Las Vegas Shows See Excited Buyers Grateful to Shop the Show

Las Vegas Shows See

Excited Buyers Grateful

to Shop the Show Floor

Beginning Feb. 12 and ending Feb. 17, the apparel in-

dustry descended upon Las Vegas for its semiannual trade

shows, which relayed trends for the coming year. At Agen-

da, IFJAG, ILOE Studios, Las Vegas Apparel, MAGIC,

OFFPRICE, Project, Sourcing at MAGIC and WWIN,

attendees shopped for every category and were interested in

Immediates through Fall goods.

In addition to the shopping focus, attendees were also treat-

ed to a number of educational sessions geared toward finding

retail success in 2022 and methods of selecting the appropri-

ate supply-chain partners, as well as learning how to begin a

sustainable journey. Coverage may be found on pages 3–5.

The first Fashion Market Northern California of 2022

was held at the Embassy Suites in South San Francisco and

brought the latest in women’s contemporary apparel and ac-

cessories for Spring and Summer. The first of five planned

events for the year, the show, held Jan. 30–Feb. 1, brought

optimism to everyone involved.

Nancy Provda, outgoing president of FMNC, said the show

was a good indicator of things to come for the rest of the year.

Provda said it was a fantastic show and will only get better as

the year goes on.

“I thought the show went really well. We had three and

a half floors full of exhibitors and so many buyers—I think

the most we’ve had since we started up again after the lock-

downs,” Provda said. “I think for 2022 we’re off to a great

FMNC Opens 2022

With Strong Show and

Plenty of Optimism

By Dorothy Crouch and Tyler Shultz

By Tyler Shultz Assistant Editor

NEWSPAPER 2ND CLASS

$3.99 VOLUME 78, NUMBER 5 FEBRUARY 25, 2022 DOUBLE ISSUE

INSIDE:

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THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY FOR 77 YEARS

FULL HOUSE

Las Vegas Fashion Week returned Feb. 12–17 with a full deck of shows

to suit everyone’s needs with new locations, amenities and offerings.

According to domestic and global exhibitors and attendees alike, it was

a pretty good deal. For full coverage of the shows, see pages 3–5.

TRADE-SHOW REPORT

Edwin Phade Sacasa booth at Agenda

Meredith Jaye reps at Las Vegas Apparel

LAmade booth at Project

Capri Williams

booth at IFJAG

DJ booth at MAGIC

Sourcing at

MAGIC Hybrid

section

Tar Home booth at ILOE Studios

Marque Luxury booth at OFFPRICE

Ubu booth at WWIN

4 CALIFORNIA APPAREL NEWS FEBRUARY 25, 2022 APPARELNEWS.NET

TRADE-SHOW REPORT

Taking place Feb. 12–14 at the Expo at World Market

Center Las Vegas, International Market Centers’ second

edition of Las Vegas Apparel reported a successful show with

quadruple the attendance over its August debut.

Representing Los Angeles brand LLove, Show Manager

Addy Kim reported traffic from buyers based in Atlanta, Dal-

las, Iowa, Minnesota and Mexico. Colors that were ticking

during the show were hot pink, green and royal blue.

“Mostly sets are going, off-the-shoulder tops and dresses

are going well, jumpsuits are doing well,” Kim said of her

items, which are priced at $9.98–$22.88 wholesale. “A lot of

tie-around-the-waist shirts. Some people are looking for cut-

outs in the back as well.”

In from Royal Oak, Mich., just outside of Detroit, Mari-

anne Petrus of Saffron, a single-door boutique, was shopping

for pieces to fit her bohemian shop.

“We’ve got a lot of different price ranges in the shop, from

$40 to $300 retail. We’re really print heavy and colorful.

We’re very retro,” Petrus said. “We pretty much buy every-

thing here for the rest of the year. I am doing the rest of my

Spring/Summer and then I will buy into Fall.”

At his La Forme’ booth, Los Angeles’ Ric Guido pro-

claimed that baggy jeans are back as buyers looked to his line

for styles that reflected a return to 1970s and 1990s denim

silhouettes.

“All of these are high rise, cut wide but very big. They fit

like the baggy,” Guido said. “We do a mother jean that is re-

ally wide-leg big.”

Buyer Jessica Epp of Raleigh, N.C., shopped for her Epp

& Co. e-commerce operation, which she will expand into a

mobile boutique this spring. Epp searched for Immediates and

Spring/Summer with bright florals and flowy ruffles catching

her eye.

“Most of my customers are like me—moms in their 30s

and 40s,” Epp said. “They want to look cute and trendy but

don’t want to break the bank.”

Representing the Los Angeles–based Umgee brand,

Jayden Park explained that his customer is typically a South-

ern woman who is searching for a bit more modesty but wants

to have fun.

“Spring season is coming up, so they are looking for a

brighter, colorful, springy vibe,” Park said. “We cater to a lot

of Southerners who have a bit more of a conservative side, so

even though it’s spring we do want some conservative looks

with longer sleeves. They might want a tank with a kimono

but coverage with sleeves.”—Dorothy Crouch

At the Las Vegas Convention Center, MAGIC returned

Feb. 14–16 to showcase the latest in trends and young-

contemporary apparel, footwear and accessories for men,

women and children. This edition brought more attendees

than the August 2021 show, with 35 percent being new buyers.

