Fashion

Wow! It was a hot one in Las Vegas last week for the August round of fashion trade shows. The good news from the plethora of shows was the almost unanimous feedback from exhibitors that the numbers this year was at least as good as last year with some reporting better sales.

Phew! It would have been a disaster for all concerned if the arrows started pointing down again – which they could have quite easily done given the doom and gloom prophesies of a double-dip recession that are doing the rounds, and the current stock market swings.

The August round of Vegas shows showcase Spring/Summer of the following year. Let’s hope the buyer optimism reflects the long awaited turnaround in the industry through the first two quarters of 2012. One sales representative told me she thinks that people have decided they are sick of the hard times, and have started buying again. This is the best business news I have heard for a long time because recessions usually end when the people decide they have.

I started the week at the MAGIC shows at the Mandalay Bay. I was most interested in Workroom, Project, and PoolTradeShow.

Workroom

Workroom is the fashion forward section of the entire MAGIC Marketplace. The clothing, accessories and shoe brands are carefully selected, juried, and well worth a close look.

The space has the look and feel of a working collective. At some booths, designers work at sewing machines in front of their collections, ready to engage as required. The almost 100 brands that were represented impressed with their handmade quality and diversity of textures with design ranging from thoughtful to inspired.

Visually, I wasn’t as blown away by Workroom this time as I was in February. In fairness, the February show is showcasing Fall/Winter, which gives the designers more scope for fabric choices, layering and therefore design opportunities.

There was plenty of color, though more muted than the most of the other ready-to-wear that I saw for the rest of the week. As well as the red, pink, and yellow that were everywhere, the Workroom designers had plenty of black, dark grey, and Hunter green on offer.

The 80’s western look was well represented as it was elsewhere.

The Jonathon Simkhai collection particularly impressed me. Several pieces accented with bright color panels and trims are inspired by sports uniforms – they would look fantastic on any dance floor. A flecked section of the collection is inspired by school composition book covers. His use of distressed edging is finished perfectly.

It was fantastic to see Australian collections in Workroom. The Sydny Showroom specializes in Australian collections. They were showing bless’ed are the meek (“doing well” according to Elizabeth Lewis, one of the principals of Sydny) and Flannel – two collections that I saw at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in Sydney in May. Elizabeth also works with Ladakh, an Australian collection that seemed to be doing very good business in Project.

Another Aussie collection on show was ksubi.

I have to mention one piece that caught my attention every time I passed the booth. It was a khaki and olive two-tone safari jacket by Publish. I have never worn a safari jacket but I might just wear that one.

Project

Project seemed huge this time. There was plenty of foot traffic from the first morning. Project is where you’ll find the most influential and commercially successful  contemporary brands in the marketplace.

The feedback from the show varied between “about the same as last year” to “it was awesome”.

I saw a lot of color that was paradoxically either almost neon or muted and tonal – red, pink, fuchsia, yellow were the most dominant. As usual, there were lots of prints.  Printed pants and skirts were prominent.

Pants are big for Spring/Summer. The maxi-skirt is still popular.

Styles had cleaner lines than in the past – the bodies are more fitted and constructed than the flowing, draping look of past seasons.

Tanks of all types were huge. I saw a lot of straw, wide-brimmed hats, which have carried over from last year.

Shoes are also very important. “It’s all about the shoes”, is how one friend in the business put it. Shoes are structural and architectural; the bigger, the better. Get your platforms out!

PoolTradeShow

I called it!

In my blog, The Madness that is the MAGIC Fashion Trade Shows – Day 2 & Show Review, from February, I said that I would prefer to see the Project, Workroom and Pool connected to make sure the young Pool designers are not missed. That is how it was configured this time, and it made all the difference. It was easy for the contemporary buyers to just keep on walking through, rather than skipping it if they were crunched for time. (They had Pool stuck away in it’s own function room last time – the foot traffic stunk! A friend of mine who did it was very disappointed.)

Pool was fun as usual. Lots of emerging contemporary designers showing the full range of clothing, shoes, bags, hats, jewelry, accessories of all kinds. There is also a cash and carry section.

