New York Shows Coming Together

4
WWD WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2014
SECTION II
WWD.COM
WWD DOMESTIC TRADE SHOWS
New York Shows Coming Together
By MARC KARIMZADEH
BJI’s FAME, Moda and AccessoriesTheShow will exhibit concurrently with ENK trade shows.
Stitch and Edit are set
for Feb. 23 to 25.
PHOTOS BY
THE FIRST HALF of 2015 features a
noteworthy New York trade-show development: BJI Fashion Group and
ENK International are joining forces
to colocate for the fall-winter market.
Previously, in May, the season’s
ENK shows, Intermezzo Collections
and Accessorie Circuit, were held at
Pier 94, while BJI’s Moda, FAME and
AccessoriesTheShow were at the Jacob
K. Javits Convention Center. Now, all will
show at the Javits Center on April 27 to 29.
“For many years, we have been
trying to have our shows in the same
venue because it’s easier for the retail community,” said Joanne Mohr,
executive vice president of ENK
International. “It’s not always possible
because of venue ability, but beginning this spring, ENK is moving our
May show from the piers to the Javits
Center and in the same building as
[BJI]. We are still two separate companies, but we’re colocating.”
BJI president and chief executive
officer Britton Jones added, “It’s really
important for the industry, which is the
reason for doing this. ENK and Business
Journals have found that we both win by
providing better support for the industry.
All the exhibitors appreciate retailers
spending less time trying to get cabs and
buses from one venue to the other.”
There’s another reason for the decision to switch to April from May.
“Retailers have been asking to stay
a little further away from Mother’s Day,
which is the second-most-important
holiday in the year for them,” said Mohr.
The move comes in light of modest
expectations after a challenging year.
To combat the climate, producers of
major New York trade shows are ramping up newness to entice buyers.
“Retail has been difficult in 2014, but
hopefully, now that the cold weather has
hit all across the country, people are
out and buying starting this November,
which will certainly affect the first
quarter and second half of the year,”
said ENK’s Mohr, adding that energy is
expected to be up, with buyers “looking
for that one thing that is going to make
them different from their competitors.
It’s incumbent upon our designers to be
fresh and innovative to have those items
that will entice retailers.”
ENK is introducing a new activewear section at Coterie, and there
will be an increase in lifestyle products that could complement retail
environments. Nail polish company
Color Club, for example, exhibited last
September and will be back to offer
collaborations with vendors. The May
edition of Accessorie Circuit, meanwhile, is launching an artisan area,
with designers joining from across the
U.S. to offer handcrafted jewelry, handbags, belts and other accessories.
BJI’s Jones pointed to this year’s
tough first three quarters but expressed optimism for 2015.
“If we can have a few months of solid,
sustainable growth, it can be a positive
thing,” he noted, citing as a major plus
falling gasoline prices, which free up
disposable income. “We think that bodes
very well for our markets.”
The January edition of MRket is
sold out and up 15 percent, with over
75 additional brands. Its Made in Italy
section is 30 percent larger, and a new
Modern Prep lounge, showcasing preppy men’s brands, will be introduced.
AccessoriesTheShow is launching The
Nest, a new area of up-and-coming tal-
ent curated and nurtured by the show
and including Brandimport, Impressed
By Nature and Katula Kiss.
“It’s a presentation of hand-selected, up-and-coming designers that the
AccessoriesTheShow team is curating, and
we are showing them in an open format,”
said BJI vice president Sharon Enright.
Also, in January, the show and
Printed Village will be hosting a temporary, on-premises tattoo parlor for buyers. BJI’s Moda, meanwhile, is launching a new collaboration with stylist
David Zyla, the author of “How to Win at
Shopping,” who will be curating a trend
vignette at the February edition.
Ed Mandelbaum, who produces
Designers & Agents with Barbara
Kramer, called the first-half outlook
“optimistic,” noting that “the feeling of
positivity is from the completion of the
2014 show season.
“We ended the season with sold-out
shows in New York and Los Angeles,”
Mandelbaum said. “We received overwhelming positive feedback from the
spring ’15 shows. At this time, we are
running ahead of previous years with
exhibitor registration.”
For this first half, the show is considering the return of a forecasting installation curated by Li Edelkoort.
Capsule New York Women’s, meanwhile, this season is moving from
Basketball City downtown to Pier 94,
which, according to Edina Sultanik,
who cofounded Capsule with Deirdre
Maloney and Minya Quirk, is “closer
to Midtown and more conveniently located for the buyers who want to attend
the show. We’re [also] adding a new
show within a show, called Capsule
Accessories, which will spotlight the
collections of emerging and influential
accessories brands.”
“Additionally, we’re partnering with
The Accessories Council, [which is]
going to curate a showcase of impor-
tant brands to help promote accessories in the marketplace as well as help
new brands promote their businesses
and learn the buying process,” she
said. “We’re also launching The Beauty
Lab, a new section that will feature an
array of independent beauty brands.”
On the men’s wear front, Sam BenAvraham, founder and chief executive officer of Liberty Fashion & Lifestyle Fairs,
staged at Pier 94, is enthusiastic about the
first half, particularly with the growing sophistication of the men’s market.
“I believe men are more comfortable dressing up, and that reflects on
the whole industry,” he said. “We see
the bar being raised on the product level
and the retail level. Stores are upgrading and updating themselves, and so are
we. The trade-show platform is seeing
more energy from the brands and the retailers. I feel, 2015 is going to be a great
year for everyone that understands the
new men’s consumer and knows how to
change to answer that demand.
“We’re looking at out-of-the-box
concepts, with one of the biggest being
our partnership with the most prestigious fair on the planet, Pitti Uomo, in
Florence,” Ben-Avraham noted. “We’ll
also have our staple initiatives back, including Freedom Hall, curated by Ouigi
Theodore of The Brooklyn Circus.”
Project president Tommy Fazio
said, “We just finalized an acquisition
by UBM [that] is going to make Project
and all our shows even more powerful, organized and efficient. Since we
are in constant interaction and work so
closely with retailers and brands, we
have a unique insight into their needs.
So, my outlook is based upon our constant interaction with the retailers and
brands — they are super optimistic. Our
focus this season is on retail and brand
matching, connecting brands to the retailers they need to see and vice versa.”
Other shows this first half include
Designers at the JW Marriott Essex
House and Atelier Designers, which
takes place at the Doubletree Guest
Suites Times Square.
The first month of the year will also
bring the major textile fairs back to
town, offering buyers and sourcing experts opportunities to see spring fabrics and materials and network with
manufacturers on production planning.
Premiere Vision New York and
Indigo New York kick off the season on
Jan. 13 and 14 with its second season at
Pier 92. An expanded array of trend and
design seminars are on tap, while an
enhanced selection of European fabric,
trimming and accessories companies
set up shop at the Hudson River venue.
The next week, on Jan. 19 to 21 in
the Javits Center’s North Hall, the 18th
edition of Texworld USA, considered
the largest apparel and textile sourcing
event in North America, will feature the
International Apparel Sourcing Show.
As usual, attendees will be able to participate in a complimentary seminar series presented by show partner Lenzing
Innovation. The series will cover multiple industry topics, from sourcing
“Made in the U.S.” products to fabric
formation and supply-chain sustainability to color and trend forecasting.
The denim-centric Kingpins New
York rounds out the textile shows on Jan.
20 and 21 at Skylight Clarkson Square at
550 Washington Street. The show features
denim and sportswear fabric mills from
around the world, as well as wash houses,
full-package manufacturers, trim providers and business-solution experts.
— WITH CONTRIBUTIONS
FROM ARTHUR FRIEDMAN