LAS VEGAS FASHION WEEK – FEBRUARY 2012 – DAY 1 AFTERNOON

It’s late here in Las Vegas on Day 1 of Fashion Week. I’m just back from the ENK party at Encore .. but more about that later.

Take a look at my blog on this morning’s festivities. This afternoon I walked the rest of the shows at the Venetian then did the brilliant ENK show at the Wynn.

CURVENV
CURVENV is a white and pink showcase of designer lingerie, men’s and women’s swimwear, underwear, shapewear, loungewear, sleepwear and foundation. The show seemed bigger this time. It was a little quiet when I was there.

The increasing popularity of and progression in the styling of shapewear was evident.

Fine Lines Australia seemed to be doing good business.


(capsule)

The floor at (capsule)

The (capsule) website says it best, “(capsule) is the fashion and lifestyle trade event that fuses the best high-end contemporary brands, directional independent designers and super premium street wear labels. Presenting a highly-edited assemblage of collections from around the world, (capsule) reflects the look of the new consumer and presents a fresh approach to the fashion tradeshow.”

The show has the bare feeling of the original PoolTradeShow set-up when it was still by the pool at an off strip hotel. Homogenous metal racks and wooden furniture keep the focus on the product. Hip street and progressive contemporary labels created a cool vibe with plenty of foot traffic.

The workwear look was strong – check shirts, lots of dark denim, and work boots everywhere.


OFFPRICE
The OFFPRICE show is massive. I don’t know much about this world but there seemed to be something for everyone at 20 to 70% off wholesale clothing, accessories and footwear. I’m just not sure I saw much worth buying.


ENKVegas

The floor at ENKVegas

ENKVegas at the Wynn is one of my 2 favorite shows of the week – I’ll talk about the other in tomorrow’s blog.

ENK always put on classy, professional and well-appointed trade shows. Some veterans of many Intermezzos and Coteries in New York that I spoke to yesterday think that this is their best show. ENK do that bit extra – from the setting and layout, to the food at the buffet, right down to glasses they serve the champagne in at the end of the day.

Better contemporary men’s and women’s sportswear collections, denim, dresses, accessories and footwear brands are spread over two adjacent function rooms. There were more men’s than women’s collections. There was plenty of foot traffic.

Some of the highlights for me where:

• Blondes Make Better T-shirtsand their use of sustainable fabrics and silk screening processes.
  

  Charlotte Tarantola Faux Fur Capelet
• the Australian collection, Wish. Sales Manager, Emma Davis is happy with the buyer response. Their rabbit and faux fur trimmed pieces are doing well – people are shifting more to the faux. Printed denim, oversized and aztec theme knits, and 60′s/70′s influenced items are also drawing interest.
• the fabulous Charlotte Tarantola. Dana Pederson is the National Sales Manager and a longtime friend of mine in the industry. Dana thinks ENK is a great show and loves the intimate feel – most importantly, so do her buyers. Charlotte’s animal prints continue to do great business. I really like the faux fur capelet with reversible jersey on the inside.
• the women’s cashmeres and wools looked great.
• For Fall, boots are big – lace-up and slip-on, pointed and round toe – see
• the dark, dark green that Fluxus is rocking.
• the Sterlingwear of Boston Pea Coat with leather lapels.

I finished the day at the ENK party at the Encore. Let’s just say they put on a great party too!

Stay tuned for my Day 2 wrap-up tomorrow.

Paul Brindley
paulbrindleyconsults.com