Photos and wrap from Project

I spent the day Wednesday walking the new iteration of Project at the Magic trade show in Las Vegas.

The former Slate and Street portion of Magic have morphed into Project MVMNT, and everything was squeezed onto one floor, leading to a spillover of brands to tents outside.

Upstairs, where the streetwear and menswear portion of the show were previously located, was a trade show for veterinarians.

That led to some cramped spaces at Project, some unusual placement of brands and confusion about which brands were where.

On another note, I heard from some retailers that sales in January and February were quite subdued, with many believing the increases in payroll taxes and later than usual tax refunds from the IRS are to blame.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things I saw during the show was all the executive changes and shuffling happening at industry brands.

Fox has been on a hiring spree. Nike and Hurley veteran Marie Takeshita is now U.S. General Manager for Fox, and Jeff Pool, formerly of DC, is Men’s National Sales Manager. Sasha Hartloff, formerly with Quiksilver, Hurley and O’Neill, is now Junior’s National Sales Manager.

At Lost, Michael Darr, formerly of Quiksilver and Globe, is the new VP of Sales. And Rick Strassner, a Sole Technology veteran, is the new Director of Domestic Sales at LRG.

Other changes in the industry were reflected in what brands had previously signed up for Project, and then cancelled at the last minute. Quiksilver’s VSTR brand was listed in the program, but another brand was in the space. That brand, not from the action sports industry, said it got the space at the last minute.

There were fewer action sports brands at the show this go round, and it will be interesting to see which brands go where in August now that Agenda is partnering with Capsule and Liberty, a new show being started by the original founder of Project, to produce an event at the Venetian.

Above are photos from the show floor.