MAGIC Las Vegas Draws New Audiences of Brands and Buyers, Supporting Continued Industry Recovery and Building Anticipation for Debut New York Event

MAGIC Las Vegas drew new brands across trend and young contemporary apparel

New York, NY – Leading fashion industry connector, Informa Markets Fashion, and organizer of MAGIC Las Vegas announced today event success and positive industry indicators towards future in-person events following the conclusion of its August 9 - 11 event at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Over three days, the event drew an international and domestic retail audience, including a notable number of new buyers and brands exhibiting at the event, offering the trend and young contemporary community refreshed and expanded business opportunities and greater commerce avenues to diversify revenue streams.

MAGIC Las Vegas, the industry’s leading force in bringing together the largest selection of trend-driven and young contemporary apparel, footwear, and accessories brands, featured a comprehensive assortment of new and returning brands. Noteworthy brands across women’s categories of trend, young contemporary, sportswear, footwear, accessories, and children’s labels included: Ford & Wyatt, Insane Gene, Set & Stone, Line & Dot, Articles of Society, Papercrane, Lost + Wander, La Moda Clothing, En Saison, Hidden Jeans, Lola Jeans, Joules, Schutz, Project Social T, Elan, J/Slides, Petite Pois by Viviana G, Z&L Europe, Blowfish Malibu, Chinese Laundry, Vida Brands(Xoxo, Kensie, BCBG Max Azara + Generation, Andre Assous), Aetrex, Born, Earth, Rockport, Spring Footwear, Pura Vida, Vosh, Sahira Jewelry, Parker & Hyde, and Diff Charitable Eyewear. A new and emerging designer section on the show floor highlighted up and coming talents in all categories including beauty which featured notable brands such as: MCLC Brand, Locked and Layered, The Care Collective, Trend Apparel, Cayla and Gray LLC. Additionally, over 20% of the exhibiting brands were minority owned brands lead by women, Black, Asian, Pacific Islander, Hispanic, Veteran, and members of LGBTQIA community and more, which were identified to retailers with prominently displayed in-booth signage and searchability within the MAGIC mobile app, providing buyers with easier discovery as they expand inventory mix and deliver on new consumer interests. Notable brands included: Lapcos, Blue Planet Eco-Eyewear, ZENZII, Jayson & Paul Corp, Oddi, and Papermoon.

“We've met a lot of new stores and are so excited to have our line in new boutiques. It has also been so great meeting with our existing customers in person again and getting to reconnect.”
Papercrane
MAGIC Las Vegas Exhibiting Brand

“Buyers come here from all over the world. Brands need to be here for exposure. You can do it online, but if you don't have exposure to people, you won't get as far as the brands that are here at MAGIC”
Gilli
MAGIC Las Vegas Exhibiting Brand

Guided by Informa AllSecure, as well as requirements from local, state and health authorities to ensure optimal health and safety measures over the three-day period, thousands of purchasing retail buyers gathered with attendance of notable domestic and international retailers such as Apricot Lane, Buckle, Coppel, Dillard’s, Dry Goods, Fashion Nova, Forever 21, Free People, La Maison Simon’s, Lulus, M Fredric, Mainstream Boutique, Red Dress, South Moon Under, Von Maur and Zappos. With new retailers attending the event and a majority of purchasing retailers from boutiques, in addition to chain and department stores, the event also drew a sizable audience of online retailers – over 20% of the total purchasing retailers in attendance. Pointing towards potential shifts in the retail landscape as a result of consumer shopping behaviors moving online during 2020, this growing retail segment identifies new opportunities for brands to expand and reach new customers, in addition to promising expansion of the retail landscape that potentially will continue into 2022. During a post pandemic retail climate where buyers continue to seek quick replenishment and immediates, in addition to newness, many brands also showcased in-stock merchandise, as well as exclusive drops only offered at MAGIC Las Vegas. With the overall success and community energy throughout the three days, activity of brand to buyer connections and attendance at MAGIC Las Vegas served as a preview of the market anticipation towards the upcoming debut of MAGIC New York, where the women’s trend and young contemporary market will convene once again in 2021.

