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 11th 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!