The whole section is bright and colorful. They have drink, food and candy giveaways each day. Over caffeinated (or something) hipsters goofing off in the aisles helped give it a carnival feel at times.

Now that Pool is connected to the main Project floor, I would definitely consider putting out the cash to exhibit here.

Day 1 lasted well into the night at the PoolTradeShow Opening Party at The House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay. DJ Harvey had us grooving into the wee small hours.

Keep an eye out for my Day 2 wrap …

Paul Brindley

www.paulbrindleyconsults.com

I’m just back from my second visit to my hometown of Fremantle in Western Australia in the past year. I still have trouble believing just how much the cost of living in the Perth metropolitan area has skyrocketed since I left there in early 1995. I realize that more than 16 years is plenty of time for things to change. However, the ensuing boom in the mining and resources sectors has pumped the state so full of jobs and cash that prices for everything (except wine, thankfully) are such that I’m not sure how people make ends meet but they seem to be happily throwing down. It has the feeling of a boomtown.

So when I heard about how retail was struggling when I was there for last Christmas, it just didn’t square. Having lived through the US downturn over the past 3 years, it looked fine to me. I was back in Sydney for the Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in May. Again, I heard the grumblings about what a mess that retail was in. I spent plenty of time roaming the streets of downtown Sydney and scouting stores in trendy inner-city suburbs like Surry Hills and Paddington; I didn’t see the signs of distress that usually comes with retail slumps – few empty storefronts and the whole place wasn’t on sale.

This most recent trip opened my eyes. Where disposable income in the States has dwindled because nobody has any money, it looks like disposable income in Australia is dwindling because there is too much cash flying around. Too much cash in an economy equals higher interest rates and higher prices. People are pocketing their money. This is always bad news for retail in general, and disastrous for fashion retail in particular. As I detailed in my blog, Where to from here?, disposable income is the lifeblood of the fashion retail world.

Serendipitously, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) article, Premier retail empire finds spending is out of fashion, appeared online just as I was starting this blog. It neatly outlines the troubles Down Under. It made me think of some interesting insights that I picked up from fashion retailers and savvy shoppers whom I spoke to over the past month.

In Where to from here?, I talked about the Santee Alley effect. This refers to fashion buyers going off the beaten track in Los Angeles to cut-price suppliers in search for better margins. Apparently, Hong Kong is the place to go for Australian contemporary buyers. It doesn’t sound like a pleasant experience to visit those dodgy back alleys; the description of the amenities used by the buyers was particularly memorable. But the results are the same – size runs of contemporary styles to be sold at fat margins.

Technology now allows buyers to see samples being shown or modeled live from anywhere around the world via Skype. Orders and reorders can be emailed or completely automated using websites like www.notjustalookbook.com. Buyers are no longer restricted by when and where they can meet sales agents. You can get your price point wherever you can find it.

Store cash flows have taken a huge hit over the past few years. Instead of money in the bank and all bills paid, the comments I heard about the amount of unpaid-for stock that was on the store floors and already on sale were scary. As one boutique owner put it, “The Good Old Days are definitely over.”

Those Good Old Days also didn’t have to compete with so much online spending. The SMH article goes into the exponential growth of Internet shopping. A very good male friend of mine who has always been a natural clotheshorse revels in buying leather jackets, cowboy shirts and Levi’s from the US and Canada with his strong Aussie dollar at a fraction of Australian retail prices. And he’s 52 – hardly the usual demographic.

The increasing dominance of online shopping has led traditional retailers to adopt new tactics to keep up. In Australia, they have started charging try-on and fitting room fees. Another SMH article, High street hits back, goes into the phenomenon. It costs you $50 to try on that pair of Nikes or that pair of designer jeans that you know you can get for half the price online.