The event also saw a rise in both men’s brands shown and the

number of buyers purchasing menswear.

Ashley Murphy, manager of the eclectic boutique in San

Diego, said she does not go to the show looking for particular

styles or trends but loves the concept of shopping and brows-

ing new vendors to fill the boutique.

“We have our people that we love, and we always make

sure to stop by their booths, but we love just shopping around

the event and finding new and different vendors that we don’t

have. That’s always our favorite way to do things,” Murphy

said.

Denim brand Dear John was at MAGIC showing off new

styles and silhouettes for the upcoming Fall/Winter seasons.

It was co-located with sibling brand Another Love, which

offers a trendier type of product. According to sales director

Ben Kotler, growth was occurring before the pandemic, and

there is more business last year than any other previous year

in the company’s history.

“Our business has been trending up ever since the begin-

ning of the pandemic. In 2021 we were up over 40 percent

compared to our best year as a company,” Kotler said.

Taylor Aycock, vice president of sales for The Remedy

Group, one of the independent partners of Dear John, said

buyer attitudes were different at this show. People had their

best December or best January and carried that positive at-

titude to the show.

Although the previous few years have called for the death

of the skinny jean, Dear John continues to do well with skinny

silhouettes, according to Aycock.

“For us, skinny jeans are always going to be around. I don’t

think they’re going anywhere because our age group is 25 and

up, but the core customers are probably 35 to 55,” Aycock

said. “So skinny jeans for us aren’t going anywhere and are

still a huge fit for us. We also do slim straights and straights,

which are trending right now, and flares and bootcuts are pop-

ular for Fall.”—Tyler Shultz

During its Feb. 13–16 show, OFFPRICE Las Vegas

welcomed attendees to the Venetian Expo to find deals on

quality goods. According to Laurel Hansen, senior marketing

manager at OFFPRICE parent company Tarsus Group, the

show is encouraging progressive steps.

“We have found with all this digital advancement we are

reaching more and more of the buyers,” Hansen said. “The

one- and two-store boutique buyers, they are all on social.”

Traveling in from Lyndhurst, N.J.’s Parkway Essentials

LLC, Teryn and Sidona Driver sought brands that would

fulfill their needs for quality goods across apparel catego-

ries.

“We want to make sure customers are always going to

come back. The quality of established brands is something

we’re keen to take in,” Sidona said. “Being able to have every-

thing sourced in one location. We know people who have been

to the show in prior years and found great success.”

Selling men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, Ziv Miz-

rahi explained that success at the show was found by accom-

modating buyers and having the scarce goods they need amid

uncertainty in the supply chain.

“I was surprised that men’s Versace-style shirts are sell-

ing like crazy,” said Mizrahi, who sold to dd’s Discounts and

Gabriel Brothers, Inc. “Everybody is looking for stuff to

have right now because they don’t know what will happen.

Looking for palazzo pants, woven pants. There is a shortage

in the market for woven pants. Whoever has these things will

have a great show.”

Stormin’ Norman Chief Financial Officer and Senior

Manager Leanne Anderson visited the show from Long

Beach, Wash., and was placing orders for the 18-year-old

business that caters to tourists with its four doors.

“This is a big deal, and it’s an opportunity to shop the dif-

ferent vendors to bring in new and fresh stuff,” Anderson

noted. “I am very happy to be back. It’s nice to do business

this way.”

At the booth for Sasco and La Strada, New York–based

Senior Vice President of Men’s Peter Macaluso reported buy-

ers placing orders for Immediates and Fall.

“Business seems to have been better the past week and a

half. After the holidays it got slow,” Macaluso said. “They’re

in a much better frame of mind. There seems to be a lot of

South American, Mexican stores and Puerto Rico.”

Managing wholesale inventory supply for Marque Luxu-

ry, Chase Vance had been writing orders all day with buyers

from Los Angeles, New York, Florida, Dallas and Atlanta.

“The Louis Vuitton monogrammed print is always tried

and true,” Vance explained. “That makes up about 80 percent

of all business that we do—the standard Louis Vuitton brown

monogram.”—D.C.

Las Vegas Apparel Returns With Successful Second Show

MAGIC Grows From August 2021, Increases Men’s Options

Buyers Seek Value and Quality at OFFPRICE Las Vegas

The curated Las Vegas Apparel show reported a huge bump in trafﬁc and attendees from across the country reﬂecting the trends that are

hot for Spring/Summer and Fall.

OFFPRICE ﬁlled the gap in the supply chain for everyone from one- or two-door buyers to the majors seeking quality across categories.

Designer brands proved particularly popular.

Denim brand Dear John premiered styles for

the upcoming Fall/Winter seasons. The brand

has been growing ever since the pandemic

began and saw its most business ever in 2021.

MAGIC enjoyed an increase in attendees and exhibitors across the board and also included

a signiﬁcant increase in men’s brands exhibiting.