Apparel | Tuesday, July 22, 2008

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SUPIMA IN THE NEWS: WWD publishes plaudits for PREFAB

By Nancy Boyd

NEW YORK — A newly streamlined format for PREFAB, which held its fourth edition here at Gotham Hall on Tuesday, July 15, and the inaugural edition of Supima’s Design Contest for Emerging Talent, which culminated in a live runway event on Tuesday evening, continue to make news in New York.

Here, in an article headlined “N.Y. Textile Fairs Manage Growth in Difficult Time,” is what Ross Tucker had to say on the subject in the trade paper Women’s Wear Daily:

Prefab: The Supima Premium Fabric Show ran July 15 at Gotham Hall and attracted about 500 visitors. Organizers dispensed with the traditional trade show model of mills setting up booths to show their product, opting for a sourcing-show model. Supima obtained fabrics from 25 to 30 mills and handled displaying them. Buyers were given clipboards and pens to write down the fabrics for which they wanted samples.

Reaction among buyers to new format was mixed. While some approved, others had difficulties crouching down to view fabrics displayed at low levels on the displays and trying to write with one hand while using the other to lift up fabrics in order to see the information tag on the back side.

Supima capped off the day’s events with its first runway show. The 25 emerging New York designers, selected by a judging panel last month, demonstrated that there’s nothing one-note about cotton. Offerings ranged from elegant bridalwear to punky deconstructed dresses and a retro-chic bustle gown.

Of the 31 outfits — some designers had more than one look — only one featured shorts, from Form’s Jerry Tam. Standouts included Satsi Khalsa’s playful gown strewn with multicolor origami appliqués and Astrid Brucker’s minimalist dress punched up with a bold zipper detailing in the back.