ENK NYC has the oldest roots of all the men’s trade shows in New York, and it continues to tweak its formula each year.
This season, the upcoming show is experimenting with a small new area inspired by the “S” section of ENK International’s WSA shoe show in Las Vegas. The area will host a group of trendy footwear brands, including G-Star, Ben Sherman, Levi’s, True Religion, Royal Elastics and Oliberte. “We’re not ready yet to call it an official section, but we’ll see how it works,” said Elyse Kroll, founder and chairman of ENK International. “The ‘S’ stands for sneakers, shoes or street. They all sort of work.”
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ENK NYC has sold 225 booths, the same number as last season, said Mike Sampson, director of the ENK shows in New York and Las Vegas.
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Apart from “S,” the layout is similar to last year. Designers’ Collective showcases classic men’s wear, classifications and accessories; Blue focuses on denim, contemporary and advanced sportswear; Tomorrow emphasizes progressive and emerging labels, and Clean provides a platform for grooming brands.
For the first time, the show has an official timekeeper in Tsovet, which has posted a working watch face on the ENK Web site. The company will also raffle off a Tsovet timepiece each day of the show to a retailer.
The Blue Agency showroom is sponsoring a new VIP café with two of its brands, Benson and Parajumpers. Dubbed the Blue Agency Bistro, the canteen will provide complementary lunch to key retailers and media.
The business climate has improved somewhat from last year, said Kroll, due to decent holiday sales, but retailers and vendors remain wary about the economic outlook. “I think everyone is apprehensive. People are positive but not 100 percent sure how business is going to move forward. But I think they were more nervous before Christmas than they were after,” she explained.
However, Kroll emphasized that it behooves retailers to buy optimistically and to offer new and interesting product to shoppers. “We’re in the fashion business. If retailers don’t buy, then they aren’t in the fashion business anymore. Product has to move and to change in order to have a relevant store. That’s the good part of the fashion business — it’s always changing.”
Kroll expressed unhappiness with the split in the men’s market this season, due to Project and Capsule staging their shows a week prior to ENK NYC, MRket and Agenda.
Project is scheduled from Jan. 16 to 18 and Capsule from Jan. 16 to 17. ENK NYC and MRket are both slated for Jan. 22 to 24 and Agenda from Jan. 23 to 24.
“Will we have as good as attendance as we usually do? I can’t imagine anyone will, as the market is split. But I’m confident the important retailers will be at our show,” said Kroll. “We posted our dates first and very early. My concern is for retailers, and to make it convenient for them and to understand their travel schedules to all the shows on the calendar.”
Minya Quirk, a co-founder of Capsule, said that show was scheduled in the third week of January to follow Pitti Uomo and precede the Paris trade shows. “We have always scheduled Capsule that way,” she noted.
Kroll and Sampson pointed out at least one silver lining to the extended New York market: Retailers will be able to spend more time at each of the shows, as schedules won’t be as jam-packed.
For the next round of shows this summer, ENK NYC has finalized July 22 to 24 as its dates. Project and Capsule have not finalized their dates yet, according to spokespeople from each organization.