Last weekend, September 7-8, while the Action Sports Retailer show did its thing at the Convention Center in downtown San Diego, Agenda Trade Show at the Community Concourse, a few blocks up was where the mash-up of cultures took place, resulting in a show with such energy and crowds of buyers, distributors, media, and manufacturers, that by the second day at 2, it reached max-capacity. In it’s 9^th show in San Diego (and 21^st worldwide), Agenda has stretched from being 30 brands represented in a restaurant in January of ’03, to around 240 brands this September of ’07.

Agenda’s m.o. is that it provides a forum between streetwear, urbanwear, and action sports, which results in a cauldron loaded with fresh collections, unique styles, graphics, T’s, denim, jackets, accessories, caps, dresses, art, and music. As streetwear aficionado Dre Hayes from The Museum Group put it in one of Label Networks TV’s best interviews on the subject, “This sort of energy you don’t always get at other types of fashion events or even trade shows. That’s what’s unique about the urban, skate, and street crossover brands. People collaborate and network and get inspired from each other even though they’re here to do business.”

Based on the brands represented, networking and business were in full swing, ranging from larger more established brands showcasing at Agenda because they wanted to be connected with what’s new or are proactively re-introducing fresh collections, such as Stüssy, WeSC, Obey, Paul Frank, New Era, Royal Elastics, Adidas Originals, Edwin, New Balance, 55DSL, andNikita, mixed with up-and-comers, high-end streetwear, and premium denim collections from brands such as 10 Deep, Crooks & Castles, Imperial Junkie, Hellz Bellz, Clae, Mishka, Livity, Arbor, Parish, Scifen, Beautiful Society, Garbege,  Fast Eddie’s Commune, Fiberops, Alife, Purple Cloth, Garbege, Affliction, The Seventh Letter crew, Godwin, In4mation, Rebel 8, Palis, Draftsmen, Artful Dodger, Lemar and Dauley, Cardboard Robot, Parish-Nation, RZST, Spicy, Shmack, Akomplice, Altamont, Ambiguous, Beautiful Decay, Fenchurch, Durkl, andGrn Apple Tree, among others.

Black limos with Agenda signs continued to lift buyers, distributors, manufacturers, and media from ASR to Agenda as they crossed town to where that saturation point hit on Saturday. While recharging batteries in the lobby (because we’d blown through so many interviews with leading-edge brands to the point where our cameras were physically hot) one couldn’t help but notice the disappointment from certain manufacturers or curiously ambiguous non-buyers who sought to get inside and see what all the hype was about but were denied entry. (Fire hazards needed to be heeded.)

What’s attractive about Agenda and the Community Concourse is when you walk in, it’s like a theater and the brands are the actors on-stage. From garage-run lines on the cusp of break-out-band status, to well-established brands who actually have a strong business model and are testing the waters in new areas, not to mention live DJ sets and art installations such as Saber from the Seventh Letter crew painting live, the show ended up being more than the hype—which, as most people know in this industry, is usually the other way around.

In an interview with founder Aaron Levant up in the control room over-looking the show, we discovered the roots of Agenda, latest movements in streetwear and action sports crossover, and what’s up next, including more Agenda show collabs, an updated look for future shows, a few more key big-guy brands, increased access to food, live art, music, and why he thinks subcultures like the hotrod, rock-a-billy greaser brands such as Fiberops and Commune just may be on the verge of the next big thing.

Stay tuned for more stories, live video interviews, and images from top brands at Agenda in the next few weeks.