I’ve been attending trade shows in Las Vegas for several years now, but last week was the first time I attended MAGIC Marketplace, the twice-a-year trade show for the fashion industry. Retailers visit MAGIC looking to stock their shelves for the upcoming seasons. Designers want to see fabrics, tools and current trends. Design students come to learn about fashion marketing. Apparel professionals attend seminars to stay on top of current business issues.

Like most newcomers to Las Vegas, when I first heard about MAGIC, I assumed the likes of Siegfried and Roy would be front and center. Later we all learned that the term, MAGIC, stood for Men’s Apparel Guild in California, original sponsors of the trade show which made its first appearance in 1933. Avanstar Communications is the current producer of the show.

In the past, the MAGIC trade show has attracted as many as 120,000 people. Even at this year’s estimated attendance of 75,000, the show is large, so large that two convention centers are involved, the Las Vegas Convention Center and Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The trade show is divided in nine sections that this novice found somewhat difficult to differentiate, but every section is large and nicely designed. Interesting art pieces and even a forest of trees were part of the action.

Last week I reported on the ENK WSA show, formerly THE shoe show in Las Vegas. We heard then that the major shoe brands had moved to the Platform section of the MAGIC show and indeed they have. The place was packed with people.

The accompanying video gives a number of random views from the show. One small video in no way “covers” the trade show, but I did walk both convention centers, and I found every stop was a learning experience.

The Dansko folks who make three pair of my favorite shoes told me they have had two years of record sales and now are a 100 percent employee-owned company.

A former model named Francheska has a line of go-to-a-club tall shoes. She says she designed the shoes with sections of gel on the insoles after three foot operations. She wanted to continue wearing pretty shoes and be comfortable! (Some of Francheska’s designs can be found at The District.)

International Sales Manager Deuk Kyu Kim from a South Korean company called ZK International told me all about a new zipper. The zipper pullers and zipper ends can be imbedded with company logos, thereby providing clothing makers the opportunity to prevent true imitations. The end of the zipper has also been redesigned to prevent breakage during the washing/drying process.

And on and on. Clearly I must return to MAGIC’s August trade show.

And finally…..

Two buyers from Michigan told me that their task is more difficult than ever during this recession. “We must buy things we know our customers will buy…not items that we hope they’ll like.”