This Fall’s MAGIC International Fashion Trade Show in Las Vegas from August 27-30, ’07 still ruled as the main attraction for the industry of fashion, buyers, media, and fashionistas, but as noted last review in Spring, the show continues to inspire brands to create their own satellite shows representing new subcultures on the outskirts of the MAGIC mothership. This is because of the growing category of streetwear—brands that are inspired usually from urban environments and rich with DIY attitude. As many people say in this growing subculture, “We showcase at cooler shows, but still have to be at MAGIC to write the orders.” And so it continues that certain brands in streetwear such as Jeepney, Nicacelly, Crooks & Castles, Live Mechanics, 10 Deep, Cardboard Robot, and DC, not only are located in the South Hall of Magic—the most vibrant area of the entire show--but may also have booths in the satellite shows such as Advanstars’ (the owners of MAGIC) other 2 properties Project and Pool, or the hot new independent shows such as United, FoShow FoShow, and this year, Unity.
But to understand MAGIC is to understand the layout, which includes the North Hall, representing Women’s Contemporary, Juniors (a completely dated fashion industry labeling to the point where those in streetwear today rarely call their leading-edge young women’s collection “juniors”), and Casual Lifestyle; the Central Hall for Men’s Designer and Denim (even though most denim is over at Project); and the South Hall which is intended for Young Men’s and Streetwear, but encompasses many young women’s brands in streetwear, as well as a rich history within the roots of style coming from the bottom-up, the streets, and representing some of the latest brands inspired from hip-hop, streetwear, punk, Goth, upper urbanwear, eco-friendly, auto and motocross, and sneaker culture.
The South Hall is where Label Networks’ concentrates most of the MAGIC show reports because it is the most vibrant and relevant in today’s fashion culture. This scene is also a part of our bi-annual presentation at MAGIC on “Global Youth + Street Culture” which continues to reach maximum capacity of 300 people in attendance each show (see Weekly Analysis story). While the Spring MAGIC show included a number of roaming metro with dogs, this Fall version clearly had the effects of a crackdown: Getting badges was tight and while the security to the entrance still included large men that looked like former pro football linemen blinged in heavy chain jewelry, inside there was not quite as much peacocking. This is because upon entrance, you hit up urbanwear with behemoth booths such as Lot29, South Pole, Rocawear, Apple Bottoms, Sean Paul, New Era, and the recently revitalized brand Girbaud, but the hall was divided with a black curtain and yet another entrance and badge-check to Streetwear including brands such as King Stampede, Mishka NYC, Famous Stars & Straps, The Hundreds, Hellz Bellz, Mighty Crown Entertainment’s Nine Rulaz Line, Be Priv, andBeautiful Decay, among others.
In addition, the area known as the Edge which is punk-inspired and includes brands such as Tripp NYC, Manic Panic, and Utilikilts, were all moved to the South Hall 1st floor. Basically, the area missed the Goths and punks, and the other 2 subcultures were clearly divided. For brands that cross borders such as moto and car-culture inspired Famous Stars & Straps, it was a tough call to know which section to set-up camp. And in addition, there was the old High 5 Campground with smaller brands but still on the rise such as Palis. Unfortunately, themed area seems played-out compared with the layout of the Streetwear entrance, lounge, and big white balls hanging from the ceiling (which looked a lot like Project—a show which often takes design cues from Bread & Butter in Barcelona).
In the front part of the South Hall, key themes still indicate that many top brands are inspired by music--and old-school trends primarily inspired from hip-hop, are moving higher-end and creating new markets of street couture also known as upper urbanwear. For example, while the largest booths on the block encompass much of the entry space, there are also brands which are also inspired by musical icons such as the launch of Akon’s own clothing line. The Senegal artist and urban radio staple behind “Trouble” and “Konvicted,” and known for vocal collabs from Eminem on “Smack That,” Young Jeezy’s “Soul Survivor,” and Snoop Dog, finally premiered his own brand. A surprising addition in this area was the massive rave-colored Girbaud booth. This brand which used to be primarily denim and was the rage in the late ‘80’s, is clearly making a comeback but with a hip-hop angle.
However, brands such as Be Priv out of Paris (think Retro Kids French version) and Mighty Crown Entertainment’s Nine Rulaz Line or NRL moved from this urbanwear area into Streetwear behind the black curtain. What’s interesting about NRL is that most people at MAGIC have no idea that these guys are huge in the Japanese music scene. Influences in their designs therefore come from Japan and music inspiration from dub clash and sound clashing in general. The first part of the name is inspired around the number 9, which is lucky in Asia (like 7 in America), while the 2nd part of “Rulaz” indicates that we are all kings or rulers. NRL has collaborated with New Era, Nike, among others, but are seriously known for bringing together DJ and MC battles where people can overtake their “enemy” through sound.
Beautiful Decay, The Hundreds, Hellz Bellz, Mishka NYC, Grn Apple Tree, 10 Deep, King Stampede, Famous Stars & Straps, Upper Playground, and Cardboard Robot were among the top brands drawing people in the Streetwear section, but there were also even newer brands bringing in their fair share of attention in the tiniest of booths such as Accomplice. What gave this whole area energy was Hit + Run’s live screening-printing sessions from 2-4 each day called “Alakazaam.” People lined up for hours as the H+R crew, directed by Brandy Flower and Mark Iacone, created limited-edition collaboration shirts with featured brands ranging from Crooks & Castles, 10 Deep, and others, as well as H+R’s own logos which premiered the launch of their own T-shirt brand based on film noir themes and 70’s icons (see separate story and Label Networks TV interview). Next door to Hit + Run was the Swarovski Crystals’ “Crystallized Elements” Show which we reviewed from Barcelona and Bread & Butter last month. The cool thing was that you could get your limited-edition screen-printed shirt from Hit + Run, then take it to Swarovski and get it blinged with crystals.
Overall what can be said about MAGIC’s South Hall was that the energy wasn’t quite as high this time because of the splintering of more shows in general and the division created by the show layout—not to mention that the Edge people were no longer upstairs. Some buyers and brands didn’t like the division and the attempt at trying to be exclusive. In addition, the general vibe was that there were less people. However the MAGIC South Hall remains one of the most important places to check-out when it comes to the latest trends in streetwear fashion.
Stay tuned for more in-depth stories, images, and Label Networks TV interviews coming soon.
