Presentation at White Crow booth at ENKVegas
TRADE SHOW
ENKVegas Provides a Home for Contemporary
Women’s contemporary fashion brands, both established and emerging, exhibited at the ENKVegas show at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center Aug. 18–20. The show included a special section called Oasis, which featured brands that the show curators considered to be on the leading edge of contemporary design.
Show vendors reported being pleased with the recent run of ENKVegas. “It’s all good this time,” said John Eshaya, founder of the brand JET by John Eshaya. “I saw a lot more Japanese this time. All of our buyers were here. Everyone who we were hoping to be here came here. We had the best spot, across from the women’s bathroom!”
Greg Garrett of Z Supply Inc., an Irvine, Calif.–based company that manufactures the White Crow brand, said that show orders paid for the six booths that his company had at ENKVegas. He forecast that orders submitted after the show would be three times the orders he received from the previous show. His brand’s performance highlighted the importance of trade show platforms. “You have to have trade shows,” he said. “You do business here. Vegas shows are the biggest ones.”
Retailer Raylene Bartolacci, owner of Los Angeles–based e-commerce site The Lala Look, was in Las Vegas for three days making stops at nearly all the shows, including ENKVegas, WWDMAGIC and Pool. This was Bartolucci’s second time attending the shows. “It’s always overwhelming. There’s so much to cover,” she said.
The Lala Look’s brand mix includes several Australian brands, such as Finders Keepers and Ebony Eve, but Bartolacci said she was impressed with the direction many Australian brands are taking.
“Australia is killing it as far as fashion,” she said. “The hottest things are coming from Australia. They’re not really following the rules.”
The retailer also saw several higher-end brands launching diffusion lines to capture consumers looking for a slightly lower price point.
“Consumers are expecting a lot for the money,” she said. “The $200 or $300 price point is where $500 was a few years ago. For me, anything over $300 better be really amazing.”
