TRADE SHOWS
Curve Las Vegas Appeals to Retailers From Across the Country
Loungewear and swimwear were front and center at Curve Las Vegas, a compact show held Aug. 13–15 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
Around 115 brands were tucked away in the back of the convention center, where a lounge decorated with picnic tables, umbrellas and inflatable rafts gave the event a fresh, seaside feel.
One of the largest exhibitors at the event was Manhattan Beachwear, the swimwear maker in Cypress, Calif., which brought 17 labels—including La Blanca, Green Dragon, Hobie, Maxine of Hollywood and Polo Ralph Lauren—to its large booth, where Cruise ’19 was the main seasonal focus.
The company was just coming off of two other trade shows: the recent Swim Collective in Anaheim, Calif., and the July edition of SwimShow in Miami Beach, Fla.
“We like to be available wherever our customers shop,” said Katie Dawley, the company’s vice president of global sales. “We are seeing a lot of our West Coast accounts at this show and people from the Midwest.”
The show is also a testing ground to see what swimwear designs are popular and deciding whether to tweak them for Summer or not carry them at all.
A few booths away, Francis Sango sat surrounded by bright silk robes for men and women made under the Paul Stuart label. The relatively new product is part of the retail/clothing maker’s expansion into other clothing and footwear categories.
The robes are made on the third floor of the company’s New York flagship, located on Madison Avenue. Sango attended the Curve New York show in February, which was “very strong,” and decided to test the waters in Las Vegas. “We came to make some new friends,” said Sango, who said the robes wholesale for $267 and are made from Italian fabric. “People love the product,” she said, adding that they have been a bit concerned about the price point.
Not far away, Jennifer Briscoe, the U.S. boutique sales manager for the Italian-made Cosabella lingerie line, was seeing retailers from Canada, Mexico and across the United States. “Curve is always an amazing show for us,” she said. “The show has been pretty steady, and we have gotten some good leads.”
