MAGIC, Project, and Sourcing at Magic, three fashion trade shows run by MMGNET Group, returned to the Las Vegas Convention Center from August 19-21, bringing unique perspectives on fashion and activating for diverse apparel markets.
“Each new season gives us an opportunity to bring fresh perspectives and new topics to explore within the fashion industry, along with business heavyweights that have so much wisdom to share with our community,” Kelly Helfman, president at MMGNET Group told EM. “Our events continue to be the place where the best of our community comes together to collaborate, ideate, conduct business, and have fun while moving the fashion industry forward.”
It’s all about the fashion vibe at MAGIC, and the shows turn up the volume with various types of activations across the floor incorporating music, scents, textures, activities, and ways to unwind. Here’s what caught our attention.
Hands-on Action with Tangible Value
MAGIC tapped into the excitement of personalized giveaways with engaging offerings like Chainstitch Embroidery and a Hat Band Bar sprinkled around the floor. Primarily provided by exhibiting brands, these interactive experiences not only fostered interaction but also elevated the overall fun factor of the event. A standout attraction was the Personal Color Analysis at the MAGIC Hub, where attendees discovered their most flattering color palettes, empowering them to make informed fashion choices and fan their passion for fashion.
Fresh Takes on Wellness
Lounges are not a new idea, but there are different ways to go about them. At the ReTreat lounge, attendees could get hair and makeup touchups, get new headshots and unwind to a curated Mindfulness Audios playlist to feel “calm, collected and empowered, and project your best self” before getting back to the show with a cup of actually good coffee.
Insta Moments and Content Backdrops
Social influencing continues to trend for this market, and the shows created several Instagrammable sets, including the “Sky is the Limit” and “In Bloom.” A vintage VW Van photo booth offered a different and also highly popular take on backdrops for content creation.
Live Mural Creation
There’s something about watching the art bloom before your eyes that is both captivating and inspiring. Project partnered with a fashion artist and influencer @sunflowerman to bring his take on the connected and diverse spectrum of fashion with Metaphysical Menswear mural. Also very much a socially sharable touchpoint, it created a rare moment of personal connection with the artist, and with the art of fashion.
Project x Smiley Sports Basketball Experience
A sponsored activation that jams with the show floor around it? Bring it on! Smiley Sports invited attendees to shoot some hoops at its branded “happiest” court, fusing sports and fashion and street vibes in this chain link-fenced, t-shirt lined space topped with a yellow smiley face.
Exhibit ‘Walls’ as Artistic Choice
With not a lot of massive builds or double-deckers, brands leaned into a somewhat surprising exhibit element—the walls—to show off their style. From milk crates to flower trellises to tile, all kinds of textures were fair game.
Memorable choices: Part of the Project exhibit was separated from the rest of the show with an organ paper wall, offering a clean and sustainable backdrop. Alpenhouse brought its signature inflatable walls that are puffy like their jackets. Raw cement structures and painted industrial-style facades spoke of the textures in trending POL womenswear. Sofie the label brought a curved concrete-like wall with windows to frame its wares in the best light. Slatted walls, counters and displays added architectural dimension to Steve Madden’s exhibit. Brooklyn Cloth owned its footprint—and the air above it—with a huge tent.
And AKS/Point Blank took it in the opposite direction, declaring that the best wall is no wall at all.
