SCENE
What: WWD/MAGIC International.
When: Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, 1996.
Where: Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas Hilton Convention Complex.
International retailers and exhibitors representing all store types and covering all price points will converge on 230,000 square feet of exhibits, with more than 1,100 booths.
IT’S SHOWTIME!
The night stretches on endlessly in Las Vegas, and the headliners in town during WWD/MAGIC wouldn’t have it any other way.
A perennial hit, David Copperfield will perform his own version of magic at Caesars.
Other favorites include:
* Cirque du Soleil’s production, “Mystere,” is an evening filled with circus fantasy, ballet and acrobatics at Treasure Island.
* Siegfried & Roy, at the Mirage, make white tigers disappear into thin air.
* Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Starlight Express” at the Las Vegas Hilton is a 90-minute high tech musical on rollerskates based on “The Little Engine That Could.”
* EFX, a special-effects-studded musical journey through time starring Michael Crawford at the MGM Grand, might appeal to young children.
* The Radio City Rockettes bring their dancing west in “The Great Radio City Spectacular” at the Flamingo Hilton. Special guest star Maurice Hines plus the magic of Tim Kole and Jenny-Lynn and the canine antics of Stacy Moore and his “Mess of Mutts” join the high-kickers.
Many shows include dinner. Check with the hotel guest relations desk for more information on show times and prices.
TIMELESS COOL
Draped from head to toe in a vintage Italian knit shirt from the Fifties and his own rayon zoot suit pants, Valentino Parker represents what is quintessentially cool.
His store — Valentino’s Zootsuit Connection — has become an extension of his tastes, attitudes and dedication to preserving the past.
Decorated with authentic accessories and collectibles, the cramped, warm store at 1111 Las Vegas Blvd. South houses apparel and such items as sunglasses, tie clips and toasters, hailing from the Twenties to the Seventies.
“I dress males and females from head to toe, from sunglasses to cuff links,” says Valentino.
To insure that the vintage clothes are in top shape, Valentino employs a seamstress in the store who restores them to their original condition.
Valentino has wardrobed such stars as Demi Moore and Robert DeNiro, in town filming Martin Scorsese’s “Casino,” Donna Mills and the Jacksons with authentic gangster suits from the Forties and flapper costumes.
But his other passion is a collection of custom zoot suits, fedoras and classic Forties- and Fifties-style gabardine shirts of his own design.
Valentino says he likes to sell to people who appreciate the beauty of the clothes and the concept of preservation.
“It’s the art and the beauty of it,” he says, adding these clothes are “the last of America’s glamour.”
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COTTON’S PICKS
Another crop of designers will display — and hopefully sell — apparel at WWD/MAGIC, thanks to Cotton Incorporated.
For the third straight edition of the show, Cotton Inc., the research and promotion arm of 30,000 U.S. cotton growers, will present the work of 12 designers in its 2,000-square-foot booth at the Hilton Center.
The new group of designers include Susana Moyer, IS by Sophia Tezel, Planet Claire, Ev & El, Annie Kuan, Cesar Galindo, Beverly Mehl, Cynthia Rowley Knits, Chaiken & Capone, Trina Turk, John Eshaya and Marina Rossi.
The designer sponsorship is part of Cotton Inc.’s continuing support of the designer segment in women’s wear and to increase cotton’s visibility in that market.
Cotton’s share of the women’s apparel segment is on the rise.
For the first nine months of 1995, cotton had a 48.1 percent share of the market, based on fabric weight. That’s up from 46.4 percent for the year-earlier period, according to NPD, a Port Washington, N.Y., consumer research firm.
“Through these types of efforts, we’re aiming at positioning cotton as a fashion commodity,” said Ira Livingston, Cotton Inc.’s senior vice president of marketing implementation. “We’re looking to promote designers that perennially use cotton, not just a designer who will use cotton in apparel just to get into the show.”
Livingston said Cotton Inc. interviewed about 40 potential candidates before selecting its designing dozen.
“It gave me a tremendous amount of exposure. For the first time at a show, I was able to have my own booth,” said Los Angeles-based Wendy McCauley, who was part of the Cotton Inc. group at the August show. “I realized a lot of business with an account I already had, but I also met a couple of New York people that I clinched deals with.”
Because of size constraints in the booth — each designer will occupy an area roughly eight feet square — lines are limited to a maximum of 100 garments. Each item must contain at least 60 percent cotton, Livingston said.
IN YOUR FACE
In the endless search to simulate reality, many companies have invested in high tech gizmos that toss you, roll you and stimulate your senses. The Cinema Ride in 3-D at the Forum Shops comes close to the mark.
The company has combined its exclusive custom 3-D film library with its own specially designed motion capsules, which seat 15 and move in all six degrees of motion — the same as a top-quality flight simulator.
From futuristic space adventures to submarine races to an action-packed roller-coaster ride and haunted graveyard run, the ride’s 3-D effects bombard the senses and fool them into believing that the action is real.
For example, while watching a submarine race in Atlantis, the capsule jerks back and forth in sync with the visuals and even releases fresh air if it appears to rise above the water surface.
CIAO VEGAS
Eight manufacturers from Italy’s Marche Regione will make the trans-Atlantic trek to the WWD/MAGIC International show in Las Vegas once again, buoyed by growing interest in their wares from American consumers.
Dr. Gaspare Asaro, Deputy Italian Trade Commissioner for North America, said exports of apparel made in Italy rose 22 percent to $143 million for the first six months of the year, outpacing the overall 9.6 percent gain in apparel imports to the U.S. Accessories, primarily leather goods, fared even better, with exports to the U.S. jumping 28 percent to $267 million, compared with an overall 11 percent hike in the category’s imports to the U.S.
“This is the third time manufacturers from the region have shown at WWD/MAGIC, so they must be pleased with the business,” Asaro said. “The region has developed in the past 20 years as a key area for small-to-medium-size manufacturers, which market their products in Europe and the U.S.”
Located in Italy’s east-central coast, the area is home to 3,750 apparel, textile, accessories and shoe manufacturers, with an emphasis on fine-grade knits.
Newcomers St. German Des Pres di Donnini Dott. Luciano & Co. and Adria Confezioni — women’s sportswear firms — join returning vendors MADA Di Damiani, Henri Falcon di Torregiani & Co., Tessile Abbigliamento Group, The Ecam Group and Dema 2, all specializing in knits for women and men, along with milliner CDM Do Iommi Vittoriano.