California Apparel News

Cabana, the high-end swim and beach lifestyle trade show, will sail into Newport Beach, Calif., for its first West Coast show, set for Aug. 13–14, said Janet Wong, the show director and co-founder of Cabana.

Cabana made a splash since making its 2013 debut in an air-conditioned white tent in Collins Park in Miami Beach, Fla. The trade show is located a minute’s walk from the Atlantic Ocean. Co-founders Wong and Sam Ben-Avraham, founder of the Liberty Fashion & Lifestyle Fairs, intend that Cabana will have an easygoing vacation ambiance. During its July 18–20 run in Florida, 140 brands exhibited at the show, compared with 100 brands last year.

Wong said vendors and retailers requested that Cabana produce a West Coast show because not every swim label or boutique can travel to Miami. “It’s a costly trip. Sometimes the timing is not right for some stores,” Wong said.

At the Newport Beach Cabana, 40 brands are scheduled to display at a ballroom in the Balboa Bay Resort hotel. The brands will include 9Seed, Acacia, Cali Dreaming, Boys & Arrows, Mara Hoffman,Tori Praver, Norma Kamali, Vix and Kiki. For its debut run, Wong forecast that the retailers shopping the show would mostly be California businesses. “I think there’s going to be a lot more regional retailers—from San Diego to Santa Barbara and up and down the coast,” she said. Hawaiian retailers are forecast to shop at Cabana, too.

Cabana will take place a few days before the giant Las Vegas trade shows, but Wong said she anticipates little friction between the shows.

However, Cabana’s West Coast dates are scheduled for the same time as Swim Collective, a 5-year-old trade show that is scheduled to run at the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa in Huntington Beach, Calif., which is an 8- to 11-minute car trip. Cabana will provide shuttles for buyers seeking to go to both shows.

Shannon Leggett, Swim Collective’s executive show director, said pre-registration for attendees is up 20 percent over last year. He said 400 brands are scheduled to exhibit at the show, including Mikoh, L*Space by Monica Wise, Luli Fama, Maaji, Frankie’s Bikinis, Vitamin A, Indah and OndadeMar.

Leggett did not believe that there was a need for another swim trade show in Orange County. “In Miami there is enough confusion with multiple shows,” he said. “Over the past five years, we’ve managed to bring together the entire swimwear industry at one location to make it easier for buyers to review brands.”

Diane Biggs, founder of Diane’s Beachwear, a 19-location women’s swim and beach lifestyle retailer headquartered in Torrance, Calif., said that many of her vendors will be exhibiting at Cabana.

She intends to visit both Cabana and Swim Collective. She also worried if she and her buyers will have enough time at the shows. “If you want to sit down and write paper at the shows, you will not have enough time. They need to add extra days or maybe make it go late, to 8 p.m.,” she said.