“We are here to look for new product and if there's one thing that this last year has taught us, there's nothing like seeing product in person. It's so important to touch and feel the fabrications and see the prints in person. It makes a world of difference.”
VP of Merchandising - Dry Goods
MAGIC Las Vegas Attending Retailer

Trend forecasting and market insights, as well as business learnings from industry experts, were a staple amenity at MAGIC Las Vegas, further emphasizing the event’s role as a larger business resource for the community outside the bustling, transactional show floor activity. On day one, guest speaker Kenneth Cole opened the three co located events in the LVCC - PROJECT Las Vegas, MAGIC Las Vegas and SOURCING at MAGIC - with a live discussion on lessons learned from the pandemic and how to keep brand integrity. On day two and three, guests took part in various expert-led seminars with speakers including Rachel McCord from the McCord List, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub, and Marc Weiss from Management One. Session topics ranged from trend forecasting and shifting retail landscapes, to digital presence and how to build a successful e commerce business. Celebrity host, fashion expert, and beauty entrepreneur Giuliana Rancic also joined Rachel McCord for a panel discussion where Rancic shared advice on building one of the biggest international celebrity brands in the beauty and fashion industry.

In addition to live sessions and on-going educational opportunities, MAGIC Las Vegas provided attendees with experiences aimed to rejuvenate and refresh throughout the day. The activations were designed to foster connectivity amongst the community and interactions on the show floor and included mini psychic sessions lead by psychic-mediums Sadie Olson and Juliet Piper, hosts of podcast “Goddess Hangs”, modern astrology readings by Lauren Hansen, custom embroidery with Large Lemonade’s, and instagrammable moments seen throughout the show floor to engage with attendees.

“We are seeing extremely positive indicators that the health of the industry is definitely on an upswing – orders are being written, businesses have successfully pivoted and are moving forward, and brands and buyers are extremely motivated to get new product out to their customers,” says Kelly Helfman, Commercial President of Informa Markets Fashion. “Through MAGIC’s continued efforts to safely convene the market - starting with our February event in Orlando - our customers are comforted and now reinvigorated following our Las Vegas event knowing that in person events have returned. Everyone is now gearing towards our September debut New York event, where they can continue the momentum created in Las Vegas this season.”

While the US and international markets still grapple with the lingering effects of the pandemic, MAGIC Las Vegas was guided by Informa AllSecure in addition to recommendations from local, state and health authorities, offering guests confidence in a safe return to in-person events. Event planning and execution included continuous sanitation and disinfecting with focus on “high touch” areas, numerous hand washing facilities located throughout the event and wider aisles to accommodate social distancing. In addition, all guests were required to wear face masks while indoors, in compliance with Clark Country mandates and recently updated CDC guidelines.

As the August event of MAGIC Las Vegas not only safely connected brands and retailers together again following halts to live events in 2020 and early 2021, the event’s return to Las Vegas also supported the local economy and businesses in the Las Vegas area. Combined with co-located events PROJECT Las Vegas – the contemporary men’s and women’s market event, and SOURCING at MAGIC – the sourcing and supply chain event, these three distinct events hosted in concert to one another had an overall economic impact of an estimated $38 million for Las Vegas, Nevada.

Providing future shopping and showcasing opportunities for the trend and young contemporary market, previously announced MAGIC New York will make its East Coast debut on September 19-21 at the Jacob Javits Center alongside the elevated women’s contemporary market event, COTERIE New York. Upcoming future dates for 2022 MAGIC events, are available now with more to be released later this year. These upcoming event announcements, while providing local economic benefits, will also promise additional opportunities for brands and buyers to further capitalize on the successes seen in Las Vegas

ABOUT MAGIC

MAGIC is a high energy fashion experience and home to the largest selection of trend-driven and young contemporary apparel, footwear, and accessories in the industry.  Fusing scale with curation to drive commerce, creativity, and connections, MAGIC joins A global audience of retail buyers - from big-box to boutique – together with influencers, media, and industry thought leaders.  MAGIC is more than just an event: it’s a deeply rooted community and a place brands and retailers call home. 

ABOUT INFORMA MARKETS FASHION

Informa Markets Fashion connects and inspires the global fashion community through online experiences, industry insights, and worldwide fashion trade events including MAGIC, COTERIE, PROJECT, and SOURCING at MAGIC. From more effective manufacturing and supply chain opportunities to creative design inspiration and retail on the wholesale floor, Informa Markets Fashion’s diverse portfolio supports the entire fashion ecosystem - fostering innovation and driving creativity year-round.