Still probably the biggest and most important tradeshow week on the global fashion calendar, the Magic and Modern Assembly set of shows rocked up once again into the Nevada desert and the surreal weirdness that is Las Vegas.
I don’t think i’ll ever understand what attracts people to come to this place other than because they have to do it out of some sort of obligation. However, the fact is, a ton of people come here because they actually think it’s the best place to have a holiday?! Mental.
There are lots of shows happening that week, but the top tier show is undoubtedly Liberty Fairs - an amalgamation of upscale and contemporary mens and womenswear, footwear, headwear and accessories. We are blessed to be an integral part of this show sitting alongside the likes of Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake, Neuw Denim, Christy’s etc so you know the stores and buyers are all on point.
Every time i have been to Vegas the weather has always turned up. Sun, more sun, time round the pool, you know the deal. This time, it well and truly stuck two fingers up at us. It was rubbish. Cloudy, cold and one day it even pissed down?! What the fuck. Not what i expect when i’m in the middle of the desert! I shed a few tears before getting my shit together…
On this particular trip we were on a mission to ramp things up on our presence in the US and Canada and as such much time was spent plotting our strategies and plans in the hotel room lounge before we got bored and wanted to go and set up the booth. However this was not before my usual hanger blag with the hotel, calling the front desk for all of our booth requirements…
‘Hello i need more room hangers please…100’
’One hundred sir?? are you sure??’
‘Yes i am positive, i change my outfit at least 4 times a day when i’m in Vegas’
‘Of course sir, i understand, will have them up right away…’
Setting up the booth generally goes one of two ways - just inch perfect, or completely and utterly fucking terrible. There is no in between. All brands who have done this will testify this in a court of law. Suffice to say this time we smashed our booth set up. Everything hung, steamed and ready to roll. I even got the floor sticker down straight and perfect (lets not talk about the carpet layers, who came that night and laid the aisle carpets wonky which made my floor sticker look like someone with one eye had put it down).
You never can tell if a show is going to be busy or rammed out with buyers and people that look like something out of a Pharrell Williams video. To be honest Vegas was quiet by Vegas standards but the show delivered and we were mobbed out for two of the three days. All of the agents that we work with from the US manned the booth and this bought in a lot of stores from all over the continent as well as Canada, Australia and Central America.
The special fashion blogging booths erected for the show also featured us on their trends wall and shot key pieces from the collection throughout. This made me very happy…but not as happy as the ice cream counter i found in the Venetian shoppes after the first day (yes it is spelt shoppes, and in honour of the retard who chose this name i always pronounce it that way when asking for directions to places i already know how to get to). They had ice cream flavours that i had never even heard of before. I tried about 20 out before settling on this weird chocolate/vanilla hybrid and a hazelnut chocolate combo. I am a man of simple pleasures.
Pretty much every day and night was filled with work commitments, working on the booth from 8 till 6, taking key stores and the whole team of agents out to dinner, (who then proceeded to get properly smashed on booze) and an obligatory attendance at the after show party (this time held in Drais beach nightclub where pretty much everybody in attendance spent $1000 on a table, copious grey goose vodka on top and then stood there nodding their heads at the DJ and not talking to each other) - the DJ actually got pissed off at one stage and told everyone to fix up - i didn’t notice cos i was dancing like i was stoned to trap music for 10 minutes and taking the piss out of American douchebags. I then went home in a wheelchair cos i pulled my hamstring on this one move…………..that is not true.
So, another show wrapped up, we got a lot done and our agency network is watertight now so you should be seeing a ton more KING product across the whole of the US and Canada next year. You never know, you might even get to see some A-listers representing as well…or not. Keep your eyes peeled.
#libertyfairs
#kingapparel