California Apparel News

Another player will emerge on Las Vegas’ trade show calendar. The United Trade Show is scheduled to debut Feb. 13–15 at the Alexis Park Resort in Las Vegas. Founder Ryan Walker said he started the show to recapture the halcyon early days of the Pool trade show, which was started by his sister, Ronda Walker.

The 25-year-old United Trade Show founder anticipates more than 5,000 attendees will turn out to browse through the debut event, where more than 80 labels are expected to exhibit. He plans for the trade show to be scheduled biannually, in February and August, when the MAGIC Marketplace, one of the dominant apparel trade shows in North America, is exhibiting.

Some of United’s exhibitors are relatively established brands such as Cardboard Robot, of Long Beach, Calif., which has sold fashions at Pacific Sunwear and Metropark. Other exhibitors listed on the trade show’s Web site, www.unitedtradeshowusa.com, include labels that have exhibited at the Pool show, such as Dubwise Meets Soca. Up-andcoming labels such as Andrew Hanson’s F will also take part in United. The debut show is sold out, Walker said.

The United Trade Show is not funded by investors, according to Walker. Rather, it has been fueled by the $1,500 registration fees paid by exhibitors. The show will offer exhibitors and attendees amenities such as free breakfasts, a film festival of short movies; and music by disc jockey Steve Aoki, whose Dim Mak label will exhibit at the trade show.

Walker also said the United Trade Show will participate in producing a party to be held at the Tao nightclub in the Venetian hotel. However, partying seems to be the last thing on Walker’s mind.

“It’s the first show, and you have your back against the wall,” Walker said. “You have to do something special.”

Competition should be rough, according to Aaron Levant, the founder of the Agenda Trade Show, which produces events in San Diego and Tokyo. Buyers will be racing through the big shows under the aegis of MAGIC Marketplace, Pool and the Project Global Trade Show. “I’d like to see if people make it to a fourth destination,” Levant said.

Mason Brown, co-founder of Cardboard Robot, said his company will exhibit at MAGIC and at United. He will budget time to man his brand’s United booth because he was intrigued by the show’s start-up ambiance. “Even if we don’t do business there, I still want to check it out,” he said. —Andrew Asch