Last August while in Las Vegas for a mini vacation with the family, being the workaholic I am, I squeezed in a visit to to Magic and it’s satellite tradeshows, Project and Pool. For those who have never attended the Magic event, basically it’s a few days of high octane buying and selling of apparel of all levels. The tradeshow is possibly the biggest and most known in the world and attracts everyone involved in the apparel industry. Though Magic is primarily organized as a meeting place for apparel companies and buyers, it has become a place for everyone to flex their brand muscle and get attention by outdoing each other. Magic is the main show held at the Las Vegas Convention center while the two smaller more specialized shows, Project and Pool take place at different venues in the surrounding area. I can’t describe the hustling that takes place at Magic. Because Magic attracts EVERYONE from celebrities, who are usually endorsing a clothing line, to magazine publishers and editors, for that week Las Vegas becomes a hustler’s heaven. And African companies are getting hip to the opportunities at Magic. In the short time I had to see all the exhibitors, I made sure to go over to the DESIGN South Africa area, a first-time collection of 10 South African fashion houses who, sponsored by the South African government, had been chosen to make the trip to exhibit their offerings to the international buyers. I got into a good conversation with Themba Mngomezulu of the Darkie label about design, African identity and breaking into the US market. Darkie is a popular label in South Africa and Themba has been doing his thing on the fashion scene for a while. I was happy to talk to him and see that African designers are making an organized effort to compete outside of their borders.
The Fall 2007 season of Magic started yesterday in Las Vegas and this season there’s an African Pavilion organized by Eastern and Central Africa Trade Hub and West Africa Trade Hubs. The area will be featuring various African companies “with the relevant strategies and insights” who have been chosen to get assistance in penetrating the American market. Unfortunately I will not be on the scene to report about their efforts for two reasons. The first reason is Las Vegas will be overrun with posers and groupies this week with Magic and NBA All Star Week taking place at the same time; I can’t take it! The second reason is, while the few days can gain a clothing line like mine unparalleled exposure, Magic is a budget buster which doesn’t fit my current business strategy. With costs ranging from $2500+ just to rent a booth space, it can be a costly lesson to learn if your company is not structured to capitalize on the exposure. Magic brings buyers from all over the world who are always eager to stock new brands. The reason for going to Magic from a designers perspective is to get orders and you are almost guaranteed to get some good ones. But I learned from attending a smaller tradeshow in Miami last year that getting sizable orders can actually kill your business. As a good friend of mine said “if you are building a house and you want it to last, you need to start with a solid foundation and use the right materials” (translation: longevity is based on patience and strategy). The apparel industry is an especially difficult one to succeed in. People go out of business everyday, and one of the main reasons is they grow too fast. Many people get into business for the fame and notoriety and fail to pay attention to the business part. Yes, the fashion business has some nice perks, but if you get caught up in the hype it’ll die just as fast as it lived. Lack of proper financing, partner disagreements, and absence of adequate apparel business knowledge constantly cause apparel companies to go out of business; and many times it can be avoided. When a company like Cloak has to close down, then you know there’s more to fashion than champagne and models. With that being said, I hope the African companies taking part in this season’s Magic tradeshow have the structure in place to deal with the possible instant success. While we must start competing at some point we should also try to set our own pace for growth. The American market has eluded numerous foreign brands. I’m lucky to have started here, but I think I’ll take my time and grow.
More about the African Pavilion and African Sourcing at Magic:
Discover the Magic of Africa
Following from a Hub sponsored workshop to provide Kenyan apparel firms with the relevant strategies and insights for exhibiting their wares at the Sourcing at MAGIC apparel trade show and that will assist them in penetrating the lucrative $180 Billion U.S apparel market, it was highlighted that for maximum impact at MAGIC, it would be important for participants from the region work together. In view of this, the ECA and West Africa Trade Hubs are working together to set up an ‘African Pavilion’ at the show. The Pavilion will showcase over 30 companies from 10 countries in Africa. The ECA Hub is sponsoring 9 companies from Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar and Ethiopia to the show which will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada in February 2007.
SEMINAR
Africa Sourcing Opportunities and Challenges
Date: Thursday February 15, 2007
Start Time: 4:00 PM
End Time: 5:00 PM
Location: South Hall, First Level, Room MS116
Panelist
Julie Hughes , Sr. Vice-President of International Trade, USA-ITA
Steve Jesseph , President/CEO, Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production
Belinda Edmonds , Cool Ideas, EDUN
Florie Liser , Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa
Info: Africa represents new opportunities for sourcing directors in light of the various free trade agreements currently in place and allowing for duty and quota free access. The continent also represents challenges to those who source in the region. Join our panel of experts and discover the possibilities.