TRADE SHOWS
New and Old Lines Exhibiting at Stitch
Priscilla De Leon didn’t decide to exhibit at Stitch, the womenswear show, until three days before the event opened at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
But show organizers were able to squeeze her into a modest booth in the back. Despite her less-than-ideal location, she cinched eight orders her first day and a half for her skintight dresses, which wholesale for $100 to $150 under the Priscilla’s Designs label.
De Leon started her made–in–Los Angeles line only seven months ago, but specialty stores have been picking up the label, which sells well in places such as Miami Beach, Fla. One retailer from Houston placed a very large order, she said.
The big draw to her booth was a mannequin attired in a slinky dress adorned with sequins that outlined the V-shaped neckline. Next to the mannequin was a stuffed dog wearing a matching outfit that also had sequins around the neckline.
“This has gone so well,” De Leon said. “This line is really taking off.”
While De Leon was a last-minute exhibitor, Larry Palnick, the owner of the Krazy Larry label of women’s pants, has been showing at Stitch since it first opened at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in 2006.
His brightly colored pants, which come in 64 solid colors and 72 different prints, wholesale for $49, $59 and $69. “I only know three numbers,” Palnick joked.
Even though the bright pants displayed in his booth made for an eye-catching moment, traffic wasn’t brisk. “The show has been okay. There are just too many shows in Las Vegas,” he said. “But the retailers I have seen are from all over, from Los Angeles to the Midwest to Dallas.”
This was the fourth time at the show for T.ba, a Spanish line of women’s sophisticated linen clothing. “This show is better than last year,” said Mariane Schütz, a sales manager with the company. “We are in a better location, and Stitch is in a better location.”
