it comes to atmosphere in the form of art exhibits, marketing sponsors and parties galore to cater to its booming roster of buyers, which is expected to reach 18,000, a 25 percent jump from February’s event. About 25 percent of the attendees will hail from abroad, including from Europe and Japan. That global interest and hunger for American contemporary fashions is just one more reason justifying the show’s expansion, according to Project’s president and founder, Sam Ben-Avraham.
“This [contemporary category] is the best-selling segment in retail today, which naturally makes for greater interest, new companies, new brands, new products and a lot more buyers that want product for their stores,” he said.
The show will cover about 290,000 square feet, up from 180,000 square feet at the previous event. About 600 vendors will occupy the floor, representing a 25 percent increase from February. They will showcase men’s and women’s clothing, accessories and footwear brands such as Converse and Frye. Women’s products will account for 35 percent of the merchandise, Ben-Avraham said. New to the mix is the debut of kids’ clothing from about 19 contemporary brands, including Chip & Pepper Kids, C&C California, Diesel Kids, Seven For All Mankind Kids and Obey.
“[Kids] is a natural progression” for the show, said Ben-Avraham, who is also the owner of three Atrium boutiques in New York and New Jersey. “Customers who crave the product expect the same options for the kids in their lives. And, it’s happening at retail as we speak. Stores like Kitson, Scoop and Atrium are opening freestanding shops specific to kids.”
Known for its jeans-and-T-shirt vibe, Project is remaining true to the blues club, housing a whopping 80 women’s denim brands, including Earnest Sewn, Frankie B, Habitual and Antik Denim.
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“Right now, denim continues to dominate the market, and we’re focusing on the best of the best,” said Ben-Avraham. “My philosophy is the same for my retail stores. If there’s an amazing new company, we will buy it for the store and that applies to Project.”
One of those newcomers to the women’s market at Project is Agave Nectar, the Los Angeles collection of denim and knits that is the sister line to the three-year-old Agave Denimsmith men’s line. After testing it for three deliveries at stores such as Indigo in the Brentwood community of Los Angeles and Sunset Canyon in Tucson, Ariz., owner and designer Jeff Shafer said he’s ready for a national launch of the Japanese denim-based line, which wholesales from $35 to $95 and features indigo versions of men’s wear patterns, such as pinstriped and tuxedo-striped looks, and garment-dyed knits for the fall-holiday season.
“Project attracts all the denim buyers, so it’s a must show for us,” said Shafer, who plans an official launch with spring fashions at New York’s Fashion Coterie in September.
Denim players are stepping up to the fashion plate in bigger ways to continue wooing customers in search of dressier, more feminine alternatives. Take Rock & Republic, a Culver City, Calif., dual-gender denim brand known for its rocker-chic aesthetic and supersize fashion shows: The brand has doubled its booth space at Project to better represent its burgeoning collection of lifestyle items, including shoes, handbags and the season-old “premium luxe” Tailor Made line, featuring twills, Egyptian cotton and Italian gabardine, but not a stitch of denim.
“Our denim is up tremendously — the first quarter was up 300 percent — so the softening in denim nationally only helps established companies like ours as stores put their money into product that delivers and sells,” said Andrea Bernholtz, president of Rock & Republic, which has shown at Project since its inception in 2003.
Denim may be Project’s bread and butter, but the show also offers a strong portion of more ladylike collection fare and looks that don’t quite fit at any other trade show. Sky, based in Los Angeles — its white halter and tube dresses with skulls and snake prints adorned Project staffers at the last show — will offer full-length silk dresses with encrusted jewelry. Rokara, a new contemporary line from the makers of Lip Service and Kill City, will tout its loud, rock ‘n’ roll fashions like allover printed cashmere sweaters and biker jackets.
Popular junior line BB Dakota plans to reach a contemporary audience at Project with its new label, Brand X by BB Dakota, priced from $20 to $70 wholesale. The item-driven line, ranging from T-shirts with eco-friendly messages to woven tops, bottoms, dresses and jackets in unbleached, natural cottons and linens, hopes to strike a chord with Project’s savvy audience.
“We think our line and its environmental integrity will connect with the sophisticated buyers at Project,” said Gloria Brandes, president of BB Dakota.
Attracting more qualified international vendors remains a work in progress for Project, said Ben-Avraham. His criterion is that those foreign brands eager to exhibit at Project must distribute their wares through an agent.
“If you don’t have an agent, it’s a waste of time for everybody because you don’t know who to sell to and you don’t know the rules,” he said. “As much as I want to sell the space, I don’t want people to come and not do business, so we’re in the process of helping people connect with agents.”
Jordi Labanda, based in Barcelona, will make its U.S. debut at Project through its distributor, IMEX Trading. Labanda, an illustrator who has collaborated with Wallpaper and Target, incorporates his graphic prints into Empire-waist dresses in tulle and silk, pants and pantsuits, swimwear and handbags. The line wholesales from $25 for a coin purse to $250 for a coat.
“Project is about directional brands, which is where we want to be,” said Tina Stamou, co-owner of IMEX.
De rigueur for Project is the element of surprise achieved through its hipness quotient. Along with its signature red carpet and hiply attired staff and hostesses (wearing clothing provided by Le Tigre, Antik Denim and John Varvatos for Converse), Project plans to encourage a little buyer R&R through its theme lounges. Attendees can pick up fuzzy dice at the Supima-sponsored lounge, chill on beanbags and devour sweets from the mega candy bar in the kids’ corner, and watch wall-projected Elvis Presley movies and sip smoothies at the central tiki lounge.
Blurring the lines of fashion, art and entertainment, Project will inject a sense of culture into the show by partnering with two magazines for art installations. “Eras+Omissions: 1976-2006” is a docu-style photo exhibit in collaboration with URB magazine. It features works by photographers Ricky Powell, Jenny Lens and Mark the Cobra Snake, covering the indie music and party scenes of the hip-hop, punk-new wave and neo-new wave movements. More art awaits at the SWINDLE showcase, a lounge outfitted with art from SWINDLE magazine and an interactive area where graphic artist R. Grimes will screen-print clothing for Project attendees while photographer Malia James shoots their portraits.
The festive theme continues into the wee hours of the evening with a lineup of three parties. On the show’s opening night, Project will partner with label People’s Liberation for a shindig sure to rock the house under the DJ direction of Tommy Lee from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. at the Hard Rock Beach Club. From there, the Project After-Party migrates to the Tao nightclub at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. The schmoozing continues at a cocktail party on Tuesday, Aug. 29, at the Center Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
While most buyers appreciate the extra touches, not all plan to participate full throttle. Marty Bebout, co-owner of the six Blue Bee stores in Santa Barbara, Calif., said he and his partner, John Doucette, will skip much of the show’s nocturnal highlights.
“It’s all about early evenings, reviewing our notes, working out and hitting the shows early,” Bebout said.