California Apparel News

Once again, the young contemporary section of WWDMAGIC was a buzzing hive of activity during the show’s Feb. 17–19 run at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

But fast-fashion wasn’t the only hot category at the show.

In the contemporary sections of the show, buyers crowded into some booths, such as the one for Los Angeles–based Velvet Heart, where boutique retailers, as well as department and chain stores including Bloomingdale’s Dillard’s, Hot Topic and Torrid—stopped by on opening day.

“I’ve been nonstop,” said Stacia Diamond, vice president of Velvet Heart and its sister collections, Free Heart and New Leaf. Diamond said she had done a lot of “prep work” in advance of the show.

It was a similar scene across the aisle from Velvet Heart at the booth for Montreal-based RD International.

Samantha Hollinger, RD International’s vice president of sales, said the turnout was primarily appointment-driven.

“We’re in the same location, so the customers know where to find us,” she said. “But we had a lot of new accounts who have seen the brand at other shows or see how busy we are here.”

Plus, Fall is a big season for the knit line, and with stock goods RD International is also able to fill Immediate orders.

“We’ve also had the same reps for the last three years,” Hollinger said. “We like consistency—loyalty is a big deal for our company. Plus, the goods are selling.”

The XCVI booth saw a steady stream of buyers throughout the first day of the show.

“It’s been consistent,” said company representative Chris Myers, but he noted that buyers were having to split their time among the many shows and venues occurring at the same time in Las Vegas.

“Everything is spread out,” he said. “Everyone is visiting all the different shows. I’m excited to go to New York next week and see what the take is there because everyone is under one roof.”

Myers said with the changes in the fashion marketplace, now is the time to think about how to make the show easier on the buyers.

“As consumption is changing in the marketplace, we need to think about what’s going to be the best experience for our customers,” he said.

This season, WWDMAGIC quietly introduced an activewear section to the show. Among the exhibitors was Colosseum, a Compton, Calif.–based activewear line that launched three years ago at MAGIC.

A division of 30-year-old sportswear brand Colosseum Athletics, the activewear line sells at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Core Power Yoga and “tons of boutiques, spas, gyms and resorts,” said Kristen Keyes Sullivan, Colosseum’s director of sales.

Sullivan said she was pleased with the location and liked being among other activewear brands.

“We’ll see how it goes,” she said. “It’s nice having a real activewear section.”

On opening day of the show, the Colloseum booth saw a steady stream of buyers, much of which was drop-in traffic, Sullivan said.

Another exhibitor in the new activewear section was Karma, a Vancouver-based activewear line inspired by fashion and dancewear.

“It’s very gym-to-everyday wear,” said sales rep Chelsea Johnson.

The line includes sweaters and plenty of layering pieces as well as a chic cape for Fall. The line sells in activewear stores as well as Nordstrom locations in Canada.

At the Manhattan Beachwear booth, Ron A. Razzano, vice president of sales for the Cypress, Calif.–based swim company, was seeing a steady mixed of resort and hotel store retailers.

“This time, people we’re more appointment-driven—which I haven’t seen in a while,” he said.

Manhattan Beachwear typically shows in the ISAM section of MAGIC, as well as at CurveNV at The Venetian, where the company shows its better brands—Trina Turk, Nanette Lepore and LaBlanca.

“We’ve always done well this time of year. I just wish it was bigger,” said Razzano, who described the ISAM section as “a destination” for swim buyers.

Next season, the swim section at the Las Vegas Convention Center is slated to expand with the launch of CurvExpo @ MAGIC, the new show formed in partnership between Advanstar and Eurovet, the parent companies of WWDMAGIC and CurveNV, respectively.