It’s that time of year again when Las Vegas becomes, well, just a bit more fashionable. The largest apparel trade show in North America, the bi-annual Magic Marketplace, is back in the city of sin and convention centers and hotels are flooded with a motley group of chic boutique owners, garmentos, stick-thin models in stiletto heels, tattooed streetwear reps, international suppliers chatting on cellphones in Chinese and Vietnamese and men and women in suits (the latter comprised of bankers, analysts, fund managers and an occasional CEO).
 
In the flurry of orders taken for Spring 2008, the same questions popped up over and over: How long will last the success of the dress - 2006 and 2007’s key item for women? Will skinny jeans get the boot by high-waisted, wide-leg pants? Does the slump in the mature women’s apparel market have a fix? And what’s the next big thing? There are no easy answers out there nor here in this blog, but the queries point to the ever-changing nature of fashion, a sophisticated consumer barraged by choices and the billions of dollars hanging in the balance. Stay tuned.