Miami Swim and Lingerie Show: Proven Brands, Lower Price Points Have Strong Showing
MIAMI—Swimwear and resortwear brands with proven sell-through or a lower price range had a strong showing at the Miami Swim and Lingerie Show, held July 16–19 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, exhibitors said.
“We’ve done very well. It’s a robust show—fabulous response,” said Barbara Gram, an account manager who represents Steve Madden and the brand’s moderate lines Soaked and Big Buddha. “Five of our major customers who weren’t really on board last year wrote and showed high interest this year.”
The lines retail from $30 to $50 for most items, including swimwear, accessories, apparel and hats. “We’ve had a lot of comments on how great our pricing is,” Gram said.
“It’s much better this year than last year,” said Robert Stekloff, the Southeast and Caribbean representative for Gottex. “We’ve been booked all day, every day.”
Stekloff said the economy frightened buyers for a while, but the brand’s history of stores selling through Gottex inventory each season has helped buyers feel secure in purchasing from them. “They’re giving us more retail floor space because we’re successful,” he explained. “My only concern is keeping up with the demand.”
Barrie Moskowitz, account manager for British brand Melissa Odabash, echoed the same sentiment, stating that stores were going with “proven brands.” “We’ve had five appointments an hour. Everybody’s been writing all day because buyers know it’s going to sell,” Moskowitz said.
Both the brand’s 2009 and 2010 sales were negatively impacted by the economy, but sales from the 2011 collection “turned around,” and the brand had “a very strong year last year,” she said.
The line—which is carried in boutiques; department stores; and high-end resorts, including The Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Saks, Barneys New York and Canyon Beachwear—has done well with buyers and retailers, in part, because of its versatility, Moskowitz said. “You can go from the beach to the yacht to the cocktail party in the same caftan,” she explained.
The Miami Swim Show has generally been known to be less of a writing show and more a preview of the season’s swim and resortwear collections, but that trend appears to have been broken this year, according to Judy Stein, the show’s executive director.
“People are actually leaving the show with paper, which is great,” Stein said. “We’ve surpassed our numbers of three years ago. We’re up in floor space, we’re up in vendor participation, we’re up in retailer participation. The buzz on the floor is great. People are happy; people are writing orders.”
The show featured close to 400 exhibitors and approximately 2,500 lines this year, which is an increase of approximately 10 percent to 15 percent from last year, Stein said.
New this year was the addition of roughly 30 lingerie vendors.
“Many of our vendors already carry or have a lingerie division. So now it just made it simple for them to bring it here and show it,” Stein said. “My game plan is to have a [separate] lingerie area, but I didn’t feel that I had enough presence this year to do a lingerie-only area since it’s a growing vehicle for us.”
Mariela Rovito, president of swimwear and lingerie line Eberjey, said she hadn’t seen any difference in buyer interest or sales because of lingerie being added to the show.
“There’s not a lot of lingerie here and not a lot of lingerie-specific stores,” she said. “I haven’t seen any lingerie-specific buyers and have maybe seen, like, three lingerie booths, including us.”
Ariel Mittelberg, account executive for men’s underwear line Papi and a first-time exhibitor at the Miami show, said the brand’s underwear sales at the show had been “awesome.” In addition, there was interest in Papi’s new swimwear line.
