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.

From February 12th to the 15th the JUZD team was in Las Vegas checking out North America’s premiere fashion trade shows, MAGIC, POOL, and PROJECT. Despite the predicting US recession the buyers were spending and spending lots. It was a good season for the brands we visited. Above photo (Jing Liu aka me! [lead designer of JUZD Bamboo Streetwear], Masahiko Nakane aka Polo [owner of Panty Japan], Christian Audigier, Yuichi Ishii [buyer for Panty Japan])

Once again Christian Audigier was the talk of the show.With the largest booth at Project, guest stars, naked (but artistically painted) girls, swimsuit models, and a performance by Snoop, Christian Audigier’s booth was the spot to chill. Christian Audigier also premiere his latest label Crystal Rock, named after his daughter.

The colorful Creative Recreation showcased its new sneaker collection and style for Fall. While smaller labels such as Shmack Footwear were making head waves and extending their distribution for the fist time to Japan.

I was able to check out Raw 7. It maintained it’s high end grudge style. It brought its unique style of art to sandals and underwear (which I got samples of woohoo). Another brand that caught my eye was Hard 8, an up and coming brand out of LA. It has simliar grunge style as Raw 7 and strong symbolic designs. What was also great was the overall fit and design of the shirts. It fits and feels really good and the designs was perfect for the shirt.

Pool was also a very interesting experience. It was one big chilling lounge. Lots of cool and funky brands. Alternative Apparel was a major sponsor, they were giving out free t-shirts, hats, and other cool stuff. But one of the most interesting brand is Cyberoptix Tie Lab. They print designs on ties and their creativity and craftmanship are amazing. Had a chance to talk to Bethany who is the principle designer and she’s a really nice girl. It’s not the usual silk suit ties I’m use to.

As for Magic, the big show, it wasn’t all that interesting…to me anyways. Lots of huge brands. As for the streetwear section, it was like night clubs, with girls in skimpy outfits handing out flyers. But that’s the streetwear culture. I prefer the class of Project.

Overall it was a very enlightening trip and I had a lot of fun. We are currently trying to get a booth at the Project show in August. Come check us out!