Route One in Las Vegas
Last week we escaped the dreary UK summertime and flew out to the desert for our regular visit to the Magic/Slate/Project tradeshows in Las Vegas.
These shows are an invaluable opportunity for us to preview next yearâs upcoming collections, trends and stories which you'll be seeing online from spring 2013.
After a ten hour flight we arrived at the Wynn/Encore hotel Sunday night ready to hit the shows Monday morning.
When arriving at the Mandalay Bay convention centre the place was already buzzing with buyers, bloggers, media, photographers, fashionistas, celebrities and industry heads.
The first difference I noticed was the absence of the Maloof Street Course / Skate comp which last summer dominated such a large area of the Slate hall upstairs.
This felt like a real shame as I felt this brought a real vibe to the event this time last year and something I'd really like to see reinstated next time.
This did however make room for more stands with plenty of new up and coming brands taking advantage of the new area.
There were strong offerings from DGK, Rook, Mitchell & Ness, Primitive, Durkl and SSUR in particular plus an abundance of snapbacks, five panels, photo tees and animal prints on pretty much everything!
One thing that seems to get bigger each time is the presence of the Hip Hop community at this event with heavyweights such as Rick Ross, Swizz Beatz, Pusha T, Soulja Boy and even Weezy coming through to browse the stands and support each otherâs brand endorsements.
The following day we visited the Project floor downstairs.
This floor combines major brands with more mainstream fashion and there are some really interesting things on show.
Supra had a strong presence with a line of booths including one dedicated to their upcoming collaboration project with Lil'Wayne. When the man himself decided to drop by the whole floor went on lockdown with a media frenzy ensuring maximum exposure for the One Distribution crew.
After the show had wound down we grabbed a bite then headed to the Mirage's famous 1 OAK Nightclub for the invite-only SUPRA S1W party.
Hosted by Stevie Williams himself the party was to launch and celebrate his debut pro model on Supra - the S1W.
Hip Hop club bangaz were dropped by DJ Beyonder with Voli Vodka laying on the refreshments.
There was even an impressive S1W shaped cake on display which didn't last long!
Our final day saw something more or less unheard of in Vegas - rain!
The residents of Las Vegas aren't used to such heavy downpours which was evidential considering the amount of car accidents we witnessed on route to the airport.
In all another great trip to Sin City and looking forward to heading back next year.
For the full photo gallery please click here
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p.s. - all that stuff with Prince Harry ... don't blame us!