Sharpening up the act

More targeted attendance and a learning curve both for new labels and fair organisers were the order of the day at the latest instalment of fashion Exposed and co-located fair Preview, as Belinda Smart reports.

To paraphrase writer Mark Twain's pithy response to his premature obituary, it seems reports of a quieter than usual Fashion Exposed and Preview from September 9 to 11 are greatly exaggerated.

Featuring around 200 new players, the most recent instalment hosted around 580 companies and 1200 labels across womenswear, menswear, boutique childrenswear, streetwear, beach and body, footwear and accessories. And while such bounty did not entirely silence the whispers that regional drought and a resulting tightening of belts had resulted in a muted event, according to organiser Australian Exhibitions and Conferences (AEC) and at least some of the exhibitors Ragtrader spoke to, the fair is alive and kicking.

AEC fashion exhibitions director Jane Harris confirmed the final tally of visitors this year as 7,320; by no means a dramatic improvement on the previous year but one Harris says signalled quality rather than quantity. Of these owners or directors comprised around 57 percent of attendees while buyers and managers accounted for around 24 percent. 
"Clearly those people that did attend were the decision makers; attendance was much more targeted than previously and it seems we're increasingly getting the right people into the fair," Harris said, describing the wide array of new labels - in particular the Israeli designer showcase - as a high point.

"All the Israeli designers were of an extremely high calibre and the colours, fabrications, designs and detailing proved very commercial for this market."

Israeli label Frau Blau proved the biggest hit in a rash of successes, while at least two Israeli exhibitors - Ronen Chen and Keren Neftali - have already confirmed their intention to exhibit at the Sydney 2008 event. At the time of writing, Israeli showcase agent Daphne Able had fielded more than 120 enquiries including 40 firm orders, many of them substantial.
"The publicity generated was well beyond our expectations. The follow up was excellent. The runway show was professional and the stylists and models all did a good job [while] the quality of visitors was better [than previous fairs]," Able commented.

Meanwhile the response closer to home was far from lacklustre. At the big end of town Austin Group national sales manager Lynne Carlson confirmed 45 new business leads, 20 of them placing orders across men's, women's and children's collections, while boutique labels including Melbourne womenswear White - located in preview - gained significant exposure.

"Not only did we speak with potential customers who had specifically come to see our range; we also gained maximum exposure from passers by," White brand manager Jen Gentle confirmed, adding the label had gained several new accounts. Melbourne womenswear label Hael described the fair as "a great benefit to us as a relatively new label".

"It gave us considerable exposure to new accounts and industry contacts that we would have struggled to generate ourselves. We secured 18 new accounts who have all since placed orders on the winter range, along with a number of other customers who expressed interest in Hael," Hael sales and marketing manager Donna Bracken claims. 

And while Queensland label Robyn Ayres - participating in debut - did not secure direct orders, the showcase proved a good platform for the label's winter marketing campaign, designer Robyn Alp says.

"I gained some interest for orders from Mood in Paddington, Brisbane, while Wax Jambu from Byron Bay is coming to see the collection as well as two or three stockists from Melbourne," she said.

Donna Sgro, winner of designer launch pad debut, garnered numerous leads through her exposure while AEC's Jane Harris added Debut was proving an effective test marketing forum for untried designers. 

"It's great in terms of getting pointers on pricing and marketing issues; many of the designers learn a lot from direct interface with buyers that they might otherwise take years to learn," she said.

Debut designers were not the only ones on a learning curve, with AEC itself now planning to respond to attendee feedback with a number of changes to the Sydney event in early 2008.

"Dedicated precincts for different categories works very well in terms of creating a memorable experience and stimulating foot traffic to different areas of the fair, with the Street Lab urbanwear section a standout in Melbourne. The result is that we'll be rolling the idea out to a much broader range of categories at future fairs," Harris confirmed.

The Leather Bags & Accessories Fair - previously co-located with the Australian Shoe Fair - would also be co-located with Fashion Exposed from next year's Sydney event onwards.

"We found that fashion retailers are really looking for those accessories and bags that can work in with their overall offer."

Meanwhile targeted pre-marketing of new talent was high on AEC's future agenda, Harris said, adding a tip for new players was to ensure that they could provide marketing material including look books and print ready images well in advance of the event.

"We're really putting out a call to new labels to look at the fair as a launch pad. The Belgian and Israeli designers in our international showcases have successfully entered the Australian market through Fashion Exposed and Preview and the same is true of home-grown labels. The more material we can use to showcase new labels on our website and through the media to really raise brand awareness prior to the event, the better."

By Belinda Smart