Las Vegas home to more Apparel and Fashion Shows than in one Week!

2013 MAGIC Marketplace Expected to be the best in Years! During Las Vegas Fashion Week!

Trade Shows so far in 2013 are pretty much like the Stock Market and Home prices...Attendance is goin UP

How was MAGIC Marketplace Spring 2012 trade show? Two things first – full parking lots on day three and hunky guys sporting nothing but fashion briefs with slogans like “private structure.” Both have got to be a good sign.

The semi-annual event comprised of WWD Magic with its new show and Street, Mens/Wear, Pooltradeshow, Slate, Sourcing and FNPlatform segments takes up most of the Las Vegas Convention Center and spills over for to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. It takes place February 2013 edition estimated to attract over 80,000 attendees.

All things digital and making the most of mobile commerce seemed to be the big thing. Attendees could get tons of tools on how to make the most of key digital platforms, which also opened up new content and sponsorship opportunities.

Magic’s Buzz Boutique – a large area on the showfloor where Google, eBay Fashion and Social Radius to name a few shared their insights in online fashion marketing. All about making it easier for attendees to buy and sell online.

 Teen Vogue blogger lounge at WWDMagic Concourse – fashion bloggers galore.

The Blogger Project at Project with prominent lifestyle blogger Marcus Troy.

 Magic Mobile app – well advertised and featuring exhibitor directory, seminars and events, create a personal calendar, map their show, access Magic social media platforms, receive alerts from the organizers, participate in photo sharing feeds.

Other cool stuff spotted on the showfloor:

  Aisle space taken up by sponsorship activations, including cigars in Mens/Wear, make up and makeovers at WWDMagic.

  Lots of live pines transforming the dining areas at Project

  $5 lunches
  Complimentary limo service and lots of shuttles
  Hospitality catered by top Las Vegas restaurants

It will be fun to see what happens next summer as Tom Florio, a former Vogue publishing director, takes over as head of the Advanstar Communications Fashion Group and Magic Marketplace.

MAGIC China in 2012 Provided Brands With Strategies,

Introductions for Entering the Chinese Market, Did it work?

Source: California Apparel News

Brands looking to break into the Chinese market will get an assist from MAGIC this fall when the trade show giant launches MAGIC China, a three-day boot camp to get companies up to speed on what it will take to enter the fast-growing Chinese market.

Shanghai will include workshops and panel discussions with industry experts, distributors and consultants for international brands, including Nautica, Nike and Tory Burch. There will be retail tours and the opportunity to meet with mall owners and real estate developers. Organizers will also hold consumer focus groups specializing in affordable luxury, street fashion and juniors. Plus, there will be introductions with potential partners, as well as banquets, cocktail parties and other social gatherings.

Attendees will learn about the many strategies for entering the Chinese market, including using a distributor, forming a joint venture and finding licensing partners.

MAGIC’s parent company, Advanstar, hired Courtney Harold as vice president of international development to help organize the project. Harold was previously director of business development at ENK International and helped launch ENKChina, which bowed last year during the March 28–31 run of China International Clothing and Accessories Fair (CHIC) in Beijing.

The news was announced during a Feb. 13 seminar titled “China, the Dragon in Transition: Sourcing From and Selling to the World’s Apparel Giant,” held at the Las Vegas Convention Center during Sourcing at MAGIC in Las Vegas.

Moderated by SGS Testing’s Katherine Stein, the seminar featured panelists Josh Green, chief executive officer of sourcing website Panjiva, and Renee Hartmann, founder of the China Luxury Network, which provides brands with business intelligence and strategies “to win the Chinese luxury consumer at home and abroad.”

“We believe [China is] the biggest opportunity for a generation of brands,” Hartmann said.

Hartmann said the opportunity exists even for companies that are not looking to open stores in China. Brands looking to capture Chinese tourist business need to understand this growing market.

“China is a demographic, not a geography,” she said.

For more information about MAGIC China, email charold@advanstar.com.—Alison A. Nieder