This past Sunday, PROJECT kicked off a three-day event at New York City’s Jacob Javits Center. The bi-annual trade show, which takes place in New York and Las Vegas, brings together retailers, buyers, and the media to converge on the future of fashion.
This season’s show was especially notable as it marked the debut of N:OW at PROJECT New York. “N:OW is a community-driven presentation of youthfully-minded, relevant brands that are speaking to Gen Z and millennials,” explains Brian Trunzo, WGSN’s senior consultant and forecaster, who spearheaded programming for 2019. “It’s a way for a trade show to get a little bit younger, but in a more polished and professional environment that PROJECT is known for... It’s a must-visit for retailers that are selling clothing to more culturally-minded consumers.”
This season’s programming included panels and presentations with some of today’s most revered voices in men’s fashion, including Highsnobiety’s very own Jeff Carvalho. In a panel he moderated entitled "The New Luxury,” Carvalho, along with Trunzo and Mordechai Rubinstein, delved into the present and future states of the luxury market, which leveraged Highsnobiety’s white paper on the subject that was published in 2018.
“PROJECT is doing something fresh. With N:OW, it’s an opportunity to draw a new clientele into the room. The good thing about doing a panel like we did is it allows us to introduce ideas that we’re thinking about in the marketplace,” says Carvalho. “And the audience is a mix of buyers, there are some retailers there as well, and I think we opened their eyes and gave them a heads-up on what the future of retail may look like from the consumer side.”
The brands stationed at N:OW included Champion, XLARGE, Candor, Super, Rothco, Rad Black Kids, HUF, Brixton, Taschen, Diplomacy Worldwide, ES, Coat of Arms, The People Vs., Huffer, BMW Studios, Strapped, and Atomic Mission Gear. “I think it’s been an amazing experience. We were able to learn a lot as we sit here and actually show the clothing to people,” Sari Baez, VP of sales and marketing at Diplomacy Worldwide. “There’s been a great energy within the building as well. We were able to meet people in different markets from all over who really embrace the brand.”
After a successful show, PROJECT is gearing up for its run in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center from February 5th to the 7th. Check back here for more on that.
