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“Atlanta Apparel kicked off 2022 with a bang – the positive energy carried throughout all 11 floors of permanent showrooms and temporary exhibits,” said Caron Stover, SVP, apparel for International Market Centers (IMC). “Orders were being written throughout the building and trend education was highly attended, further establishing Atlanta as a leader in the wholesale apparel landscape.”

Attendance at the February apparel market has more than fully recovered, growing some 10% over February 2021, and totaling retail visitors in numbers not seen since Atlanta Apparel’s last record-breaking attendance market. International Market Centers (IMC) welcomed a more diverse geographic range of buyers this February than in recent years with continued gains from the Northeast, alongside Atlanta’s solid attendance from the Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and International.

Showroom & Temporary Exhibit Resources

Atlanta Apparel exceeded historic resource numbers this February as it showcased its largest-ever brand collection with 60+ newcomers among the market’s 400 temporary exhibits and 500+ permanent showrooms.

Place Showroom, which relocated and expanded its showroom of 28 women’s apparel, social occasion, shoes and accessories brands, noticed a positive impact on business in the new and larger location.

“The market was fantastic and probably our best to date. We had a great turnout, lots of appointments, and buyers loved our new showroom,” said Maria Pozza, sales manager. “We saw more new clients than we have in the past and we had sales on every line in the showroom.”

Children’s & Early Fall Styles

Buyers came to Atlanta Apparel from far and wide in search of new clothing, accessories and shoes for Spring / Summer, especially in the popular children’s category, “mommy and me.”

A number of children’s brands reported strong business with healthy order writing for full collections including apparel, accessories and décor on floor 13, which presented 25 Children’s temporary exhibits alongside the 65 children’s showrooms showcasing a full range of apparel, shoes, accessories and décor.

Lisa Morris, owner of LE LA LO, a modern “mommy and me” apparel and lifestyle brand that moved to the Children’s temporary exhibits from the women’s apparel neighborhood, showcased her entire collection and noticed higher sales volumes.

“The show was amazing. This is our first time showing on the Children’s floor and I feel really good about it. I feel like our customer resides here,” said Morris. “We’re up day-to-day and our orders are bigger. We’re a lifestyle brand and in Children’s at Atlanta Apparel, buyers have wanted everything in our line.”

To get ahead of industry-wide delays in sourcing, many Atlanta Apparel exhibitors were showcasing both Spring/Summer immediates as well as early Fall collections in all categories.

Educational Seminars & Events

In-person education and market events kept the positive momentum during the five-day buying event, which began with outstanding attendance at the co-located live model trend demonstration and PANTONE Colors of the Year market party on Wednesday, February 2. The momentum continued through packed Mid-Day Soiree daily educational sessions, including the JuniperMarket by IMC session, in which buyers learned more about IMC’s newly launched B2B ecommerce platform.

“Buyers and suppliers are ready to return face-to-face to celebrate the apparel industry, to network and to learn about trend direction,” added Stover. “Our first market of 2022 had incredible turnout and feedback, and we’re expecting April to raise the bar even more.”

Upcoming Markets

The next Atlanta Apparel Market is April 11-15, 2022 (temporary exhibits April 12-14) at AmericasMart Atlanta. Both temporaries and showrooms will be open for an earlier date pattern to accommodate religious holidays later in the week, with all exhibits opening together on Monday, April 11. Temporaries will run Monday through Wednesday, and showrooms will be open Monday through Friday.

International Market Center’s (IMC’s) five Atlanta Apparel markets feature the latest looks in contemporary, young contemporary, women’s modern, shoes, fashion accessories and more, plus specialty categories such as children’s and plus-size. Las Vegas Apparel is Atlanta Apparel’s semiannual West Coast fashion sourcing market. VOW Bridal & Formal presents categories including bridal, mother of the bride, wedding party, special occasion, quinceañera, men’s formalwear, accessories and more, three times per year. The annual World of Prom & Social Occasion is the nation’s largest prom, pageant and social occasion fashion market. For information, visit www.atlanta-apparel.com and www.lasvegas-apparel.com.

For more information, visit www.imcenters.com.