NEW YORK – AccessoriesTheShow — held at the Jacob K. Javits Center this week in tandem with Coterie — provided a small mix of accessories options to buyers attending the bigger apparel show.
Steven by Steve Madden’s national sales manager Kirsten Grindeland said the show’s traffic “overall has been a little less than expected.”
However, the brand’s recent design overhaul with “elevated product with a higher perceived value” has been “really enjoyed by buyers,” she said. Finding stylistic favor were “saddle bags and cross-bodies. I think the shape lends itself to being functional with more room than a smaller cross-body would allow.”
Jewelry line Amorium New York’s Jessica Durazno said buyers at the show “are asking for new arrivals.”
“They are looking for unique, trendy edgy stuff” and were not as interested in repeat designs, she said.
Shaun Schlimper of Veneto handbags echoed a similar mood. “One-hundred percent, people are looking for new designs over repeats,” he said.
His and Durazno’s statements concur with a recent WWD report describing retailers’ present quest for newness in the accessories market, which for too long had relied on repeat designs in tweaked color ways or treatments.
“It started when people looked in their closets and started to say they’ve seen it already and don’t need another one,” Schlimper said of the change.