WWDMAGIC, the twice yearly fashion trade show, is the ultimate fashion commerce hub and I love every square inch and minute of it. MAGIC MARKET WEEK is comprised of 10 separate tradeshow platforms spanning both the Las Vegas Convention Center and Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Talk about a fashion takeover! While New York, London, Milan and Paris showcase the immaculate collections of designers, MAGIC gets down to the bottom line of fashion. I had the opportunity to attend WWDMAGIC this year as one of their Official Bloggers and it was a great experience every moment of it.
WWDMAGIC brings together brands, buyers, showrooms, and sourcing companies to bring fashion to the consumer. Consumers see the avant garde, the jet setter lifestyle, and the (bold and the) beautiful on the runways of Fashion Week; they want to live it and they want to own it. WWDMAGIC brings the aspirational and unattainable to consumers – it is the business of fashion. It is a very unique experience to see fashion in action and to get an insider’s peek into how fashion extends beyond the design and the art and into the world of commerce, working as an engine of the economy. The way I like to sum it up for people who have never been to WWDMAGIC is as such: NYFW tells you what you want and WWDMAGIC makes it happen.
As much as WWDMAGIC sounds and feels big business, it is also the place to try new concepts and learn about new designers. I like this upperhand as it gives me a six-month lead time to stock up the trends and items that everyone else will be coveting in just a few short months. Leather chaps on the runway were not just thrown on the runway, they were tested out in this giant fashion incubator that is MAGIC MARKET WEEK.
The Emerging Designer Showcase is one of my favorite stops at WWDMAGIC. Everyone wants to be in the know of the next up and coming designer – who wouldn’t want to hobnob around Vegas with the next it designer? Well, the Emerging Designer Showcase introduces those very up and coming designers to the industry, so you can meet the next Rodarte or Christian Siriano.
I’ll be writing more about the trends and designers at WWDMAGIC, including a haul post in the coming weeks. As of now, I’m already itching to get back to Vegas in August to experience the business of fashion that is WWDMAGIC.
