The Nothing to Wear booth at Stitch
TRADE SHOW
Upscale Looks at MRket, Stitch and Accessories the Show
On opening night of the Aug. 18–20 run of MRket, Stitch and Accessories the Show at The Venetian, buyers ended the day browsing the three shows’ upscale men’s, women’s and accessories lines with glasses of complimentary wine in hand.
New exhibitor Cindy Freeman took that concept up a notch by serving margaritas in sippy cups and offering glittery temporary tattoos created by Skin Jewels, a company Freeman recently found in Miami.
Freeman is the design director and sales manager of Los Angeles–based showroom Nothing to Wear, which represents Subtle Luxury, Spun by Subtle Luxury, Love Surplus and Loungerie.
Her party strategy was a success as buyers and other attendees crowded into her booth to get the gold and silver temporary tattoos.
Freeman said she opened 20 new stores on the first day alone.
“Trade shows are all about new customers,” she said. “I see my regional customers in LA. I come to Las Vegas to get the rest of America.”
Freeman was showing at Stitch, which is part of the Business Journals collection of shows co-located at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. The three shows—Stitch (formerly called ModaLV), MRket and Accessories the Show—are part of the Modern Assembly group of shows, which also includes Liberty, Agenda and Capsule.
Designer Yolanda Ruiz-Rojas was at Stitch with her Ruiz by Yolanda collection of made-in-America apparel. She was doing well with her washable fleece outerwear in elegant silhouettes. The collection, which launched in 2012, is currently in about 100 retailers.
There are no minimum-order requirements, which helps land new orders, Ruiz-Rojas said.
“If a new store wants to try it out, they can just buy a few,” she said.
Ruiz-Rojas was showing her line in the Karen Kearns Sales booth, where showroom owner Karen Kearns said she received two reorders for the Ruiz by Yolanda collection just as the show opened.
Kearns was also showing her other collections, including Amy Brill Sweaters, which are hand-loomed in Connecticut; Pamela Lazzarotto, based in Canada; and the Raffinalla collection of sportswear pieces, including what Kearns called “the perfect pant,” a pull-on style available in a range of colors and prints.
“The fit is what sells it,” she said. Another hot Raffinalla item is a laser-cut jacket. “That’s on every order,” Kearns said.
In MRket’s Vanguards section, Chicago-based Boga was showing a collection based around what Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Burkard called “white-collar denim.”
In addition to denim in a range of colors, the “strategically built” Boga collection includes dress shirts, vests, belts, socks and shoes. Everything is available in an easy-to-wear palette that can be mixed and matched.
Burkard spent 19 years in the package-design business. After selling his company to 1-800-Flowers, he wanted to launch a new business that would use his design skills and love of color, texture and quality fabrics. The designer was frustrated that he could not find what he wanted to buy and thought the available colors for menswear were “all over the map.”
“I wanted to make it easy for me to build a high-functioning wardrobe,” he said,
The collection, which is made from Italian and Swiss fabrics, is produced in Eastern Europe, Morocco, Portugal and Italy, and the shoes are made in Spain. Wholesale prices include $7 for socks and $81 for denim.
Boston-based Ministry of Supply, also showing in the Vanguards section, took a high-tech approach to menswear, said Aman Advani, president and co-founder of the line. First the company heat-mapped the body to determine pressure and heat points and then enlisted former Theory and Brooks Brothers designer Jarlath Mellett to create the line. Dress shirts stretch with the body and have a micro-perforated panel underneath the arm to release heat. Seamless T-shirts are engineered to release heat under the arms and down the center of the back. The line uses a phase-change material that regulates heating and cooling.
Wholesale prices range from $98 to $148, and the company opened its own retail store in Boston in June.
Show organizers said there were nearly 500 brands at Stitch, 350 brands at MRket and 300 brands at Accessories the Show.
