JANUARY DALLAS MEN’S SHOW FELT LIKE A THROWBACK TO NYC SHOWS AT PIER 94

by John Russel Jones



Last weekend, the stars—and the shows—aligned as the Dallas Mart hosted its women’s, men’s, kids, Western, and English markets consecutively for one big,  Texas-sized fashion week. To handle the overflow of visitors and exhibitors, the Dallas Men’s Show was relocated into the historic Market Hall, an open, airy space filled with natural light (over 106,000 sq ft of columnless space!), which was also a quick walk from the Renaissance hotel. The overall atmosphere led several attendees to compare the venue to  Pier 94, the “Javits alternative” space on New York City’s West Side where several ENK International shows were held starting in the late 1990s.

Retail intel

While most of the show was business as usual, I had the pleasure of hosting a trend series and retail panel at noon on Saturday. I was joined by retailers Chuck Steelman of Stanley Korshak in Dallas, Keith Kinkade of Kinkade’s Fine Clothing in Ridgeland, Miss., and John Castorr, an ambassador for the Dallas Market Center and owner of The Men’s Portfolio@Dallas.  We talked about tariffs, adding higher tiers of luxury to the merchandise mix, learning about how your customers are using GPS to shop, and sustainability (we’ll have more on the panel later in the week).

I’m a model, and ya know what I mean

Those of you who shop the Dallas Men’s Show know that evenings there end with cocktails and a full-production runway show featuring all the brands and trends from the event. This season was no exception, even with the move to the new venue. As an added bonus, some of menswear’s most handsome sales reps joined the square-jawed male models for a rousing climax to the catwalk. Who knew we had such supermodel talent walking among us mere mortals?

 

Favorite Things

Finally, of course, Texas offered a great look at some wonderful products and trends: here are just a few things that caught my eye.

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