Class Reports Steady Buying, Relaxed Atmosphere
The Class trade show earned some high grades from retailers when it made a crucial change in schedule.
The Santa Monica, Calif.–based contemporary and designer show was held Aug. 19–20 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. It opened a few days before a slew of giant Las Vegas trade events, including the Project Global Trade Show and the MAGIC Marketplace.
When Class debuted last March, it was scheduled a couple of weeks after MAGIC and Project wrapped up their February shows. Most retailers had already spent much of their budgets for Spring and Summer collections at those trade events.
The new schedule made a big difference in buying for Randy Brewer, general manager for the influential Villains boutiques in San Francisco. “This time, it was before Project, and there was a lot to do,” Brewer said. He estimated that he wrote orders for more than 20 brands at Class. He also said he would continue to shop for his three San Francisco stores at Project. Class primarily focuses on menswear, but it also devotes some space to women’s fashions, footwear, beauty and homewares.
The show might have also been called “School’s Out for Summer.” With recreational activities offered such as surf lessons, bowling and spa treatments, Class emphasized a relaxed ambiance. More than 750 retailers dropped by the event, according to Jason Bates, the show’s chief executive. Buyers shopping the show included representatives from Los Angeles boutiques Lisa Kline, Traffic, Planet Blue and Fred Segal. Other Class attendees included representatives from the Bill Hallman Boutique in Atlanta;Blake of Portland, Ore.; Chrome of Oklahoma City, Okla.; and national retailers Nordstrom, Dillard’s and Macy’s.
There were 106 vendors at the show, compared with 79 at the March show, Bates said. He also owns the 6-year-old Derilicte Showroom in the Cooper Design Space in downtown Los Angeles. His showroom works with many of the retailers that attended the event, but Bates said there was no conflict of interest in staging the trade show. “They don’t have to do the show,” Bates said of the buyers. “They choose to come here.”
Vendors reported being pleased by the easygoing pace of the trade show. “It was small but important,” said Anna Kenney, a designer of Los Angeles–based surf fashion brand Hot Tuna. She primarily showed her label’s Spring 2009 women’s fashions “This is a good show to find retailers who don’t go to [surf/skate/swim trade show Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo in San Diego] and who do not want to go to Vegas.”
For Eric Jennings, brand director of New York–based menswear brand Hickey, Class offered a less-hectic pace that allowed for more in-depth meetings with West Coast boutiques.
Vendors exhibiting included established brands such as surf- and skate-inspired labels RVCA of Costa Mesa, Calif.; Ever, based in Los Angeles; and Quiksilver Ltd. There also was U.K.-based suit and contemporary brand Ted Baker and knits label Vince. Other exhibitors were new contemporary label District 81-3, up-and-coming Long Beach, Calif.–based menswear label Matte Black and Japanese jeans label Kunna.
Mark Mothersbaugh of pioneering new wave rock band Devo also exhibited at the show. He was selling his new product—rugs featuring his artwork, which would be familiar to any Devo fan. Villains’ Brewer said he purchased some of the rugs for his stores.
Class seems to have come at the right time for retailers looking for alternatives to increasing travel costs, said Michael Paradise, co-owner ofdenim store The Stronghold, located in Los Angeles’ Venice neighborhood. “Regional shows and regional markets will become more important,” Paradise said.
The next Class show is scheduled for Feb. 2–3, 2009, Bates said. It will be held again at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, and it will expand all the show’s categories, including women’s and bath and beauty products.