I suspect the difficulties in the fashion wholesale and retail sectors in Australia and the US are rooted in the same causes. Apart from the economic problems, I think the way that business is done in the fashion world is changing. The industry has done business the same way for a very long time. It was slow to pick up the technological advances of the digital revolution, and slow to appreciate and react to the effect of the new technologies on how fashion can be sold other than to a customer in a store or to a buyer from an agent.

My question, Where to from here?, still needs an answer.

It’s now been a month since my very hectic and productive week at the Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW) in Sydney. With so much press coverage of the show, I thought I’d let some time pass before reviewing the week to miss the initial media flurry, and allow the experience to percolate.

With designers and agents in town for LA Fashion Market Week this week, it’s a perfect time to talk about fashion shows. This LA Market Week is showing the Fall 2/Holiday collections. The US designers will be debuting their Spring 2012 collections at MAGIC in August. RAFW showcased the Australia Spring/Summer 2011/12 collections. It will be interesting to see how the US designers interpret the Spring/Summer trends compared to Australia counterparts.

This was my first RAFW so I obviously have nothing to compare the week to. Though some of the reviews have been critical, such as the scathing article “The weak that was” by Damien Woolnough, the Fashion Editor of the Australian newspaper on May 10 and his reluctant review of the week “The Top Five”, I found the show a real eye opener.

I hadn’t work in fashion before I left Australia over 16 years ago. All my knowledge and experience has been in the United States. So the size of the show was immediately noticeable – it was tiny compared to The Coterie show in New York or the massive MAGIC shows in Las Vegas. I know what you’re thinking; but it took a little time to sink in that there weren’t buildings and buildings of other collections to view. I enjoyed the intimacy of the event.

The setting of the show would have to rank as one of the most spectacular in the world – the Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT) – at Sydney’s fabulous Circular Quay. If you have never been to Circular Quay, it is one of the most spectacular big city vistas in the world. With the Sydney CBD buildings at your back, the Sydney Harbor Bridge on your left, the Sydney Opera House on your right, and the unparalleled Sydney Harbor lapping at the quay, you are in the heart of the historic Sydney Cove which many people the world over think is the best city in the world. The OPT is a short walk up the quay towards the Bridge.

You can see the lights of the OPT on the left in this photo from Circular Quay:

The OPT hosted the main runway on the 2^nd floor (the adjacent Cargo Theatre also held runway shows), the media center, designer’s booths branded as The Gallery, and the Rosemount VIP Wine Bar on the 2^rd floor of the OPT directly across the cove from the Opera House which was the hub of networking, people-watching, and imbibing of Rosemount’s finest.

About a 15 minute walk up Pitt St. into the heart of the CBD is the Westin Sydney Hotel which hosted the Presentation Suites – 25 designers in their own rooms doing appointments with buyers, sales agents, PR firms, and me. There were also “off-site” runway shows that opened each day’s festivities dotted around Sydney. My off-site highlight was the Toni Maticevski show at the cool Carriageworks space in Eveleigh.

In total there were 57 runway shows over 5 days that showcased 85 designers.

Although not everyone agrees on the best of the best, here are the consensus picks:

Lisa Ho – www.lisaho.com

Toni Maticevski – www.tonimaticevski.com

Lover – www.loverthelabel.com

Therese Rawsthorne – www.thereserawsthorne.com

Dion Lee – www.dionlee.com

Rachel Gilbert – www.rachelgilbert.com

I liked some of the young inspired designers:

Subfusco – www.subfusco.com

None the Richer – www.nonthericher.com.au

All of the Nicholas Huxley-mentored TAFE NSW Fashion Design Studio collections were fantastic. But particularly the amazingly creative Charlotte O’Carrigan – www.charlotteocarrigan.com.au – pictured here celebrating her show at RAFW.

The incredibly talented and charming Teena Zerefos’ collection, Del Playa Drive – www.delplayadrive.com.au

Despite some of the naysayers taking pot shots from the gallery, it is obvious that the talent, inspiration and vibrancy of Australian fashion are alive and well. If designers are playing it safe right now, it is more about being commercially sensitive during economic uncertainty rather than a lack of imagination or skill.

