Atlanta Apparel Hosts First Show Following Parent Company’s Rebrand and Refocus
Retail buyers are getting a first look at the spring ’24 fashion collections at the Atlanta Apparel trade show this week, held at the Americasmart complex in downtown Atlanta. But there is plenty of other newness there — unrelated to the product offerings.
This marked the show’s first event under new branding for its parent company. In June, International Markets Centers — which hosts Atlanta Apparel and Las Vegas Apparel, and which operates over 20 million square feet of showroom space — unveiled a new name and identity as it set about merging its physical and digital components.
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Now known as Andmore, the company aims to be an “omnichannel wholesale marketmaker” that connects wholesale buyers and sellers through physical and digital platforms.
Its first product launch was a new mobile app for buyers called @Market, which launched for the summer markets and featured pre-market planning tools, a QR code for badge pickup, photo capture and organizing tools, and a post-market recap for follow-up and ordering.
Additionally, in June, Andmore announced that its two special occasion shows — VOW Bridal & Formal and World of Prom — were to combine under one umbrella name, Formal Markets.
“The Formal Markets identity reflects the opportunities these markets create for formal fashion buyers and sellers to make connections across categories to grow business,” said Caron Stover, Andmore’ senior vice president of apparel, at the time of the announcement.
A spokesperson for Atlanta Apparel said that the new combined special occasion show has been a hit this week, particularly across the bridal and prom categories.
Elsewhere at the show, retail buyers had the opportunity to shop the spring ’24 collections for all apparel categories, including young contemporary, contemporary, resort, accessories and children’s. At least 410 permanent showrooms and 450 temporary exhibits were open.
Atlanta Apparel also hosted the largest number of footwear exhibitors at any of its August editions. Top brands included Steve Madden, Matisse, Chinese Laundry, Dolce Vita, Blowfish Malibu, Aetrex and more.
Among the spring collections, casual and fashion sneakers were some of the most in-demand items at Matisse and Dolce Vita, according to brand execs. And Blowfish Malibu, which is known for its vulcanized slip-ons, has expanded its sneaker range for spring with more athletic silhouettes in a range of colors.
Other prevalent footwear trends for spring included natural materials, such as crocheted uppers and raffia on the soles and uppers; the kitten heel appears poised to make a big statement in the season; and brand reps said customers are gravitating toward color for the upcoming season.
Below is a preview of some key looks for spring:
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