PROJECT NY is the world’s preeminent contemporary fashion trade event. The trade show features the most directional brands and is designed to drive commerce, creativity and connectivity.
January 16-18th marked the launch date of PROJECT New York, the first of the two bi-annual trade shows. Overall, the show was an absolute success.
President of PROJECT NY, Andrew Pollard took great lengths to ensure the event was purposefully in an area that stimulates creativity and inspires retailers.
So, what makes PROJECT NY stand out amongst other fashion trade shows? According to Brett Fahlgren of Style Ledger, “It’s not a trade show. When I think of trade shows, I think of the big ones where you see automobiles and cars. This is much more like a gallery.”
Many of the vendors described PROJECT NY as a show with unparalleled aesthetics, cool brands and good buyers. Brands have presented themselves in a completely different way, creating an atmosphere that is conducive to the retailers desires and needs.
“It was really something kind of unique,” designer Todd Snyder claimed. “I really liked the idea of breaking kind of the rules of designers showing at a trade show, and for me it was really kind of getting out there and selling my stuff to real people and real buyers. PROJECT really brings in the best buyers and the best audience for what we’re doing.”
Other designers enjoyed the brands on displayed. There was something new on every corner.
“I think what’s cool about PROJECT is that it keeps expanding its demographic. There’s the more established brands, and then there’s the indie designers and there’s a lot of cool locally sourced talent from New York and Brooklyn,” stated Kristian Laliberte , senior editor of Refinery29.
PROJECT NY was more than just a showcase where people could display their products in their most creative way, attendees felt as though it was the sort of place where you could just sit down and hang out for a while. Countless comments about the dynamics of the show. The buyers added a certain ambience to the show as well.
“The vibe’s great, and very, very helpful staff. We’ve had a lot of motivated guys helping us out. The buyers here are taking their time, no one’s in such a rush. We’ve been having a good time with the buyers,” remarked Ben Schubert of Consortium Distributions.
“I feel like we’ve done what we’ve set out to do which is to create a different kind of market place,” Andrew Pollard concluded. “A place where you bring technology with great craftsmanship, with interesting ideas, with different ways of presenting products, and at the end of the day a place where people can communicate and start to discuss and talk about the industry.”
Congratulations to the PROJECT NY team for an outstanding show. To learn more about PROJECT, NY, you can check out this video of highlights, or take a peek at their YouTube channel. You can do a LIKE on their Facebook Fanpage, and follow them on Twitter.
The next event is PROJECT Las Vegas which takes place February 13th-15th 2012.
FILMLOOK Media and Post 