United Trade Show launched their first New York show Monday and Tuesday in the unique space called Skylight on the lower east side of Manhattan that not only proved the value of the up-and-coming brands in the show itself given the attention from buyers in New York and east coast boutiques in general, but also that streetwear, also known as urbanwear and contemporary, is thriving and taking over fashion. One of the more interesting aspects of United is the cross-section of brands represented such as 10 Deep, Palis, Beautiful Society, Live Mechanics, Cardboard Robot, Grn Apple Tree, Mishka NYC, organic streetwear brand Livity, T-shirt graphic artists from Free Gold Watch and Brains on Fire, and musicians and recording engineers now busting out their own collections such as Kill Shop Kill, Brazilian-influenced Nossa and Katalst. Old school street artists Leroy Jenkins was on-site demonstrating his brand success with his own collection and collaboration with Royal Elastics. In addition, women’s streetwear brand Hellz Bellz was packed for most of the two days, as well as we Japanese brands such as SMO and the New York contingency representing different Caribbean, African, Japanese, and Rasta influences from Harriet’s Alter Ego, Milk Chocolate, East Job, Product, Game 2 Game, Afterbase, and Ande Sew.
The show itself was laid out in one floor mapped into a theme that flowed from T-shirts and hoodies, sneaker brands within the mix, denim, accessories such as Bijules NYC, and then a space for up and coming brands that were showing for the first time such as Jet Boy Jet Girl, Donnell Anthony.
An incredible wooden artwork installation greeted exhibitors which was a combination of big wooden painted pieces from top New York city artists such as Moody, Baby 168 TVS, DR, RD 357, and Tabu 79, which provided an interesting gallery-type of atmosphere. In the “Mr. T Bar and Lounge,” Red Bull and vodka and beer were free for attendees, but what caught everyone’s attention was the massive Mr. T installation with hundreds of different Mr. T cabbage-patch-like dolls in different outfits on a huge backdrop courtesy of Mishka NYC’s personal collection of over 400 Mr. T dolls.
United was going on at the same time as other shows in New York, including Project and Blue which are mostly known for denim, and Capsule—another new show with a variety high-end European brands. We covered all of them and will be providing highlights in the next week from the shows. However overall, United, although not the largest show, ended up being the one with the most energy not only from the 60 brands representing, but also from the artists, musicians, and attendees that came to see what’s up with some of the top streetwear brands making a difference in fashion today.
