LAS VEGAS — Yes, orders were filled and buyers discovered new lines across the nearly 20 recently ended trade shows in town this week. But there remains an overarching air of uncertainty as the industry and trade show model evolves to address a strong focus on going direct at both the trade show and vendor level.
UBM Fashion, which oversees 13 different shows in Vegas ranging from WWDMagic to FN Platform, is exploring ways of adjusting the traditional trade show model in a bid to reach the end consumer. Kelly Helfman, vice president of the WWDMagic, Project Womens and Fame shows, pointed to Intermezzo Collections’ New York vintage marketplace for consumers that proved successful in testing said types of programming and added they’re looking to do more of that as it continues to gain importance.
“Consumers now more than ever want to have a story,” Helfman said. “They want to have a story behind the brands that they’re actually wearing and they want to know more. So as these leaders within the fashion industry, it’s important for us to not only now connect buyers and brands but now consumers directly to those brands and, really, that’s the consumer telling us this. Millennials
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