Three dozen students, roughly double the size of Oregon State’s typical contingent, immersed themselves in the fashion industry’s biggest trade show last month, the world-renowned MAGIC event in Las Vegas.
“It’s usually 18 or 20, but I can’t justify turning anyone down,” said apparel design instructor Marianne Dickson, who led the group. “Especially because the more people who go, the cheaper it becomes. I have students who have never left Oregon, never been on plane, but it’s a really great experience even for people who travel all the time.”
The three-day, two-night trip is a relatively inexpensive one since MAGIC grants Dickson and her students free admission.
“We’re one of the few schools that go – I don’t know why,” she said. “We started about eight years ago. I just called and got permission and we’ve been doing it ever since.”
MAGIC stands for the Men’s Apparel Guild In California, which organized its first show in 1933 in Los Angeles. The twice-yearly events, one in February, the other in August, have been held in Las Vegas since 1988. About 80,000 people were at the Mandalay Bay and Las Vegas convention centers for the most recent edition of the largest global marketplace for apparel, accessories, footwear and sourcing resources.
“Students get to see thousands of brands that have booths, large and small, and they get to see the products that will be in stores in three to six months,” Dickson said. “They get to witness buyers from all over the world meeting with brands and placing orders and hear about the latest trends in fashion and manufacturing.”
Eliot Frack, a senior double-majoring in apparel design and merchandising management, learned that when it comes to deal-making, everything is “a huge haggle.”
“How it’s delivered, who it’s delivered to, who’s paying for shipment – you hear conversations going on all over the place in the background,” she said.
Grant Abel, a senior in merchandising management, took note of the power of social media.
“One thing that I genuinely enjoyed seeing as a man who loves men’s fashion and men’s-only brands were smaller, luxury brands that I’ve discovered through social media,” he said. “To get to this point where the public already supports and buys from them gives much more leverage going into talks with buyers; it’s a huge advantage in today’s retailing world that can make or break your chances of success.”
