New Products, Faster Fashion at MAGIC's Men's Show
New product launches and improved business seemed to be the order of the day at the MAGIC Marketplace’s shows for men’s fashions, Premium, Menswear Market and S.L.A.T.E. However, many retailers demanded immediate orders to fill their stores during the most recent run of the trade show.
“More people than ever were looking to order for next week than for next season,” said Christopher Wicks, founder of Los Angeles fashion company Defiance USA. At Magic’s Premium section, the company showed lines English Laundry, John Lennon Collection by English Laundry, Scott Weiland by English Laundry and Da Vinci. Wicks estimated his business increased 20 percent in the August Premium show compared with the same show in the previous year.
Los Angeles–based fashion company Tokidoki said 25 percent of its business was written for immediates at S.L.A.T.E., according to Cindy Shin, vice president of the company. Sales increased slightly compared with its run in the August 2009 MAGIC. Tokidoki also debuted its TKDK menswear line at the show. Some of its categories, such as headwear, doubled compared with the August 2009 MAGIC, Shin said. Tokidoki debuted at MAGIC’s S.L.A.T.E. section this past show. Previously it had exhibited at Pooltradeshow.
At Menswear Market, exhibitor Dorfman-Pacific also estimated that business improved slightly compared with its August 2009 appearance at Menswear Market, according to Iwa Hooe, product and branding manager for the Stockton, Calif.–based label.
Dorfman-Pacific is the largest hat manufacturer in America. It employs more than 270 people, and, for the most recent MAGIC, it launched three brands: Sinatra, a fedora collection inspired by pop icon Frank Sinatra; Carlos Santana Headwear, fedoras and cut-and-sew caps inspired by rock star Carlos Santana; and Stetson Cloth Hats and Caps, which features cloth dress hats and outdoor styles from the legendary westernwear company.
Retailers passing through the men’s shows included JCPenney, The Buckle, Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Nordstrom and Metropark, as well as gift shops for the San Diego Zoo and Hard Rock Cafeacute;.
West Hollywood, Calif.–based retailer LASC shopped the men’s shows, and Don Zuidema, co-founder of LASC, said his store’s trade show budget had increased slightly compared with last year.
“We’re up slightly,” Zuidema said. “We’re more optimistic about what Fall/Holiday will bring, but we are cautiously optimistic. Economic news seems to be up then down—whether it is housing, employment or the stock market. It is affecting consumers’ psyches. We are realizing it is a new economy. It is a new world. We need to embrace and accept that that is where we are today. We can say that we need to be sharper, work harder rather than avoiding the elephant in the room [a bad economy]. We deal with it. Some of it is painful and difficult. But it will provide us with new opportunities and re-energize us to make our businesses grow.”—Andrew Asch
