California Apparel News

The Swim Collective Trade Show made its debut at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort in Newport Beach, Calif., on Aug. 2.Hoping to fill the void left by San Diego’s Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo, which ended last year, Swim Collective is aiming to be the predominant swim show for the West Coast, according to executive show director Shannon Leggett.

“We have some of the best swimwear designers and manufacturers in the world in our own backyard, so it made sense to do something close to home,” Leggett said. “For two to three years, everyone has been saying, ’I wish there were a West Coast swim show.’”

Showcased at a five-star, waterfront resort, the show is aimed to feature a broad range of swimwear-specific exhibitors from a variety of price points.

“We’re a swimwear trade show only,” Leggett said. “We’re not trying to be surf; we’re not trying to be a skate trade show—our goal is to be the West Coast swim show.”

Many exhibitors said they were pleased with both the show and the turnout.

“We’re very happy. I think it’s real important that we have a swimwear show here in California,” Augusto Hanimian, designer and owner of Miami-based Luli Fama, said. “I think California has been the heart of swimwear for so many years and not having their own show here, I think, hurt them [designers] a lot. For us, as a company, it’s very, very important. It’s a good opportunity to see our accounts in Southern California.”

Exhibitors cited the venue’s upscale, intimate environment and surrounding events as a draw. The club provided free gourmet food during the day and a networking cocktail party and fashion presentation by Beach Bunny swimwear in the evening on Aug. 2. As further incentive to entice buyers, the trade show was timed to take place at the same time as the Nike US Open of Surfing, which runs July 30 to Aug. 7, and many buyers were offered free flights and lodging at the hotel.

“We’re a brand-new line, so one of the things that we really wanted to do here was make connections and meet buyers and meet new people,” said Elizabeth Rovsek, designer of South Laguna, Calif.–based label Sun Kitten.

As a designer and former Miss Kentucky USA, her collection of event-inspired bikinis—with names such as “The Bride,” “The Bachelorette,” “Spring Break,” “Be My Valentine,” and “My Lucky Charm”—was already chosen as the official swimsuit sponsor for Miss Malibu USA, but Rovsek said she registered for Swim Collective at the last minute, looking for further exposure and to avoid cold calling potential buyers.

“I think with a new company and just making cold phone calls, and they can’t see a face, and they can’t see a product, and all they can see is a line sheet, I think that’s a difficult way to make a connection,” she said.

Rovsek said despite feeling that traffic was a little slower in the new designer showrooms than in the main ballroom, her “special occasion–based” swimwear line still attracted buyers, especially a hand-beaded, black string bikini called “Just Divorced,” showing that “you’re back on the market.”

Jessica Petersen, designer and owner of newly launched Sorella Swim, a luxury collection of swimwear for curvy women, said while business had been slow for her, the show provided her an opportunity to meet with buyers who were specifically looking for her product.

“We’re a little bit off to the side, so it’s hard to get people from the grand ballroom out this way, and I think our room’s a little dark,” Petersen said. “Other than that, there’s definitely been traffic. I’m getting buyers that are looking for [swimwear for curvy women]—they’ve had requests for this.”

New designer Magdalena Trever said that based on the results of buyer response to her knitted swimwear line Maggie May, she is definitely planning on coming back to the show next year.

“I think it’s a really great show. I love it,” she said. “I like the clientele. It seems like a more upscale clientele of buyers.”

Trever said that while no one had placed orders yet, she had seen 10 buyers in the first half of the day and had some accounts in progress.

Inside the grand ballroom, Debby Martin, sales and marketing manager of L*Space, said the show had been “phenomenal” and that she had seen about 30 buyers by appointment and had eight walk-ups, including a few who wrote orders.

“We’ve been busy every hour,” she said. “We’ve been packed with buyers from all the way up north and Orange County and San Diego.”

With 50 exhibitors and 80 booths, exhibitors expressed hopes the show would grow, both in variety and size.

“This show is still very small, not too many vendors,” Hanimian said, although he expected it would become bigger. “It’s a baby; it’s newly born.”

Leggett said 300 buyers had pre-registered for the show and estimated that an additional 200 registered on-site on Aug. 2. Feedback from the floor was that exhibitors were pleased and that the show was “beyond everyone’s expectations,” he said.

Next year, Leggett plans on adding runway shows and possibly extending the show to three days.