RAFW was an amazing experience. I saw some incredible design work, met some fascinating people, and spent time in a great city. I am already looking forward to next year.

For those of you who want more on this year’s RAFW, try the RAFW website and some of the fashion editors that I met during the week:

• Check out the RAFW website for video of all the shows: http://rafw.com.au/australia
• A full listing of participating designers is available at: http://rafw.com.au/australia/shows/individual-collection-shows
• Fashion editor, Carolyn Enting’s review of the show in the Dominion Post in New Zealand.
• The RAFW diary of Rani Sheen, Lifestyle editor, in Toronto-based Fashion Magazine.
• On The Streets Of Sydney daily reviews.

Paul Brindley

paul brindley consults

Related Blogs

PAUL BRINDLEY CONSULTS LIVE FROM ROSEMOUNT AUSTRALIAN FASHION WEEK – MAY 2ND – 6TH, 2011

ROSEMOUNT AUSTRALIAN FASHION WEEK SPRING SUMMER 2011/12 – DAY 1

Name: Go Try It On

Quick Pitch: Crowdsourced advice on your look, before you go out.

Genius Idea: Go Try It On is a website and iPhone app [iTunes link] that enables users to get real-time feedback on their outfits before they make a purchase or leave their bedrooms.

The site, which launched in March 2010, attracts 80,000 unique visitors per month, 30% of which are from outside the U.S. More than 250,000 have downloaded the iPhone app, about half of which are active users, founder and CEO Marissa Evans claims.

Both the website and app have a sleek, easy-to-use interface. Users can upload photos from their desktops or iPhones, or snap one on the spot with a webcam, and ask the community (or, if they prefer, a private set of friends) to approve a particular look or help them choose the best of three options.

The site’s most active users tend to be young women in their teens and early twenties; 20% of registered users are men, Evans, a graduate of Harvard Business School, says.

If Go Try It On sounds a lot like another startup we’ve covered, you’re not alone. When asked how the startup differed from Fashism, Evans said that Go Try It On was making a greater investment in data and analytics.

Soon, Go Try It On will begin displaying that data in a way that is useful to members. The site will notify a user if she tends to get good feedback when she wears white skinny jeans, for instance, and send her product suggestions to further expand that look — a service that might prove useful both to the user and the startup, should it generate affiliate revenues from the suggestions it serves.

Evans also believes that users are “about 10 times more engaged.” While I wouldn’t place any bets on that number, I will say that the community is certainly very active. Within an hour of uploading a photo on a Friday afternoon, I received 23 votes and 2 comments on my look. The feedback wasn’t particularly insightful, but it did up my confidence about a recent dress purchase.

Go Try It On currently has a full-time staff of five, including the three founders. The startup raised a seed round of funding last fall from Index Ventures.

You couldn’t ask for a more beautiful setting for a fashion show than right on Circular Quay next to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and across from the Sydney Opera House. That’s where we were yesterday for the opening of 2011 Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW) at the Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT) at Sydney Cove.

Looking up at the old red brick and limestone buildings across the street from the OPT, it was easy to look back and imagine how it was 200 years ago.  However, today was all about looking forward as the latest Australian fashions for Spring Summer 2011/12 were debuted to enthusiastic audiences that had come from all over the world.

Bec & Bridge opened the week at the OPT with a beautiful, creative, very wearable collection that included floral prints,  burnt oranges, leather/suede mixes, silks, and very sexy black mesh cut-out dresses and skirt. Short shorts are definitely in for Spring Summer – www.becandbridge.com.au

Other favorites of the day were:

Arnsdorf

Morrison

Flowers For A Vagabond

Subfusco

Uscari

The fashion forward Ready to Wear 1 show was incredible. New designers with vision and courage giving the audience thrills with audacious designs and use of fabric and color. Check them out at: rafw.com.au/australia/shows/group-collections-show

Off to start Day 2 … can’t wait!

I’m off to exciting Sydney Town tonight for the Spring/Summer 2010-11 Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW), happening May 2nd – 6th.

