Magic Nashville makes its debut

Magic Nashville made its grand debut this year. Magic is a name synonymous with trade show excellence, and the first iteration of the tradeshow in Nashville lived up to buyers’ expectations. Over 300 local and national fashion brands participated, including 21 percent women-owned brands and 24 percent self-reported sustainable brands.

Top brands featured included Gigi Pip, Paper Crane, Uncommon Fashion Group, Elan, and Hidden Jeans. Top retail stores featured included Hollie Ray, Molly Green, Vici, Hemline, Scout & Mollys, Dillard’s, Von Maur, Buckle, Altar’d State, Four Seasons Orlando, Shoe Carnival, House Shoes, and Athlete’s foot.

The top states represented were Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Texas, and Indiana. Over 8000 registered users from 17 countries and all 50 U.S. states attended Magic Nashville. 84 percent of attendees had what was referred to as purchasing power, meaning they held roles such as owner, CEO, president, executive vice president, vice president, chairman, managing director, buyer, associate buyer, and senior buyer. 64 percent of buyers attending were new to MAGIC tradeshows.

The South and the Midwest have long been major attendees of Magic Tradeshow, but buyers and executives often must travel to New York or Las Vegas to see new products. The new Magic Nashville Tradeshow brings things a bit closer to home, reducing travel time.

"Given the overwhelmingly positive response we received from the industry in the months and weeks leading up to our launch of MAGIC Nashville, we had high expectations for the event’s debut, all of which were absolutely blown out of the water the past two days,” said Kelly Helfman, president of Informa Markets Fashion, in a statement. “The energy was palpable from start to close, hosting over 300 brands that drew thousands of buyers, further underscoring that Nashville is a burgeoning fashion hotspot. We saw attendees from nearly every state in the United States and 17 countries, all looking to meet with the hottest and emergent brands showcasing their lines. And it was so much more than a trade event, the two days were packed with live music performances as well as on and off-site parties, giving the event a festival vibe. In my conversations with participating brands and the buyers, there was a recurring theme that everyone had an incredible experience and loved that we brought together the national fashion community to Nashville. We could not be happier with the end result of the event’s debut in Nashville and look forward to expanding in the coming years. After closing out an unforgettable Nashville event, we head straight into MAGIC Las Vegas, fashion’s most anticipated large-scale event, with enthusiasm and we can already feel the excitement surrounding it.”

Since the end of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, tradeshows have been making a slow and steady comeback. International menswear tradeshow Pitti Uomo had a major season this past winter, despite the threat of the then spreading omicron COVID-19 variant. FashionGo Palm Springs also recently had a moderate turnout for their omnichannel show. The launch of Magic Nashville comes after the pent-up demand of buyers wanting to return to in-person formats.