The Assemblist Letter 25 - Assembling Daily And Marching Onward
Photos by Bridget Badore for The Assemblist
FEBRUARY ENDED ON A GREAT NOTE. WE JUST FINISHED OUR FALL/WINTER MARKET AND IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!
I think what was great is that this time around a lot of buyers knew what to expect, as far as when they walked into the space. They knew not to think that we were solely a trade-show, but more of a multifaceted community here in New York, and that we have both permanent and temporary brands. So I think getting the message out there has been a lot easier this time around - we also had a great reaction in terms of our concept. We had a couple of new brands including Morgan Carper and also saw some of our repeat tenants have increased success being here in the space. It was certainly a strong end to this particular market!
Now we have two weeks before heading to LA and I’m really excited! I believe we are approaching 120 brands which is great, along with some new brands which we’re excited about and big pillar brands as well. They include Scotch & Soda, Calypso St. Barth and The Kooples - so we have those three anchor tenants and obviously our great existing brands like MiH Jeans, Monrow and great showrooms including International Playground and The Collective. We also have our new crop of emerging designers! We have a modern impressionistic theme going on as well. Obviously we want to keep the theme and everything we do in a fun and energetic spirit, so I think including colorful pop elements into the show will be exciting as well.
Once we’re back we’ll be doing a press day for our emerging designers here in the space, which gives the editors a little bit of a preview of what they might not have had a chance to see in a grander sense during fashion month. Then we get into a nice restful period (I’m actually trying to plan a vacation!) which I’m looking forward to as well. We’ll also be planning for potentially going into men’s. We’ve recently been approached by a couple of menswear brands and have had tentative stints with a couple so far, including Imogene + Willie during men’s market in January and now a semi-permanent BASQ tenant which is a men’s showroom based in Europe that is using our space as their temporary showroom. We want to potentially plan something for men’s market in July which is something our team is very excited about because both Adam and Anna come from a menswear background.
At the end of the day I think the Spring season is a time to get ahead! We are looking to get through this very busy time, rest, and look to the future. After LA I want to do something together with the team - whether it’s an off-site or a team-building day, just something fun to regroup! We had two of our team members start in January and it was immediately right into market craziness. So until then, here’s to ending the winter season on a high note!
- HILLARY FRANCE, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF BRAND ASSEMBLY
FOLLOW US FOR MORE IN REAL-TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA @BRANDASSEMBLY TO SEE WHAT WE'RE ASSEMBLING DAILY!