RAFW is Australia’s premier fashion industry event that provides a platform for designers to showcase their collections to the world’s most influential media and buyers. RAFW claims the mantle of the Asia Pacific’s stop on the international fashion week circuit joining Paris, Milan, New York and London.

This will be my first time attending RAFW. Having done so many fashion market weeks, runway and trade shows in the States, I’m looking forward to seeing how it is done in my home country – especially when considering Australian vitality and enthusiasm.

The RAFW website describes the fashion week as: a five-day official schedule that includes on-site collection shows held within state-of-the-art collection showrooms, off-site collection shows, The Gallery and The Presentation Suites at The Westin Sydney.

“On-site” is the Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT) – at Sydney’s fabulous Circular Quay. If you have never been to Circular Quay, it is one of the most spectacular big city vistas anywhere in the world. With the Sydney Harbor Bridge on your left, the Sydney Opera House on your right, and the unparalleled Sydney Harbor lapping at the quay, you are in the heart of the historic Sydney Cove which many people the world over think is, pound-for-pound, the best city in the world.

The OPT will act as the activity and business hub. I’ll be attending the full daily schedule of runway shows and showcases, both on-site and off-site. I’ll be making contact with designers, manufacturers, sales agents and PR firms. My focus will be on companies that aspire to launch in the very challenging, exciting and lucrative US apparel market.

I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge RAFW for taking action on an important issue facing the fashion industry. I was encouraged to see that on the RAFW website’s Event Information Page it is mostly filled with their HEALTHY WEIGHT AND POSITIVE BODY IMAGE GUIDELINES. I was so impressed by the intention of the guideline that I felt compelled to post it, in full, here:

“RAFW encourages the fashion industry to promote healthy body images through the presentation of and publicity associated with the event. It recognises that the promotion of images of exceedingly thin models on the catwalk may lead to some young Australian women seeing such persons as role models and becoming obsessive about wanting to emulate these images. It is understood that there have been reported links with a variety of eating disorders associated with this scenario around the world.

Designers participating in RAFW are responsible for casting models for their individual shows. RAFW is responsible for casting models for all group shows and any special events also in consultation with designers.

RAFW does not currently see the need to impose strict rules on designers regarding the casting of models at the event in relation to imposing body mass indexes (BMI), or any other forms of body measurement. There has been very little cause for concern regarding this issue in the history of RAFW. Additionally, the vast majority of models appearing at RAFW are Australian who naturally tend towards having higher BMIs given a range of environmental factors. We are also fortunate, given the professional nature of modelling agencies in Australia, who have a strict code of self regulation in respect to the care and governance of the models they represent.

Given the current media speculation on this image issue and by recognising that the promotion of unnaturally or extraordinarily thin models may be harmful to young Australian women, RAFW feels that it is necessary to reinforce to designers, model agencies and industry some sensible self regulating guidelines to avoid any unnecessary situations occurring. These are;

Modelling agencies will be briefed not to send to RAFW designer show castings, for either individual, group or special events, any models who in their professional opinion would be considered to be unnaturally or extraordinarily thin or suspected of having an eating disorder. This statement purely serves to reinforce the current professional practice of Australian modelling agencies.

Designers should be mindful when casting for RAFW shows that there are links between the promotion of unnatural or extraordinarily thin models and eating disorders in young women and to ensure that while healthy, naturally slim models are the industry standard, that extraordinarily thin models are not cast.

To avoid sensationalising body image on the catwalks of RAFW, RAFW encourages all media editors to act responsibly by not publishing unflattering or unfortunate images of models that might be captured despite the best efforts of model agencies, designers and RAFW to present models with positive body images. It is not uncommon for individual pictures to incorrectly portray a model’s body type and publication of these images may contribute negatively to the situation RAFW and the industry are trying to improve.

RAFW only has jurisdiction over group show and special event casting and will not cast unnaturally or extraordinarily thin models for these shows.
RAFW has no jurisdiction over models appearing in individual designer shows and encourages all designers and their agents to adhere to the self regulating guidelines outlined above.”

