California Apparel News

Informa Market Fashion’sclassic- and contemporary-menswear trade show Project rolled out its first virtual trade event, Project Digital, during Summer 2020 in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Jan. 19, working with the e-commerce wholesale-platform partner NuOrder, Project Digital started a sophomore run, and show producers will further develop certain programs they started testing during the summer.

An important program that was unveiled at the second Project Digital is the Retail Concierge. Industry consultants, such as people formerly employed as retail buyers, merchandisers and showroom representatives, serve as concierges for this new program, said Jason Peskin, vice president of events and corporate development for Informa Markets Fashion.

“We wanted to take the next step in the evolution of our retail-relations service and cater more to the retailer and make discovery easier for them,” Peskin said.

The Retail Concierge is available through email, Zoom and telephone to introduce retailers to brands and consult on industry trends.

Throughout its history, Project has cultivated a reputation for introducing new sections of its show that maintain their own identities, such as Project N:OW, which has been devoted to new styles the show believes push boundaries in fashion and cultural relevance. For the second run of Project Digital, it was announced that the Council of Fashion Designers of America and New York Men’s Day, an initiative that presents emerging designers, would produce a section where 20 designers associated with CFDA and NYMD will exhibit at Coterie and Project Digital. Erin Hawker, owner and founder of Agentry PR and NYMD, was thrilled to be part of an initiative that can further promote emerging designers during a challenging time.

“What appealed to us was having this global audience, the trade show, the selling component and the media all in one fell swoop,” Hawker said.

Project Digital also will produce four special events on the Zoom platform. Content providers and magazines such as High Snobiety, Blamo!, Scandinavian Mind and The Tenth Magazine will produce seminars on industry topics.

An announcement was also made extending Project Digital for an additional week. The last show day will be Feb. 22. While Informa Markets Fashion is beginning to reintroduce on-site events, beginning with its MAGIC Pop Up Orlando Feb. 9–11, Peskin said to expect digital shows to continue.

“Digital has been a big shift for us,” Peskin said. “It’s a hard thing to master and do it right, but it’s been a great experience. We always thought about doing it. But the pandemic accelerated where everyone in the events industry was going. When we bring back live events, we hope to have a hybrid future where we blend live and digital.”