Label Lab Article Mentioning 6 of our Brands!

Project Inspires Beauty in the Concept of Trade Shows While Providing a Business Platform for Leading Brands Retailers in Denim, Contemporary, Premium Street, Accessories—Label Networks
Feb 29, 2008
By Kathleen Gasperini
Photos by Tom Wallace; Label Networks TV Carol Martori

When Project Fashion Trade Show was bought by Advanstar, owners of MAGIC and Pool a couple of years ago, many people wondered if this show could maintain is aesthetic edge, beauty, and most importantly, attraction to top denim brands, premium street, and contemporary. Fortunately, as we walked the halls February 13-15 in Las Vegas, it’s clear that not only has the show stepped-up its program, but continues to attract scores of buyers looking for leading-edge brands.

“With everything that is going on in our world today,” said founder Sam Ben-Avraham in the wrap-up of his show, “the economy, the climate, the marketplace, our opening day was truly beautiful: amazing attendance, great product, and an incredible vibe…I know each of you had tough decisions to make and, as always, I thank you for believing in Project.”

Interestingly, many brands formerly from the Streetwear section of MAGIC or contemporary from Pool also believe in the higher-end, yet edgy platform of Project, crossing over into this show, including brands such as Hellz Bellz, Kid Robot, Brown Sound, Jedidiah, RZST, WESC, and footwear collections such as Creative Recreation, K-Swiss, Gravis, Clae, and Keep, among others.

With chandeliers lighting halls, bright colored rugs defining sections (white for new high-end, Red for Denim, Pink for women’s), a section called Area for boutique high-end brands introduced for the first time, and the added women’s section, aspects of the show simply make people stop and look around. Hanging white balloon installations, psychedelic disc mobiles, excellent selection of DJ’s and music, free water, unique options in food (a rare commodity for trade show situations) and an ample amount of Project assistants ready to help with show map questions all dressed in matching daily outfits from brands such as Pre-Loved added consistency and style to the show overall.

Label Networks TV captured an excellent interview with the show coordinator and sales manager Sharifa Cudjoe about Project and how it stands apart from the rest. As she explained, they take considerable time curating the show (similar to the way founder Sam Ben-Avraham selects brands for his store in NYC called Atrium) and selecting brands that are unique in their own way, yet contribute to the overall vibe of making Project special. “We travel the world to find new brands that may fit with what we have going on here in Las Vegas and our New York show,” explained Sharifa. When asked about where she believes some of the best new trends in fashion are coming from, she believes a great deal of energy is coming from Copenhagen. “They have a lot of interesting ideas going on and you can see this reflected in many brands coming from this area in general.” Stay tuned for LNTV’s in-depth interview with Sharifa in the coming weeks as she delivers insight on how Project manages to thrive despite economic hardship in other sectors of the fashion industry.

While Project features a variety of apparel, footwear, accessories, and styles, it’s captured the heart of American buyers in particular (even though many international brands and buyers do show), because of the selection of denim brands featured. Levi’s, Dittos, Adriano Goldschmeid, WESC, Earnest Sewn, Loomstate, Diesel, 7 for All Mankind, Citizen’s of Humanity, Paper, Denim, Cloth, Rag ‘n Bone, Rock ‘n Republic, and True Religion were among the legion of leading-edge denim showcasing collections for Fall ’08 and Spring ’09—most of which either have a green aesthetic to new collections or changes in styles moving cleaner and wider. However it’s the hidden gems at this show that also tip styles into new directions such as Rubber Duck boots/sneaks/uggs out of Copenhagen (that come in BAPE-like colors), tapered bell-shaped jean styles from Kunna jeans in Japan, the introduction of new designers from China such as Vintage China and their elaborate Chinese-inspired stitching, Drifter from Southern California and their denim, T’s, and amazing jackets reflecting a take on retro moto, and rave-colored stovepipe denim from Keith Richard’s daughter’s brand, 4 Stroke Jeans.

In other categories, Modern Amusement, Triple 5 Soul, Hellz Bellz, Pre-Loved, eco-friendly brand Re:Volve out of Park City, UT, kept things fresh with either new takes on women’s and men’s street and contemporary fashion, or in the case of Toronto-based Pre-Loved, clothing designs made from vintage pieces re-sewn.

John Fluevog premiered their new boot called the Twin Turbine High created for Perry Farrell, as well as the Erica saddle shoe. Upper-end sneaker brands such as adidas Originals (who are also launching adidas Original denim by Diesel), ALife, and Creative Recreation continued to have heavy traffic flow from buyers looking into the next evolution of sneaker culture and fashion for more premium markets.

Interestingly, Kid Robot, known for creating urban vinyl toys, also premiered with their collection of accessories and bright-colored apparel. Super sunglasses were on hand providing rave, ‘80’s RayBan inspiration, along with staple brands that continues to re-invent themselves while maintaining their classic aesthetics such as Fred Perry and Original Penguin both with their women’s collections, and LaCoste in terms of shoe styles.

Overall, trends from the show and notes from manufacturers and buyers indicated that the first day was simply packed with business taking place right up to the end of the show. The next 2 days slowed, but only slightly. The advent of the women’s section generated huge buzz and opportunity for crossover street and contemporary brands, as well as the continued siphoning of what were originally action sports inspired brands and streetwear into the higher-end markets presented by buyers who basically only go to Project.

The international vibe also makes Project unique. If there’s a show that tends to showcase fresh designs from new locations, ranging across Europe, Africa, China, Brazil, and Japan, it’s Project that tends to attract these manufacturers and eclectic buyers.