The US fashion industry and media could take a few pages from RAFW. I feel good about being part of an event that is trying to take a stand on an important issue that has caused so many women to have body image problems, doubt their self-worth, all based on unrealistic and unhealthy comparisons. Well-done RAFW!

The downtown Los Angeles Fashion District was buzzing again recently for the Los Angeles Fashion Market Week. Commonly known as LA Market, it’s held five times a year in January, March, June, August and October. This recent LA Market showcased LA’s first look at designers’ Fall Collections.

LA Market week is when the business of fashion happens in the wholesale showrooms and trade shows of the main wholesale centers: the California Market Center, the New Mart, the Cooper Design Space, and other venues in the downtown LA Fashion District.

Buyers come from all over the country determined to stay within their budget as they buy what’s hot, pass on what’s not, and perhaps gamble on some possibilities. Most buyers who want to stay in business know what works for their customer, and what to gamble on to freshen up their floors. They stock up accordingly. Most are playing it safe – rarely buying out of their comfort zone – due to this never ending recession that has supposedly ended.

The most sought-after contemporary showrooms are found in the New Mart. The New Mart is where women’s contemporary buyers expect to spend most of their time. Each LA Market you’ll find the Designers and Agents Showcase on the usually vacant 3^rd Floor.

Known as the D&A Show, it describes itself as:

“an independent, international trade fair for collections and retailers who define  the cutting edge in fashion and life style. Identifying emerging talent and creating an intimate, synergistic environment that fosters relationships between designers and buyers, each of D&A’s shows in Los Angeles and New York (which typically attract 3,000 retail and media visitors) are pre-edited, art-directed, and merchandised to create a sense of camaraderie and discovery.”

All of which means, it is the hip and happening place to buy and sell…and I would agree.

Why exhibit at D&A? Maybe you have a showroom in New York but you sell to the west coast and want to be at the show for your west coast buyers; maybe you have a corporate sales force and want to show in LA; maybe you are an emerging designer without independent sales representation and need to get your product in front of the right buyers; or maybe you are in a showroom in LA but like the exposure and attention you get at D&A.

I first attended the D&A Show about 10 years ago. I was immediately struck by the energy in the space compared to the corridors of the building upstairs and in the other buildings. They can cram 100+ 10’x10’ booths into the space. When it is this full there is a vibe that says, “this is the place to be.”

The recent D&A Show had 95 booths with the usual eclectic mix of fashion forward women’s ready-to-wear and accessories.

Some of the highlights and notable trends were:

• Robin’s Jeans. This is a huge line of men’s and women’s denim founded and designed by the founder of Hudson Jeans, Robin Chretien. Robin is a real groover, and so is his collection.
• The sexy, sophisticated and chic Ticci Tonetto, owned by the sophisticated Neglia Tonetto. Gisela Marin at Nyeli represents the collection. This beautiful collection has been around for at least 10 years and it is worth a look.
• The Japanese-made US eyewear collection, Dita. Their vintage-inspired frames, which are apparently popular with celebs, are made from titanium, 18K gold and white gold, and Japanese zyl acetates.
• The fun, colorful Caroline K is inspired by the indigenous designs of Latin America. If you have ever spent any time in Guatemala you will recognize the colors, patterns, fabrics, embroidery, and pleating in the ponchos, legging, skirts, dresses, tops, and jackets. Caroline K is a real contemporary eye-catcher.
• Dolce Vita showcased their current 70’s trend footwear. Espadrilles, wedges, boots, sandals, and heels in suedes and leathers mixed with furs, appliqués, and buckles.
• Fluxus designed by Jeffrey Sebelia, the Project Runway Season 3 winner. Though it didn’t impress me as much as it did at MAGIC. It didn’t seem to have the same color and life.
• And what I thought was the highlight of the show – Hazel Brown. Hazel Brown is a beautiful inspired collection in silks, wools, soft leathers, alpaca, and flannels. I loved the delicate hand frayed edging on some of the pieces, the wool jacket with authentic Civil War buttons and the tasteful asymmetry of some of the styling. This is Boho Chic at it’s finest.

