TRADE SHOWS
WWDMAGIC Puts the Fun Into the Trade-Show Scene
Walking into WWDMAGIC is like walking into a warehouse of elaborately decorated stores with a huge party scene going on.
The vibrant orange carpet lining the aisles and the continuous buzz of buyers on the floor set the tone for the Feb. 5–7 show, held in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Glam, a stylish Los Angeles clothing company, was serving “rise and shine mimosas” every morning at its booth.
And Blu Pepper, a Los Angeles trendy boho clothing company that wholesales its garments for $10 to $20, was serving coffee and donuts in its booth, decorated with faux flowers artfully placed around a yellow bicycle. This is one of the largest trade shows the Los Angeles company does every season, said Janet Kang, Blu Pepper’s director of business development. “We’ve gotten a lot of drop-bys and people placing orders for Immediates,” she said.
Eye-catching pink and white pompoms were strung around the Hyfve booth, whose other labels included the fast-fashion Favlux brand and the Double Zero label of basics.
“For us it has been really busy,” said Peter Chu, a salesperson for the Los Angeles company. “A lot of customers know who we are and where we are because we always get the same booth number every season. But we always get a lot of new customers, too.”
Another tried-and-true exhibitor at the show was John Meyer, whose Complete Clothing Company in Vernon, Calif., manufactures the Willow & Clay and Matty M brands of trendy womenswear with a boho look. “Foot traffic has been pretty brisk,” he said. “There is a lot of interest in Fall, which is good, but people are also buying Immediates.”
Popular items from the two lines were sweaters, stylish outerwear and frontier maxi dresses. Corduroy has been a popular fabric for tops, and the fabric seems to have staying power into upcoming seasons.
Meyer said buyers are upbeat but still a bit cautious. If they see the right item, however, they are right on it.
WWDMAGIC, a show for primarily juniors and young contemporary fashions, is also known for its informal panel discussions inside an area called the Social House. One of those panels was with celebrity stylist and TV personality Brad Goreski, who once co-hosted the “Fashion Police” with Melissa Rivers, the daughter of comedian Joan Rivers. He talked with moderator Wendy Bendoni, a professor of marketing and fashion marketing at Woodbury University in Burbank, Calif., about what is hot in fashion in 2019 and what is not and “the stress” of being a celebrity stylist.
