PROJECT Las Vegas continues to be a keystone event that promotes discovery and connection between brands and retailers in the contemporary market and that was reflected in the increased number of new retailers and new brands we saw at PROJECT Las Vegas compared to 2019,” says Kelly Helfman, Commercial President of Informa Markets Fashion. “For this season, both men’s and women’s contemporary apparel, footwear, and accessories were merchandised together in order to make it easier and more efficient for retailers to shop brands they know and discover new ones along the way.”
Acting as a business resource for the community outside of transactions on the show floor, PROJECT Las Vegas held a variety of educational seminars with influential partners including Highsnobiety, WGSN, Management One, Create & Cultivate and Blamo!. Trend, market insights and business- focused topics included current and upcoming trend casting for the contemporary market, evolving consumer behaviors, strategies for scaling business, merchandise and cash flow planning, and adaptability tips for retail businesses.
PROJECT Las Vegas also hosted a variety of custom onsite activations and speaking engagements with stand- out celebrity and fashion leadership appearances. On day one, guest speaker Kenneth Cole opened the three co-located events in the LVCC – PROJECT Las Vegas, MAGIC Las Vegas and SOURCING at MAGIC – with Sourcing Journal’s Edward Hertzman for a discussion on brand integrity and lessons learned from the pandemic. Celebrity television personality and beauty entrepreneur Giuliana Rancic launched her clean, skincare brand, Fountain of Truth to the wholesale market. On day two, FashWire held a pitch competition where ten startups battled it out for a chance to win $10,000 on the PROJECT stage. Also, on day two, PROJECT Las Vegas hosted the return of the Rivet Awards, which honor top denim collections from six distinct categories: Best Sustainable Collection, Best Men’s Collection, Best Women’s Collection, Best Showpiece, Editor’s Choice, and Best New Brand, with awards presented in the winner’s booths throughout the afternoon.
While the US and international markets still grapple with the lingering effects of the pandemic, PROJECT Las Vegas was guided by Informa AllSecure in addition to recommendations from local, state and health authorities, offering guests confidence in a safe return to in-person events. Event planning and execution included continuous sanitation and disinfecting with focus on “high touch” areas, numerous hand washing facilities located throughout the event and wider aisles to accommodate social distancing. In addition, all guests were required to wear face masks while indoors, in compliance with Clark Country mandates and recently updated CDC guidelines.
PROJECT Las Vegas not only safely connected brands and retailers together again following halts to live events in 2020 and early 2021, the event’s return to Las Vegas also supported the local economy and businesses. Combined with co-located events MAGIC Las Vegas – the trend and young contemporary market