The 70’s trends and Boho chic are in full bloom this Spring and it looks like they will continue into Fall. Lots of roushing and texture, mixed media, Native American motif, fur, high heel suede lace-up footwear, scarves, maxi skirts and full leg pants remind me of an updated take on the late 70’s/early 80’s art school look. And some of the pants, jeans, and wide brim floppy hats remind me of what my Mum wore in the 70’s. Who knew she was 30 years ahead of her time?

Innovative designing by Diana Eng from article on Mashable … interesting stuff. Is this the future of fashion?
http://mashable.com/2011/03/26/diana-eng-fashion/

So the rest of this makes sense, make sure you read my blog, THE MADNESS THAT IS THE MAGIC FASHION TRADE SHOWS – DAY 1.

workroom

We started Day 2 behind schedule at the workroom showcase at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. workroom self-describes as “an authentically raw environment that focuses on nurturing progressive directional collections and retailers.” I would agree. workroom is the true progressive contemporary section of the entire MAGIC fashion-a-rama. The clothing, accessories and shoe brands are carefully selected, juried, and well worth a close look.

The space has the look and feel of a working collective. At some booths, designers work at sewing machines in front of their collections, ready to engage as required. The almost 100 brands that were represented impressed with their handmade quality and diversity of textures with design ranging from thoughtful to inspired.

workroom reflected the imagination being shown by some designers in a universally tough economic market that has dictated the need to keep production costs and price points down.  The use of mixed media and texture to give dimension to the largely knit-driven world we currently inhabit, draping, asymmetrical and cropped silhouettes, more denim, and fringing and fur (faux, I hope!). Overall, I came away with the impression of an updated take on the late 70’s/early 80’s art school look – minus the overalls and cover-alls (more on these later).

I thought a great example is Stina Baaz, a high quality Swedish/American tailored sportswear line. With a classy look and feel, a great take on mixing fabrics (e.g. canvas and fur), and some eye-catching styling (particularly their cropped bomber jacket); Stina Baaz is what workroom is all about. The mixed media pieces have not made their website as yet – stinabaaz.com.

The color palette of workroom was very Fall; lots of black, grey, plum, and a dark green that Tracy thought ‘Hunter’, and I blurted out ‘Army’. I think Tracy was right. The green was the richer, more jewel-toned Hunter.

Project

Flowing from workroom are the hundreds of booths of Project. If workroom is the fashion epicenter of MAGIC, Project is where the contemporary creative explosion begins to diffuse into hard commerce. Project also showcases women’s and men’s clothing, accessories and shoe brands.

The collections, while contemporary, are largely derivative of near-term trends. This is what is ‘now’ commercially, or will be ‘now’ for Fall 2011. Knits were dominant, and color palettes muted and tonal with occasional orange providing pop.

Some of the highlights for me:

It was great to see the Australian swimwear and fashion collection, Tiger Lily – tigerlilyswimwear.com.au

Across the same aisle as Tiger Lily were two of my favorite people, Rick and Chelsea with the one of my favorite bag lines, George Gina & Lucy from Germany – george-gina-lucy.com

The denim powerhouses in full force – True Religion, AG, Joe’s, et al.

I liked the worn, scuffed shoe look for men that is in for Fall.

Wildfox had its models swanning about in brightly colored and printed coveralls. Wildfox has a strong following in the young contemporary world – wildfoxcouture.com

Fluxus designed by Jeffrey Sebelia, the Project Runway Season 3 winner – fluxusbrand.com

PoolTradeShow

Pool was fun this time around. Pool is an eclectic mix of emerging contemporary artists and designers in their own space away from the combined workroom and Project floor; though I would prefer to see the three connected to make sure the young Pool designers are not missed.

