UNITED MEN’S FASHION ASSOCIATION FORMS TO PROMOTE AND ORGANIZE NEW YORK MEN’S MARKET WEEK

by John Russel Jones Jun 29, 2023



A gathering of showrooms, trade shows, and event organizers with a focus on the menswear market has formed the United Men’s Fashion Association (UMFA). The group of industry veterans is dedicated to invigorating the menswear market in the United States. Formed with the goal of reclaiming New York City as the nexus of men’s fashion and the community surrounding it, the primary mission is to make New York Market Week a “must-attend” for all industry professionals. The UMFA will do this by bringing together the best trade shows, showrooms, and brands to share events, schedules, and resources to make the market more cohesive, productive, and inspiring for everyone involved.

The group grew out of efforts by Peregrine Showroom founder Jennie Arnau. In 2021, as pandemic restrictions were lifting and retailers were beginning to travel again, Arnau started checking in with some of her colleagues.

“Most of us are friends outside market,” she says, “and we’re always willing to help each other out. When I checked with some of the other showrooms to see who was going to be open, it just made sense to put all our information in one place so we could share it with the stores.”

Arnau began circulating a map of participating showrooms and trade shows, complete with dates, addresses, and contact information. As the project evolved, there were more discussions about how the entities could work together to better coordinate market dates, events, and even social activities.

There will be a joint UMFA cocktail event on July 18th, for buyers, retailers, press, and menswear fashion executives. Details will be announced in the coming days.

“We quickly realized that, by combining forces, we would all benefit,” says Arnau. “What started as a Zoom call to coordinate this season’s market dates quickly evolved into a more formal strategy.”

The UMFA has planned everything from informal cocktail meetups to a “trick-or-treat” style swag bag for visiting retailers. Participating organizations include:

Agentry PR
4M Archetype
Black Dog Showroom
Bloodworth & Co.
The Good Six
JSquared
KFR Studio
Leary Forteau Agency
Lite Year
Man/Woman NYC Show
Peregrine Showroom
Plus Plus
Project Show
Society for International Menswear
Synergy
Welcome Edition
Westerlind
We United

 

One Reply to “UNITED MEN’S FASHION ASSOCIATION FORMS TO PROMOTE AND ORGANIZE NEW YORK MEN’S MARKET WEEK”

  1. If and I sincerely mean if, all the NYC current show promoters are able to agree to one location, under one roof and all in the same time frame then the blue print UMFA suggests will become reality.
    As a seasoned industry professional, the current dysfunction of the existing NYC markets are purely self promotion and only makes stronger regional shows more popular.
    We fawn over Pitti and yet after Pitti, the USA Shows are disappointing except for Chicago and Dallas.
    Time to get back to work and make New York the nexus for the “must attend” market that it once was.

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