With complimentary washes, haircuts, blowouts and manicures available at the über-cool Fred Segal Beauty Salon; drinkables and edibles lavishly stocked at Nylon magazine’s two leisure centers equipped with at least 10 Zunes, Microsoft’s new MP3 player featuring Wi-Fi file sharing, and Andy Warhol for Levi’s screen-printed T-shirts at the Swindle lounge, the vibe at Project Las Vegas is part business-minded trade show, part swag-enhanced party milieu.
To be sure, directional fashions take center stage at Project, but it’s the branding partnerships that keep the trade show cutting-edge.
That quest has never been more important for the show’s founder and president, Sam Ben-Avraham, who will helm the biggest event yet when Project opens Feb. 14 for its three-day run at the Sands Expo. What began four years ago as a cozy, 30,000-square-foot men’s show in New York has turned leviathan, with 500,000 square feet sprawling over three halls and showcasing some 1,200 brands of men’s, women’s and kids’ apparel and accessories. The show has more than doubled its vendor output from last August.
“I never imagined that it would get this big, but it’s been a process — we didn’t grow from 30,000 to 500,000 square feet overnight,” Ben-Avraham said. “It’s been a great ride for the industry. As we’ve grown, they’ve grown.”
How much bigger will it get? Ben-Avraham says this is “the final size,” but executives from Advanstar Inc., owner of Project and MAGIC International, haven’t capped its potential yet.
“In the trade show business, expansion is always a possibility,” said Laura McConnell, Advanstar’s executive vice president of fashion. “Project will remain smart about growth, always considering how it will affect the show….There is no target number. The most important thing is to get the right brands on the floor.”
Those brands extend beyond apparel vendors to targeted business alliances. By partnering with edgy names such as Fred Segal Beauty, Nylon and Swindle, Project has found another way to generate incremental revenue while sustaining the cool factor. Project and the Pool trade show, which were bought by Advanstar in 2005 and stage shows in Las Vegas and New York, contributed $12.6 million in revenue and 260,000 square feet in the first and third quarters of 2006, according to documents Advanstar filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Sponsors like Nylon “jumped at the opportunity” to work with Project, said Denise Kozlowski, Nylon events and public relations manager. “It has a deep impact, attracting all people — not just buyers, but celebrities and taste makers — so it’s important for us to be there.”
Along with rapper Eve, actor Dean Winters and other Hollywood types, Project pulls in retailers with cachet, many of whom aren’t balking at the show’s increased girth. This year’s roster looks like a Who’s Who of fashion’s premiere peddlers, including Fred Segal Fun in Santa Monica, Traffic in Los Angeles, Saks Fifth Avenue and New York-based Patricia Field. In all, 28,000 visitors are expected to attend Project, about 27 percent more than in August.
“I don’t mind that it’s bigger, because now I don’t feel like I have to go to [Fashion] Coterie in New York, because they all come here,” said Tracey Ross, who owns a celebrity-favorite boutique in West Hollywood, carrying Chloé, Stella McCartney and Derek Lam and has attended Project since it began.
To make the expansion work, Project will allocate two connected halls, A and B, to about 900 lines, which will cover the men’s contemporary, street and lifestyle worlds with brands such as Salvage, BC Ethic, JNCO and first-timer Elie Tahari, as well as the premium denim lines for men’s, women’s and kids’, including labels such as Chip and Pepper, GoldSign and Antik.
Project’s foray into the kids’ category began last season with 19 vendors taking 15 booths. Ben-Avraham forecasts modest growth in the sector since many kids’ lines exhibit with their adult counterparts. He expects about 60 brands, among them Lego, Paul Frank and Bejeweled Kids, to occupy 30 separate booths and the balance to be in adult booths.
“It’s a cute business, but it’s not having much impact,” he said. “Most of the lines say it’s a side business. They don’t want to spend the money for another booth, so they’re showcasing everything from one.”
Last season, Project broadened its niche of denim and T-shirts to include about 200 women’s contemporary collections in step with fashion’s dressier trend. The experiment had its ups and downs because of their placement on the trade show floor among the multitude of denim brands, a setting that may have overshadowed them. For this installment, Project is dedicating Hall C to the women’s section, expected to grow to 250 lines and include Corey Lynn Calter, Ella Moss, Mon Petit Oiseau and Autumn Cashmere. Project’s embrace of nondenim fare has attracted bicoastal lines new to the Las Vegas show circuit, including Charlotte Ronson, Trina Turk and Joie.
