CHICAGO — The first February edition of StyleMax at the Merchandise Mart here proved fruitful for Midwestern retailers who scooped up spring and fall fashions.
The four-day show, which ended Feb. 7, replaced a traditional late-January showroom-based market at Chicago’s Apparel Center and attracted a larger crowd.
“Two hours into the show, we registered more people than we did for the entire five-day show one year ago,” said Susan McCullough, vice president of apparel for Merchandise Mart Properties.
Market organizers, who would not release exact attendance figures, timed the February StyleMax on the Mart’s seventh floor to coincide with the Chicago Men’s Wear Collective running Feb. 5-7 on the Mart’s eighth floor.
“I think it’ll take time to catch on,” McCullough said. “I’ve seen some of the same badges [people] on each floor. There’s no downside to doing this.”
The show’s timing appealed to Lynn Fischer-Mallach, vice president of Fischers, a men’s and women’s specialty store in Watertown, Wis., located between Milwaukee and Madison. A first-time StyleMax attendee, she scouted the women’s merchandise while her husband shopped the men’s show.
“It was nice for us,” she said. “I appreciated the fact I didn’t have to drive by myself.”
Fischer-Mallach ordered cotton T-shirts with simple embellishments such as wood buttons or contrast stitching from Grassroots in yellows, blues, corals, black and white, as well as fall fashions from Eileen Fisher, including boiled wool jackets, heavyweight rayon pants and quilted down vests.
Fischer-Mallach, who plans to return to StyleMax in April, also picked up summer-to-fall transitional separates in turquoise and green from ISDA & CO.
The new StyleMax also proved beneficial for vendors and their sales representatives.
Mike Lobnitz, of M 13 by Mike Lobnitz & David Byrne showroom, said he picked up 20 new accounts for Pure Color, which was recently touted as one of Oprah Winfrey’s “Favorite Things.”
“I’ve had the line from the beginning,” Lobnitz said of the seven-month-old label known for its flattering-fit pants and Western back-flap pockets.
“Once it was on Oprah, everyone upped their quantity,” said Lobnitz, who showed denim and colorful twill and cropped pants at the market. “With the hype, people just want the line in general.”
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Susan Westgate, who owns Panache, a specialty store in Grand Haven, Mich., placed a first-time order with Pure Color for jeans, khaki pants and Bermuda shorts in white and kiwi.
Westgate, who plans to launch a boutique bearing a new name along Chicago’s Southport Avenue this summer, continued to buy from tried-and-true lines, going with knee-length skirts in blue, black halter dresses and colorful ribbed tanks with coordinating flip-flops from Three Dots. She also dabbled into some new labels, choosing mesh and wrap tops, as well as three different styles of tunics, from Susana Monaco.
Although the styles seemed less than groundbreaking, buyers ordered tunics, crocheted sweaters and longer T-shirts, claiming they are easy to wear and may appeal to more customers than some of the shorter, tighter tops of recent seasons.
“I can’t tell you there are any new trends for summer,” said McCullough, noting a strong presence of embellished skirts, feminine dresses, neutral colors and ladylike tops. “It’s kind of a continuum of spring, and that femininity will go into fall.”