Agenda will announce this morning that it is moving its winter New York City show to Miami.
Agenda Miami will take place on Jan. 18 and 19 at the Mana Wynwood gallery in the Wynwood Arts District.
“We’re excited to step out of the stuffy convention center atmosphere and go back to our roots in a non-traditional raw warehouse space,” said Aaron Levant, Agenda Founder and Group VP Fashion at Reed Exhibitions. “Everything will be reimagined for this new edition of Agenda, from the brand mix to the look and feel of the show.”
We asked him some questions about the move to Miami.
Why move?
Aaron Levant: I felt like it was time to break out of the mold of what we have been doing on the East Coast and strive for something greater.
Unfortunately, space is limited in New York City and we have currently maximized all of the space available to us in the winter at the Javits Center. We really want our East Coast show to be something comparable in scale, brand mix and energy to our West Coast show and I think the move to Miami will help us achieve that goal long term.
What kind of brands are you hoping to attract to the show?
Aaron Levant: Our NYC show has been primarily focused on street and skate. With this move to Miami we see a huge potential to bring more of our surf and lifestyle brand partners into the mix.
At the end of the day, the new diverse brand offering will attract a wider range of buyers from all over the world.
Will the show move from NYC to Miami in the summer as well?
Aaron Levant: As it stands, our plan is to become Agenda EAST and have the winter show in Miami and the summer show in NYC.
However, after conversations with key clients, we see that there is a huge void in the Southeast market during the major selling months of June and July. Therefore, the possibility of having a Miami show in the summer in addition to, or in place of, our NYC show exists. Only time will tell as to the future of that plan. For now, we are going with January in Miami and July in New York.
What kind of buyers are you hoping to attract?
Aaron Levant: We are going to be attracting the retailers from the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions that traditionally attend our NYC show to the warmer climate for our Miami event.
We also plan on drawing a large number of new buyers to the show, specifically from the Southeast. We will also expand our reach by attracting buyers from the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and South America who normally wouldn’t make the trip up to our New York show.
