Audigier Moves to Caesars
The debut of Christian Audigier’s When I Move You Move trade event offered a lot of glitz during its Aug. 25–28 run at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. In return, the event’s producers said it delivered a lot of business.
More than 6,000 retailers attended the event, according to WIMYM Kasandra L. Carlson, director of trade shows and events for Audigier Media Inc. Retailers shopping the event included Macy’s, Metropark, Dillard’s, Planet Funk and Zappos. Audigier’s high-marquee brand Ed Hardy reportedly made $50 million in sales during the show, which was double the sales the brand made at the February run of the Project Global Trade Show and the MAGIC Marketplace, Carlson said.
The show featured performances by pop stars Snoop Dogg, Macy Gray and Dave Stewart, who all co-designed new fashion lines with Audigier that debuted at WIMYM. Spread across 35,000 square feet in Caesars, the show featured more than 42 vendors, including Audigier’s 11 brands and 72 licensees.
Among the exhibitors, 25 percent were independent lines not owned by Audigier. Jewelry and fashion label Blak Prince, based in Irvine, Calif., earned more than $30,000 in sales at WIMYM, according to sales representative Tazwell D. Randall, who said WIMYM was the label’s first trade event. “We weren’t well-known,” Randall said. “But we met some quality people here, and we’re going to become a well-known brand name.”
Los Angeles–based licensee Ed Hardy Petwear by WMA made $500,000 in sales at the show, according to Chief Executive West Moore.
The show received good marks from Gila Leibovitch, co-owner of the Los Angeles–based six-store chain Premier. She and business partner Johnny Alper spent more than $40,000 on Audigier products. A significant chunk of her orders were made for Ed Hardy children’s fashions that will be sold at Premier Kids, which opened July 4 in Los Angeles. Her only complaint concerned the location, saying Caesars was too far from the other shows such as Project and MAGIC.
Audigier said he plans to produce more WIMYM shows. The next one is scheduled for February 2009. —Andrew Asch
