California Apparel News

Agenda’s second show in Las Vegas mixed business with pleasure when it ran Feb. 17–19 as one of the Modern Assembly family of shows at Level 2 of the Sands Expo & Convention Center.

Billboard chart–topping rappers T.I., Young Jeezy and Rick Ross performed a two-hour set to a cheering crowd Feb. 18. The performers rapped on top of a platform of the booth for footwear brand Reebok, which was designed to look like a neighborhood barbershop, and also featured barbers giving vendors and retailers haircuts.

Agenda also was a platform for the comebacks of classic sneaker brands. 1980s footwear labels Reebok and British Knights made the debut of their relaunch efforts at the trade show. There were more than 250 vendors at Agenda Las Vegas, and Pacific Sunwear, Karmaloop, ASOS, Urban Outfitters and leading independent boutiques were some of the retailers reported to be walking the show.

Agenda Las Vegas was the last of a trio of shows where many of the show’s vendors already had also exhibited. Agenda New York ran in Manhattan Jan. 22–23, and Agenda’s flagship show in Long Beach, Calif., ran Jan. 7–8.

Mark Encinias, brand manager for the Vision Street Wear label, exhibited at all three shows, and he arrived in Las Vegas thinking that there was a possibility he had already seen the overwhelming majority of his accounts at Agenda Long Beach and New York. But he reported taking meetings with major accounts Urban Outfitters and Nordstrom in Las Vegas.

Cori Cascante of the Cross Colours label reported being consistently busy. Nico Reyes of the Staple Pigeon label said most retailers were making orders well into the Fall months. These sorts of orders are typically seen as a sign of retailer confidence because they are paid for many months before they are delivered. However, the orders were not as big as the previous Summer season, Reyes said.

For style trends, Staple Pigeon founder Jeff Staple said flight jackets were popular for the Fall season, and for some style tension, the brash, colorful 1990s-style colors were showing up in some lines while monochrome black-and-white colors were still commanding attention. Headwear also was prominent at the show. Baseball caps and bucket caps with bold colors—even 1960s tie-dyed looks—were popular, said Nick Naraja, a graphic designer at Official, a headwear and clothing company.

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