TRADE SHOWS
2016 Newsmakers: Capsule and Axis Launch in Los Angeles
The Capsule trade show was deemed a success after 175 vendors exhibited at its inaugural Los Angeles show in October. Cofounder Deirdre Maloney confirmed that the 9-year-old, high-end contemporary show will be in Los Angeles to stay.
Capsule will produce a biannual show in Los Angeles. For its next run, it is scheduled to bring its contemporary vendors for womenswear and more to downtown Los Angeles’ California Market Center’s Penthouse March 13–14. The next one will be scheduled in October. However, no firm dates have been set. Capsule runs shows in Paris, New York and Las Vegas.
On a crowded trade-show calendar, the New York–headquartered Capsule felt that there was space in the market for their women’s show in Los Angeles. For years, Maloney’s team fielded unsolicited requests to produce a Los Angeles show, she said in a past interview. Those requests spiked in the months before the Los Angeles show. She said that vendor feedback confirmed that the Capsule team made a right choice. “They saw stores that they have not seen in a decade … or ever,” she said.
The Los Angeles show focused on high-end boutiques such as Ron Robinson, Ron Herman, Mohawk General Store, Curve, Need Supply Co., Zebra Club and Elisa B.
Retailers found many emerging brands from California and from across the world such as Toru & Naoko from Chile, Van Palma from France and BanoeeMee of Canada. California brands such as Tavik exhibited at subshow Axis, which took space on Capsule’s show floor. (Capsule and Axis share the same parent company, Reed Expositions.) Capsule also hosted separate show sections dedicated to accessories and The Beauty Lab, which offered makeup, skin care, hair care, body sprays and candles.
Capsule’s team is brainstorming on plans for the March show, Maloney said. She also hopes that people will have an easier time getting around the show, held in the CMC’s penthouse, and throughout the building in future shows. “There is a lot of communication with CMC to make it a smoother process,” she said.
