It’s MAGIC Time in Las Vegas.

The largest Fashion exchange in the world it’s MAGIC time in Las Vegas.

Whether you’re a hip-hop political player like Russell Simmons who launches a clothing line, or an aspiring couture designer, you want to get your product out there. There is no better venue to do this than the exposure you get from MAGIC. Not magic like wave a magic wand and you’re instantly on the shelves at Macy’s, rather the MAGIC that is the Men’s Apparel Guild in California (MAGIC). The event has been around for over 70 years and is the world’s largest and most widely recognized producer of trade shows for the apparel industry.  Because the show is so big it was relocated in 1989 from California to Las Vegas, and each February and August the fashion industry converges on the desert for one of the most influential four days in the business. It occupies nearly 1 million square feet of exhibition space and attracts more than 84,000 buyers and sellers from around the world.

Within the last Decade, the MAGIC has gained momentum because it expanded from men’s apparel to encompassing women’s, kids and the edge categories. The edge is an alternative trends and lifestyles event that showcases apparel and accessories inspired by music, art and technology.

Flossin’ Magazine decided to do our own walk through to get a better understanding of the enthusiasm. As we walk the market place, I am wishing that I could trade in my designer alligator pumps for sneakers. It’s a lot of ground to cover. As we walk past the higher end design lines such as Tommy Hilfiger, Bonacci, and Ralph Lauren, I take in the venders, their attitudes and appearances. They’re all sharply dressed in their representative clothes. I paused to ask Gil Weinstein, President of Bonacci, who’s sporting a lovely silk suit of his own design, just how the show affected their business. “It’s a great show for us where we can be seen by a lot of people all at once, we do well here.”

The show reminds me of a big city and the paths through it are like sidewalks that are taking me into different neighborhoods and cultures, truly a melting pot of fashion influences.

As I walk farther into the city that is MAGIC, I start to hear some heavy bass grooves and drums coming from the back area. It’s the Street wear section. Here I find the designs of Fubu, Sean John, and Rocca Wear. This seems to be a popular area.  I paused outside of “Phat Farm’s” showcase; or rather found it difficult to pass by the crowd that had gathered around the glass encased booth. “What’s everybody looking at?” I asked a young man dressed in all denim and a black pick sticking out of his sizable “fro.” He peers back at me from dark sunglasses that sag half way down the brim of his nose and looks at me as if to say you got to be kidding me, “That’s Russell Simmons and his wife Kimora Lee Simmons in there girl!” Russell is not the only high profile star to show support to his line, hip-hop star Eve was there to show of her new line “Fetish” and Pamela Anderson makes several booth appearances to support her launch of “The Pamela Collection.”

The street wear section is very colorful and exciting. You got to stay alert because you could miss your opportunity to get passes to that night’s party. Did I say party? Oh now you know that you cannot have this many Flossy players in on place and not have the party scene jumpin’ off, and in Vegas? The problem is choosing which one to go to. Kanye West was at the Palms Casino & Resort. Other performances, parties and appearances included Ron Isley of The Isley Brothers who had launched his fur line, “Mr. Big’s Collection," a collection inspired by his personal style and love for fur. Master P was down for partying. NFL Hall-of-Famer, Kellen Winslow and singer sensation Moby as well as countless other flossy players kicked it Vegas style all night long.

MAGIC is among the best and typically the only show that some of the design houses attend. When you’re ready to compete on the level of these Flosssin’ players, this is the arena you’ll want to shine in.*

Fawn Aberson

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This article was originally published in Flossin Magazine. This article is edited by Edna Waters. This article is optimized for web by Steven Christian (Artist | Author | Podcaster).