You name it, it’s at Pool. Clothing, shoes, bags, hats, jewelry, accessories of all kinds, and even the wonderful Kamibashi String Doll keyrings – kamibashi.com

Designs are bright and fun, with whimsical prints, edgy printed tees, vintage and re-purposed fabrics, beautiful lacquered and enameled purses and bags, hipster hats, caps and sunglasses, vintage and industrial inspired jewelry, and emerging contemporary designers that have real potential like Schwiing (“SCHWiiNG it up!” as their bio urges).

While Pool was worth the walk, I’m not sure I would put out the cash to exhibit here. Being separated from the workroom/Project space, a contemporary buyer could easily skip it if they were crunched for time or had preconceived ideas that couldn’t be conveniently dispelled.

After Pool, we jumped into one of the complimentary limos that ferry people to and from the Mandalay Bay and the WWD MAGIC shows at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Tracy wanted a quick look, and I needed to buy some jewelry for my fiend Nancy Scott, and her two Z Fabrique stores –zfabrique.com

We then decided on an 11^th hour dash to the Venetian to check out the MODA and Curves shows, followed by a long march from the monorail to check out the ENK show and scout the spa shop the Wynn.  We got to both places late but not late enough not to bump into some sales reps that Tracy knows who told us that MODA was slow. I will definitely be walking and reporting on the ENK and MODA shows in August.

Day 2 of the Madness that is MAGIC ended with shoes off and well-deserved drinks in hand at the lounge bar at the Wynn … and they certainly weren’t the last of the evening!

Up yesterday at 4.30am (after a refreshing three hour sleep), on the road by 5.30am to beat the brutal 30 mile radius of LA morning rush, four hours of mostly open highway while listening to my house music, and before you know it, I’m in the valley that contains the city of Las Vegas ready for eight hours of walking and talking at the madness that is the MAGIC fashion trade shows.

MAGIC is probably the most well-known trade show in the U.S. apparel industry. The show hosts global buyers and sellers of men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, footwear, accessories and sourcing resources. “MAGIC’, as it is ubiquitously known, is actually a series of distinctly focused trade shows under the umbrella brand. There is:
– WWD Magic
– MAGIC Menswear
– Project
– Pool
– Slate
– Street
– FN Platform
– Premium
– Sourcing at MAGIC
You can research away at magiconline.com

The show provides me with an invaluable opportunity to see a lot that is happening in fashion at one place, at one time, and to speak with people across the industry. How being here translates into sales for participating designers and manufacturers is open to question. It is very difficult to get a believable, quantifiable straight answer to the question – So how is the show going? Whatever the reality is, the answer is usually in the positive. As to gauging the buyer foot traffic, it is also difficult to know who is who amongst the throng.

My experience at MAGIC has been mixed. I was first there in 2000 when Wildlife Works was launching its tee line. We had little success but then again we were in the wrong section. Having attended the show for more than 10 years, I have collected lots of feedback from participants. Some designers I know will not come because they can’t get the order bang for their tradeshow buck. Others swear by the show, and are there every time.

As a buyer this time for Z Fabrique (zfabrique.com), I am also looking at jewelry and accessories. There is plenty on offer at a range of price points. I have already found three or four vendors that look promising. Will do some buying today.

Yesterday, I focused on the Las Vegas Convention Center portion of the trek – WWD MAGIC, PN Platform and Sourcing. One of the showcases at WWD MAGIC is ISAM Swimwear Show where I spotted two fabulous Australian collections – Lisa Blue (lisablue.com.au) and 2Chillies (2chillies.com.au). Both lines display the highly regarded Australian design flair, and use of color and fabrics. I will be following up with the collections after the show to get their feedback, which I will include in my coming show review blog.

In about two hours, I pick up my friend, pbc consultant and owner of Tracy Engelien Sales, the one and only Tracy Engelien, at the airport for Day 2 of the Madness that is MAGIC. Today, we will focus on The Mandalay Bay Hotel convention center showcases. The hip and happening Project and Workroom shows along with the emerging designers at the PoolTradeShow will take most of our time.

Keep an eye out for my coming review blog of MAGIC. We’ll breakdown what the trends were, what was selling, and get some feedback from participating designers and showrooms.

I’m glad these boots were made for walkin’ ….