“Now that Project’s opened up to more than denim, we feel like this is a great opportunity for us,” said Aaron Nir, chief executive officer of New York-based Charlotte Ronson, a two-year-old contemporary sportswear collection wholesale priced from $50 for tops to $120 for jackets. “We usually just do Fashion Coterie and D&A in New York and the Los Angeles market, but we know there are stores we’re not reaching and our hope is we’ll connect with them at Project.”
In 11 years of business, Los Angeles-based Trina Turk has shown in Las Vegas only once, in her first year, to lackluster
results. But times have changed, said the designer, whose Palm Springs-in-the-Sixties wares sell at stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Erica Dee in Corona del Mar, Calif., as well as in company boutiques in Los Angeles, Palm Springs and New York.
“I’m blown away at how many people are attending the show in Las Vegas, and I doubt all those people have heard of Trina Turk,” she said, noting she wasn’t aware of the show’s shift in fashion direction. “I didn’t even realize they were opening it up to more feminine collections. I just heard there are a lot of international buyers there and our goal is to reach new customers in Asia, Europe and abroad.”
Not all designer lines, though, are ready for a Vegas debut. Although Joie, which is represented by showroom 10 Eleven at the New Mart in downtown L.A., will make its first appearance at Project, many of its showroom contemporaries won’t be there.
“It’s not the environment for all the collections I represent,” said Betsee Isenberg, owner of showroom 10 Eleven. “I think of it as a casual denim and T-shirt show, not a high-end show. So, it’s not where I want to launch major collections like Diane von Furstenberg and Catherine Malandrino. I’ll launch those in New York.”
What’s for certain is that the show’s upbeat environment is ripe and ready for synergies in music and art. Swindle’s lounge will not only have T-shirts screen-printed with Andy Warhol prints (free with a donation to Gems, a nonprofit based in New York’s Harlem that provides young women who are victims of sexual abuse with educational and mentoring services), it also will offer complimentary classic cinema-style head shots.
Nylon magazine is creating two lounges: The Nylon TV lounge, located on the men’s side, will film and interview trendsetting attendees and will air the footage on nylonmag.com, myspace.com/nylonmagazine and youtube.com; the second lounge will be open on the women’s side, representing a showcase of fashion trends, from hoodies and accessories to shoes. Both areas will have their share of snacks and Zunes, Kozlowski said.
New to the show will be the Nylon/Project Daily Newsletter, which will be distributed to 25,000 visitors daily in traditional newsboy fashion. The four-page, 11-by-17-inch publication, produced in matte color, will recap the day’s events and dish on gossip, celebrity sightings and parties. To get the scoop for the Wednesday edition, Nylon editors have been e-mailing questionnaires to companies attending Project.
Project has also raised the bar on its sponsorships by enlisting Fred Segal Beauty, which will set up a 2,000-square-foot salon on the men’s and denim side of the show. About four hairstylists, two makeup artists and a manicurist will primp, coif and help buyers unwind. For those looking to stock up on their favorite lotions and potions, Fred Segal Beauty will also run a mini retail store selling such brands as Kiehl’s, Nars and Kerastase. And, if buyers can’t squeeze in a salon visit at this show, they’ll have another chance in the future. The partnership covers six Las Vegas shows for three years, a strategic move to acquaint the market with the brand in time for Fred Segal’s opening at the W Las Vegas Hotel, Casino and Residences in 2009.
Clearly, keeping a fresh image entails looking good. Project will get its own makeover, creating a swanky Old Hollywood atmosphere for the ladies with retro Rat Pack influences for the guys. On the women’s side, expect to see spiffy chandeliers and leopard-print sofas. Cozy bear rugs serve as chairs with heads on which attendees can sit. The men’s areas get an old-school redesign in game rooms replete with a bar and pool tables, and deer heads mounted on the wall.
While most vendors and retailers appreciate all the hullabaloo — including the highly anticipated Project party to be held at 8 p.m. on Valentine’s Day at the Tao nightclub at the Venetian, complete with dinner and a dress code requiring one’s best “black-tie interpretation” — some hope the show’s size and scope won’t diminish its integrity.
“It’s important that it maintains that boutique-quality feel,” said Randi Spieker, vice president of marketing and licensing for Jem Sportswear, a San Fernando, Calif., maker of licensed products that will exhibit its upmarket lines, including Well Worn and jemLAB, for the fourth time at Project. “Only time will tell.”