California Apparel News

The Agenda trade show moved to a bigger hall for its Feb. 20–22 run in Las Vegas, but the spirit of the streetwear-and action sports–focused event remained similar to its past Vegas shows.

Agenda moved to the Sands Expo Hall B from Hall D, so the show had more than 88,000 additional square feet to play with. The new real estate allowed Agenda to add a new section, Enclave, to its Vegas production. The art-inspired Enclave was introduced at Agenda’s much bigger show in Long Beach, Calif., in January. Enclave specifically offered space for brands to take a 10-by-10 space and build a unique environment.

In the case of Feature, a Las Vegas–headquartered boutique and brand, it built an installation of a waffle house–style restaurant. Called the Feature Waffle House, the booth was a backdrop for its product collaboration with footwear and apparel company Saucony. Along with checkerboard floors and bar stools, it featured a sneaker inspired by the colors of Belgian waffles.

Aaron Levant, Agenda’s founder, said that the number of vendors at the recent show was about even with the Agenda Vegas from February 2016. He also noted that buyers for retailers such as Tilly’s, Pacific Sunwear, Active, Nordstrom, Macy’s and American Rag Cie shopped the show. For Agenda exhibitor Alberto Rodriguez, his Soulstar brand worked with more international retailers at the Vegas show compared to past Agenda Vegas shows, he said.

Many of Agenda’s veteran vendors—such as ’47, The Hundreds, Ezekiel, Herschel Supply Co., Primitive Skateboarding and Staple—exhibited at the show. John Rabik, ’47’s national account manager, said that his booth enjoyed an uptick in traffic. “Our ’47 Clean Up caps really opened a lot of doors for us because of the dad-hat trend, with a lot of buyers seeking a full head-to-toe look from us,” he said.

For Polish brand Femi Stories, the Vegas show served as a second round at Agenda. The Warsaw-headquartered brand made its American trade-show debut at Agenda Long Beach in January. It showed California-inspired beach clothes and swimwear at its booth. Looks included a women’s rash guard and gold-colored mini-skirt. “There is a lot of men’s stuff,” Julianna Marczynska, Femi Stories’ sales director, said of Agenda Vegas. “But we are doing something new.”

Art-driven graphics continued to make a splash at Agenda and may have been even more prominent in 2017, said Gene Han, owner of the Alumni and Hatchet Supply Co. boutiques with locations in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Los Angeles. He also noted that more vendors were offering customization services for retailers and that they were offering smaller minimums for private labels. “If they could have more private-label manufacturing, that would be an important thing for retailers,” Han said.