Looking for the Action
T-shirt makers choose between concurrent ISS and ASR shows.
T-shirt designers, screen printers, embroiderers and distributors were on the prowl for the next trend in tees at the Jan. 20–22 run of the Imprinted Sportswear Show at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, Calif.
The show, organized by Chantilly, Va.–based VNU Expositions, housed nearly 450 exhibitors showing the latest in supplies and equipment for the imprinted apparel industry, including blank tees and other apparel, equipment for embroidery and silkscreening, and supplies such as thread, ink and dye.
The show drew 13,570 visitors, up approximately 5 percent from last year, according to Brian Pagel, group show director for the ISS. Pagel said of the six Imprinted Sportswear Shows, this is “by far the largest.”
“This is the Super Bowl of all ISS shows,” said Daniel Harris, co-CEO and president of Los Angeles–based T-shirt maker Bella. “It’s the first of the year for the U.S. This is where everybody does the big displays. It’s the best of the best.”
Harris said this is the sixth year at the ISS for his company, which also exhibits at the MAGIC Marketplace, Surf Expo and Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo.
“This is the show we look forward to every year,” said Rhonda Rahe, co-owner of Tri-Lakes Sportswear, a 6-yearold embroidery, screen-printing and heat-transfer house in Menifee, Calif.
Rahe was browsing the show floor with daughter Tiffany Giummo and Tri- Lakes customer Donna Grunow, director of merchandising for the Lake Elsinore Storm minor league baseball team (a class A affiliate of the San Diego Padres).
“If we want to buy new equipment, it’s a great trade show. We try to make it one-stop shopping for our customers,” Rahe added. Rahe’s husband, Peter Giummo, and son, Eric, were elsewhere at the show, shopping for equipment. The company has two manual presses for screen printing and were looking for an automatic press.
Retailer and designer Jayme Miner stopped by the ISS in search of new T-shirt resources for her contemporary tee line, Rhinestone Redhead, and new children’s tee line, Wee Tee.
Miner is the owner of 8-year-old boutique Canary in a Clothes Mine in Breckenridge, Colo. She had been in Southern California to shop for her store at Los Angeles Market Week when she decided to extend her stay to visit the ISS.
ISS vs. ASR
This season, the ISS ran concurrently with ASR, which was held at the San Diego Convention Center. For several exhibitors—particularly those selling blank tees and other imprintable apparel—this meant choosing between the two shows.
Kevin Kelly, director of Los Angeles– based T-shirt manufacturer Apparel Agent, opted to show at the ISS this season rather than ASR but said he planned to meet with some clients in San Diego on the second day of the show.
While he acknowledged the importance of ASR for reaching the surf and skate market, he pointed out that he could access the same market at the ISS.
“The screen-printing industry has taken over a lot of the surf industry business,” he said. “This show gets to those markets for us better than ASR does. We’d rather sell to the screen printers and let them create full-package programs.”
This was the first time at the ISS for 1- year-old T-shirt maker Article 1, which is based in Toluca, Mexico, but headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif.
Owners Eddy Chavez and Gianna Giannulli said they exhibited at ASR last season and are considering their options for next season.
“We are trying to decide which one to do next time,” said Giannulli. “This has been such a fabulous show already. We’ve been swamped. We’ve seen mostly screen printers and tons of promotional people. At ASR we meet with the brands, big and small. I think it would be good to be at both places.”
Gianulli said she was finding interest in the company’s small group of organic cotton tees. The company’s tear-away labels were also attracting interest from companies looking to screen-print graphics inside the tees.
ISS’ Pagel said traditionally there has not been that much crossover between the ISS and ASR, which is also organized by VNU. But there is quite a bit of crossover between the ISS and Promotional Product Association International Expo in Las Vegas, which ran Jan. 9–13.
“We found that we are able to grow by having that week between [the two shows],” he said. “We could not only be more accommodating of our exhibitors, but our attendees could experience both events.”
For Kavio Vice President Dean Vuong, exhibiting at the ISS made sense, since about 60 percent of the company’s business is for the promotional industry.
The Commerce, Calif.–based T-shirt company also exhibits at MAGIC but has seen a growing interest in imprintable T-shirts with a fashionable silhouette at the ISS.
“Here it’s a different market compared to MAGIC,” Vuong said. “Here it’s more momand- pop [companies] and print houses and embroidering houses, it’s more promotional. Before, they only knew men’s shirts. Now, the market is a lot more fashionable and trendy. It’s changing every year. It makes this market stand out.”
Not just for tees
Joshua Brownfield took a look at the offerings at the ISS and decided there was an opening for his company’s retro-themed sportswear.
Brownfield, vice president of Santa Ana– based Steady Clothing, set up a booth for the first time at the ISS with a few examples of the men’s woven shirts Steady produces for such customers as the House of Blues, the Los Angeles Angels, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Yard House and Anheuser-Busch.
“We saw a gap for men’s retro shirts, stocked, made domestically, custom printed, embroidered, and packaged and SKU’d,” said Brownfield, who said business took off for the company after temporary quotas closed for Chinese-made apparel earlier this year.
Steady has built its private label business for the past eight years primarily through word of mouth, growing the division to about 35 percent of the company’s overall business.
Still, Brownfield was surprised at the level of interest he saw at ISS on the opening day.
“I heard one of our reps had 32 business cards in the first hour,” he said.
