Lily in Vegas: Snippets 1

Trish, Korinne and I ventured down to Las Vegas this past weekend to check out a few tradeshows (5 in 3 days!). We were on the hunt for great fabrics to create new garments from, and new items to carry in the shops.

This is the first year that we have gone to tradeshows to see if they are helpful sourcing environments. Usually we find things in our neighbourhoods, through friends, by people walking through our front doors, or through small craft shows, and occasionally online. So off we went to broaden our search. What was the result?

We did make a few connections with interesting suppliers that will bring some really fresh new pieces for you. Next Fall we will carry new scarves and knitwear that are gorgeous and unique. In the more immediate future, April will bring fun over-sized beach hats, sweet fair-trade cotton dresses, and co-operatively made handbags and courier bags with personal stories attached from Uganda. We did meet some amazing people and are looking forward to sharing our finds with you.

We also learned a lot--mostly that big tradeshows are not really our thing. More importantly, we think they are not really your thing, that the products you will be interested in will have to be sourced differently, that we will have to continue to seek out inspiration and suppliers at more unusual venues. For us that means more time spent in art galleries, flea markets, craft fairs and second-hand stores, as well as talking to our friends and neighbours about what they think is new and exciting and about what their friends and neighbours are up to. I guess it makes sense that smaller scale connections are what is going to work best for our small scale company.

So, we ventured out, we experienced, and we returned. Here are a some photos of what we saw during our few moments outside of conventions centers and showrooms.

One of the lobbies in the Venetian Hotel (this is the definition of ostentatious, no?).

The looooong corridor to our room.

Korrine in a cute freebie apron at Mandalay Bay (waiting to get past a wedding in progress).

Trish at the looooong back entrance to The Cosmopolitan Hotel.

What does No HM mean?

After walking yet another million miles, Trish takes a break on a gorgeous couch.