Tue, Aug 21, 2012 (6 p.m.)
Robin Leach's Vegas DeLuxe
- Check outVegasDeLuxe.com for more celebrity and arts and entertainment coverage.
- Events guide: MAGIC afterparties fall 2012
2011 Miss Nevada USA Sarah Chapman is the $2 million woman in Lili Jewelry.
Big Boi at the Chelsea inside the Cosmopolitan
Celebrities and nightclub parties are in full swing and helping set record numbers for this year’s MAGIC fashion shows.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Association reported early Tuesday that a record 81,000 delegates will contribute a record $103 million to our local economy. Exhibitors anticipate writing $600 million in fashion sales!
First-day celebrities at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center included reality starWhitney Port from “The Hills" presenting her Whitney Eve line, rapper Soulja Boy at the BLVD Supply booth and celebrity tattoo artistAmi James at his Ink displays. Playboy centerfold Jessa Lynn Hinton leads a huge turnout of local beauties, including Miss Nevada USA 2011 winner Sarah Chapman, who have been booked for the fashion presentations of the 2013 spring and summer lines and fall winter 2013/14 trends. In all, there are over 5,000 different brands from over 80 countries!
MAGIC is the largest fashion trade event in North America and runs through Thursday. At Mandalay Bay, it's a showcase of street outfits, menswear and pool fashions. There’s even a showcase of classic and collectible cars and cigar-rolling demonstrations. LA Fashion Magazine has set up a three-day on-site studio for photo shoots of today’s fashionable young men.
The Las Vegas Convention Center has booths of fashions for women and young people. Chinese fashion executives have a pavilion with 500 factories trying to lure more manufacturing from the USA. Nicaragua is another country exhibiting to lure manufacturing there.
Celebrities and athletes are hired to promote their own fashion industry ideas and simultaneously lure buyers. Socially Loud’s Rip the Runway showcase features celebrity designer Angel Brinks, NBA playersTyreke Evans and Doc Evans and reality star Draya from "Basketball Wives" with her Mint swimwear.
Parties abound. Tonight is the 40th anniversary party for Boast USA. The all-American athletic brand formed 1973 and was inspired by young '70s tennis rebels John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. Hip-hop icon Big Boi of OutKast will host and perform at Pure nightclub in Caesars Palace; Scrapbook Clothing hosts live performances by Jayseanand Skylar Grey at Hyde in the Bellagio and rapper Araabmuzikperforms for the Bornfly, Kamaloop and Flud culture lines at Haze nightclub in Aria.
Be sure to check Laura Croft’s guest fashion column as part of our Vegas Deluxe welcome to the MAGIC convention delegates.
Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.
