Sourcing@MAGIC
California Apparel News spoke with Camille Candella, marketing director for MAGIC International, about the growing Sourcing@MAGIC show.
CAN: What’s new for the February show?CC: We’ve brought significant growth to it since it began in August 2003. We’re looking at more than 750 apparel contractors and fabric and trim manufacturers from over 30 countries. We now have significant participation from the domestic side. We’ll have a domestic pavilion with a lot of new exhibitors like Toray Ultrasuede, Wellman, Unifi, Contempora Fabrics, Alice Mills, Carolina Mills, Hamrick Mills, and more. A lot of these people haven’t participated in the past, so it’s great to see more domestic brands.
CAN: Why are more domestic companies planning to show?CC: I can’t answer for their reasoning, but obviously they want to continue to be players in the market and realize that Sourcing@MAGIC is a very big part of what’s going on in the U.S. There’s a lot of presence from other countries participating in the show. There were U.S. companies on board last show, and they were very pleased, so we’re seeing a bigger presence this time from domestic exhibitors.
CAN: It really is an international show, isn’t it?CC: Yes, and regarding what’s new, Africa is coming with its strongest presence ever. It’s timely for them because the African Growth and Opportunity Act allows for duty-free imports of African products, so this is the first time the East African hub will take a major presence at a U.S. show. Kenya is coming with 15 companies, plus Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Uganda. And from West Africa, Ghana and Cameroon will come with double the presence from the last show.
CAN: So a contract manufacturer faces something of a dilemma: On the one hand, so much manufacturing has gone overseas you want to support America, and on the other hand, you want to support the AGOA initiative.CC: There are regions of the world that have different advantages over others. A lot of people talk about China’s cost of goods and how they produce, but there are advantages for Central America because they can get goods into the U.S. faster. Some people need quality, others need value.
CAN: What else should we expect for the next show?CC: We’ll continue to increase our efforts with matchmaking, in which we connect key product-development people from the attendee and exhibitor sides. We have a dedicated team whose sole job is to talk to product-development people and ask about their production needs, then, at show site, they connect them with factories and mills and contract manufacturers.
In addition to the domestic pavilion, there will be country pavilions from Mexico, Taiwan, Thailand, China, and more.
Our seminar series continues to be more popular. Currently we have on board executives from Chico’s, Pantone, The Toby Report, and Organic Exchange, who got a great response last season.
