August 25^th to August 28^th was the MAGIC week in Las Vegas for 2008, North America’s biggest fashion tradeshow. This year JUZD Bamboo showcased it’s wears at the Pool show. When I first started I tried finding the clear difference between the shows but I was unsuccessful.

From my experience I can tell you the clear cut differences between each show.

MAGIC – The biggest show of them all, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Most of the major brands are here. The average size of the booths are at least 800 square feet. This show covers everything from sportswear to formal wear to big label streetwear and even an outsourcing section. If you are a small player don’t even think about it. You’ll be overshadow by all the oversize booths. Retail tees from $20-$70. Mainly the lower and mid range.

POOL – This is for new brands and brands tailor to the Threadless type of customers. The younger crowd who like clever graphics and saying on tees. A lot of the shirts are Blanks from American Apparel with prints over it. Each design and concept is different from another. In addition these brands don’t have their name or logo on it. I see all of these brands as commodities because of that. I don’t understand why buyers would choose one over another.

There were also big brands that chase after this market, brands such as TokiDoki and Alternative Apparel which once again was the major sponsor for POOL. Retail tees from $20-$40.

PROJECT – Project which takes place at Sands Expo has the high end streetwear. Aim at the contemporary market this is where most of the brands are found. And this show is happening. Most of the people I know are in this show and they tell me that it was crazy. The first day they didn’t even had time to have lunch. They were busy taking orders left and right. This is a major contrast to the floor at POOL, especially where we were at, it was like a ghost town. Retail tees from $40-over $150.

SLATE – This year MAGIC had a new section to compete with PROJECT. It’s called SLATE. This is where the higher brands are. This was created to compete with PROJECT I would guess but all of the shows are owned by the same company. The layout is strikingly similar to PROJECT with individual booths section off. Large company branding is not allow so each booth is similar to the next. However the brands here are gangster urban brands. Not the premium streetwear of PROJECT. Retail tees are from $40-$70.

Eco sections – POOL was known for their eco section until now. JUZD was in the POOL’s eco section and the traffic was dead. This year MAGIC started their own eco section and all the big and even the smaller ones showcased there. They had live performances of hippie music which made the place sound like a funeral than a lively clothing show.

Anything and everything seems to be “in”. Confidence is always in style and if you have that then you can rock anything.

Warm colors such as deep reds, oranges, greens and navies seem to be fall staples. I’ve seen the old school sweaters with patch crest making a comeback and I may just have to bring back my mom’s school sweater out- now that’s true vintage! (below Tommy Hilfiger blazer)

3.1 Phillip Lim Ready-to-Wear fall fashion show consisted of long and flowing pieces. Gone are our summer dresses and barely there ensembles and out come the pants and long skirts! If you don’t have a significant other, you could give your razors a break but don’t get carried away like Miranda from the Sex and The City Movie Lim had an equestrian type look and feel to his collection with tall boots and hats that Peter Pan would be envious of! His collection screamed classic but had a unique twist. After seeing his show, I definitely want to upgrade my wardrobe! (below is a photo from 3.1 Phillip Lim’s RTW fashion show 2008)

If 5 days of sale is any indication of the future, JUZD is expected to be a overwhelming success. In less than 5 days of having the first batch of JUZD shirts in the Holt Renfrew locations, 20% of it has been sold.

“Looks like a pretty good start” says Brent Weisgerber, Merchandise Associate of Holt Renfrew.

“When something starts with a pop like that, it’s usually something very good. Having 20% sellthrough for a product in just 5 days means that it’s obviously made a very powerful impact.” commented Mira Saraf the Operations Manager of JUZD who has over 6 years of retail experience in the fashion industry.

What may be most surprising of all was that there was no marketing budget, no big campaign beforehand which financially backed brands do to build up the demand before a launch.