ENK International announced yesterday, November 15, 2012, that it has been purchased by Advanstar Global, owners of MAGIC, Project, Street, S.L.A.T.E., and Pool. ENK ran shows that often competed with MAGIC, for example, taking place during the same timeframes and nearby locations, including shows such as ENK New York, ENK Vegas, and the Fashion Coterie, among others.
The amount of the recent acquisition by Advanstar is not available however this marks yet another interesting move for the conglomerate which also just hired a new show director for Project and S.L.A.T.E. and Street.
It’s not uncommon during these challenging economic times for fashion trade shows to shift focus and transform into something new. Bread & Butter Berlin announced last month that they would purposely be scaling back for 2013 with a more edited show format and exhibitors, and brought back their previous Communications Director, Danielle de Bie for the challenging task of re-positioning what’s become a trend leader when it comes to fashion trade shows.
Other trade show shifts include Outdoor Retailer, which continues to gain new action sports-inspired brands into their line-up, and a potential shift from Salt Lake City to another location to be determined. Snow Sports of America (SIA) which takes place in Denver has also put in considerable effort with their latest initiative of touring various cities to promote their research on snow sports in hopes of increasing participation for an industry hit hard by high costs and strange weather patterns.
Agenda and their trade shows in Long Beach, CA and New York City have increased tremendously and become one of the key shows to attend in terms of contemporary, street, and upper urban designs. However this show is also quite attractive to action sports-inspired brands and crossover brands on the fringe of sportswear and streetwear styles, as well as brands moving into categories such as wearable technologies, i.e. designer headphone brands, sunglasses, plus backpacks and bags, and footwear brands.
Capsule, which continues to do well internationally as well as domestically, has also evolved including a new section dedicated to outdoor adventure featuring a plethora of new brands dedicated to style and heritage trends more so than technical gear.
Overall, fashion trade show season coming up at the start of 2013 will be interesting, and now with Advanstar getting even bigger, we’ll see what ends up happening with what was once the competition, ENK International.
