Eleven months into a global pandemic, fashion forward at an industry trade show means COVID casual, face masks and festival wristbands to signify that participants have tested negative for COVID-19. Despite disruptions and government restrictions, the fashion industry continues to set trends with many firsts in early 2021 for the trade show industry at MAGIC Pop Up Orlando, WWIN Orlando Showcase, and OFFPRICE Orlando Market, held Feb. 9-11 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.

Not only was it the first-time collaboration for three of the largest independent show organisers in the world, Informa Markets, Clarion Events and Tarsus Group, but also it was the debut of three regional co-located show launches that required negative COVID-19 tests for all participants — attendees, exhibitors, staff and vendors. And it all came together in 12 weeks. The organisers were the first to offer and administer rapid COVID-19 testing, with the help of an on-site medical partner.

The collaboration between Informa’s MAGIC Pop Up Orlando, a women’s and men’s apparel, accessories, and footwear event, Clarion’s WWIN, a womenswear fashion and accessories trade event, and Tarsus’s OFFPRICE, serving the affordable apparel, accessories and footwear sector, provided an answer to the industry’s call for a much-needed comprehensive physical buying event in the first half of 2021.

As the largest scale trade show to date in the U.S. since the pandemic, the co-located events provided an estimated $15.35 million in economic value to Orlando over the course of just 3 days.

SISO and UFI take a deeper dive to offer insight into how the show teams managed the testing component, collaborated instead of competed, and provided a safe marketplace for the buyers and sellers who were ready to get back to business and meet face-to-face.

Read the full report here.