California Apparel News

More than 3,300 booths exhibiting everything from menswear to women’s contemporary and juniors did business at the Feb. 14–16 run of the MAGIC Marketplace, according to Chris De Moulin, MAGIC International president and executive vice president of the Fashion Group for Advanstar, MAGIC’s parent company. The show was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

De Moulin reported that show attendance increased 10 percent compared with MAGIC’s February 2010 show. The show debuted the WWDMAGIC Teen Vogue Blogger lounge and the RIDE UNLTD action-sports area during the most recent show.

“The aisles were packed, excitement was high, and exhibitors and retailers [were] enthusiastic,” he said.

Ken Petersen, chief executive of franchise chain Apricot Lane Boutique, based in Vacaville, Calif., was bullish on the show’s turnout. “I thought it was dynamic,” Petersen said. “Traffic seemed heavier [than recent MAGICs].”

Kristin Knauff, lead buyer for Chico, Calif.–based e-retailer LuLu’s, said the action seemed confined to the booths rather than the aisles. “The overall show did not seem busier,” she said. “But booths were busier. It seemed like more people were writing.”

Most exhibitors reported good business. For Los Angeles–based fast-fashion company Clothing for Modern Times, show sales increased 28 percent compared with the February 2010 show, according to Diego Chamorro, the label’s creative director of marketing. Anaheim, Calif.–based brand Idylle Clothing estimated it doubled its sales compared with its February 2010 show.

Exhibitors and retailers read the show’s tea leaves to divine whether the economy was picking up. For Katharine Brandes, creative director of label BB Dakota, the economy was on the upswing because many retailers felt confident enough to make orders for the fall rather than making the bulk of their orders for immediate merchandise—a hallmark of a shaky economy.

For Randy Brewer, owner of Berkeley, Calif.–based boutique Convert, manufacturers were feeling confident enough about the future to make fashions that had not yet been proven as solid-selling lines.

“There was not one theme that all lines had this season. It was a much more individual point of view,” he said of the labels he saw in Las Vegas.

Scott Terpstra is chief operating officer for Irvine, Calif.–based streetwear and fashion brand Stuuml;ssy. He gave high marks to the new RIDE UNLTD section, which was adjacent to MAGIC’s S.L.A.T.E. section, which also served skate and street categories.

“Ride brought a decent cross-section of action-sports brands that were not there before,” Terpstra said. He reported business was good, but show scheduling was problematic. This year, Asian factories demanded fashion labels commit to their orders for fall in the first week of February. Earlier deadlines were caused by macroeconomic pressures such as rising cotton prices and increasing labor costs, he said.

Because MAGIC was scheduled in mid-February, brands could not add orders after the deadline. With a traditionally steady business, Stuuml;ssy could forecast its business despite earlier deadlines, Terpstra said. “But if you are a smaller brand, having to show 35 percent of your customer base [after deadlines] was scary.”—Andrew Asch