Channel Zero
Featuring the Magic Show
From Las Vegas

By WJMSTV

What the Drilly my nilly! Spring fashion has arrived this year. I've just returned from The Magic Show in Las Vegas where I had a chance to get an exclusive look at what the fashion industry's top designers have in store for the new millenium.

Now peep the happenings while I explain exactly what The Magic Show is and why it's so important for a designer to have a presence at such an event. The Magic show is a conference that takes place twice a year. Once in the spring and once in the fall. This show is well attended by every designer ranging from the Tommy Hillfigers' and the Calvin Kleins' to the Karl Kanis' and the Fubus' and even the upstart cats peddling T-shirts up and down the showroom floors. All these designers are there to showcase their current and up & coming clothing lines to retailers that have come from all over the world to purchase for the prospective retail outlets. These outlets range from the local 'mom & pop' clothing store to major chains like Bloomingdales, Belk's and Dilliards. These show are very important to the designer because as much as 30% percent of the designer's sales could come from this one week of non-stop selling. Salesman are endlessly pitching their lines to prospective buyers who travel booth to booth placing bulk orders. Designers in turn go all out by constructing elaborate booths (which actually look like stores themselves) and arranging appearances by their celebrity models and spokesman. (Peep Snoop Dogg at the Karl Kani both signing autographs and LL Cool J and Evander Hoylfield at the FUBU booth) It's crazy! It's the fashion industry version of Wall Street. But on that same note, when you work hard, you play hard! And boy do they play!

Every night following a day's worth of aggressive buying and selling, the designers throw lavish receptions and party party to announce their presence. Let's start with Monday night. This night belonged to Russell Simmons' and his Phat Farm Label. Russell (who threw one of the best parties of the week if I may add) laid it out for a exclusive and intimate crowd at the Hard Rock Café & Casino. Everybody who was anybody and happened to be in Vegas that week was there. Legendary designer, Calvin Klein was illin on the dance floor, Wesley Snipes was posting not to far from the floor with a couple of his boys, I caught a glimpes of Tracy Bingham at the bar, and those FUBU cats were all over the place. At one point, I heard the DJ give a shout out to P-Diddy, who was in town promoting his Sean John Line. Everything was everything at the Hard Rock that night and then here came the climax.A performance from the Kings of Rock themselves.RUN-DMC. The group was in rare form banging out the classics to a highly enthused crowd of High Society and Ghetto Fabulous.

Tuesday night brought another evening of Glitz and Glam. First off, FUBU held a reception at the Mandalay Bay hotel which was sorta alright. It didn 't really have that vibe as the night before at Russells. After fronting on people at the door, they finally started letting people in only to find out that people were really just kinda chillin'. It was alright..but if you wanted to really party, you needed to head over to the Karl Kani party going down at the Mirage. The joint was ridiculous. People everywhere. The Fruit of Islam was in full efect. The VIP room was off the heezee. I even caught Fred Durst (from Limp Bizciut) in there pollying over a bottle of Cris. Dammit.I was in the right spot. Now, if you don't know by now, Snoop Dogg is the celebrity model for Karl Kani. So it was only fiiting that Snoop rocked the house to a sellout crowd that night. Just before the show was to begin, Karl Kani was introduced and Karl took to the stage with a brief overview of his commitment to the consumer. (Peep the Clip) After which, Snoop Dogg, along with xzibit, proceeded to light to crowd up with that West Coast gangsta shx*! You know that.Sticky, icky, oow..wee!! Wednesday night was needed to recuperate and Thursday marked the end of the show

All in all, it was a good week. Designers are doing their best to lace the world with the flavor of inner-city youth that has come to define this era of clothing and style. Remember that! We are the creators of this shit. Fuck what you heard! Know your power. Know your influence. Build upon it. Capitalize on it. Create it. Get Yours. Period!

(Broadcasting from all over the World and brought to you courtesy of Channel Zero)

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