Cover Feature

FashionGo Debuts First Ever Omnichannel B2B Trade Event

Photo Courtesy - FashionGo Events

Where digital meets physical, the in-person trade event introduces the future of wholesale by bringing FashionGo specialty retailers together with brands engaging in new formats

FashionGo, one of the world’s leading business-to-business fashion marketplaces, is transforming the wholesale trade industry playbook with its first in-person trade event that will bring its digital platform and community to life in 2022, with the first event location in Palm Springs, California and later this year in New York. These two locations will be the first in a series of openings as FashionGo plans to launch additional regional locations, optimizing market access and geographies in coming years.

Established in 2002 in the heart of the Los Angeles Fashion District, FashionGo sup- ports the global wholesale industry to buy and sell the latest trends in fashion and life- style on a one-stop platform. With thousands of vendors and close to one million registered retailers, FashionGo provides powerful tools, best in class service and insightful data to industry users. FashionGo’s merchandise categories include womenswear, menswear, kids, accessories and beauty, as well as retailer supplies such as packaging and fixture and display materials. Driven by technology, FashionGo is how buyers and sellers shop smarter, sell more and grow faster.

FashionGo is a part of NHN Global, a technology company focused on cultivating platforms and experiences with solutions, services and tools that connect industries and ideas to progress those industries forward. The company is also the parent company of LA Showroom and N41. Founded in 2018, NHN Global is based in Los Angeles and is a subsidiary of NHN Corporation in Korea.

FashionGo’s first wholesale trade event will take place from May 3 to May 5 in Palm Springs, the location where the first-ever wholesale apparel marketplace, Round Up, the predecessor of the Apparel Guild of California, launched 80 years ago. FashionGo Week is the first B2B wholesale trade event to merge in-person and online experience that brings e-commerce platform and fashion community together, connecting physical and digital wholesale discovery and commerce while optimizing market access. Powered by FashionGo’s digital tools, FashionGo Week Palm Springs will combine the creativity, rich experience and community of in-per- son fashion markets with the convenience, speed and efficiency of FashionGo’s powerful technology and data-driven resources.

Led by Tom Nastos and Scott Chowan, the co-founders of BluEnsign, a strategic advisory firm serving consumer brands and event planning organizations across the global value chain, the FashionGo Events team was created to pave the way on this ground-breaking FashionGo Week in-person events series. Nastos and Chowan collectively bring decades of experience building and leading fashion trade show brands such as Coterie, Magic, Project and FN Platform. Together with their expansive experience in physical events and FashionGo’s over 20 years of know-how and capabilities in B2B and digital experiences and capabilities — as well as thousands of brands and close to a million registered buyers on the FashionGo market- place — attendees and exhibitors will experience the new era of wholesale at the events.

“We have assembled an experienced and empowered team of innovative creators and connectors who are passionate in their sup- port of the wholesale fashion and lifestyle communities,” said Nastos. “Together, we are focused on building a premier portfolio of specialty events, offering new opportunities and solutions that are just right for all of our customers.”

Palm Springs is an iconic destination that has been branded as an oasis and is a perfect fit for this groundbreaking event. The greater Coachella Valley has a long history of attracting celebrities and artists throughout the years. The area has become like a living mid-century modern art museum due to this stylish influence and has rapidly becoming a hub for the fashion community.

Beginning with a lineup of soon-to-be- iconic opening night parties and elevated networking events to celebrate the event’s launch, FashionGo Week Palm Springs will feature a series of panels with leading experts and influencers in the fashion industry that will address crucial topics that impact retailers, including insights on what is driving the industry forward and how to optimize fashion businesses.

This programming has been developed and curated through proactive listen- ing to FashionGo users’ real time needs and wants in order to offer a meaningful multi-dimensional experience. The event’s diverse range of activities will give attendees the opportunity to create their own personalized event experiences through health- and wellness-focused activities including golf, yoga, hikes and much more.

FashionGo Week Palm Springs will be the first to bring the best of in-person and digital trade events together into one experience to help build credible and lasting relationships within the FashionGo community. FashionGo Week Palm Springs is a meaningful initiative to create more access to the market for

our vendors and buyers. The event will be powered by FashionGo’s technology to provide attendees the same powerful digital tools during the live in-person and online event including the powerful visual search capabilities of Style Match+, actionable real time data on bestsellers and trending products, to make more informed purchasing/selling decisions, place orders and transact in a safe and secure payment environment, as well as other value added services, including the Rewards Program and Exclusive Promotions and Discounts.

Style Match+ is a visual search tool that expands the ability to search for styles from anywhere on the web — such as search engines, social platforms and more — and find similar styles through FashionGo. Style Match+ on the Palm Springs onsite mode of FashionGo App will make discovery and search relevant for event attendees. Additionally, discovery potential will no longer be limited to just physical booth to booth browsing: this powerful search tool will enable buyers to expand their discovery potential during the show like never before and easily purchase on a secure and safe payment environment.

Palm Springs attendees can discover new products and brands through searching based on images (photos at the event or even from Instagram) to find the exact products they’re looking for on the show floor in addition to physical booth-to-booth. Palm Springs attendees can do this through our current FashionGo App, which will have two different modes during FashionGo Week, a feature that is new to any marketplace. At the live event, attendees can instantly find their favorite styles with booth numbers shown in all search and featured onsite event products.

Attendees can also place orders on the event floor at Palm Springs conveniently through a safe and secure payment environment through our FashionGo App, then track and manage those orders from their mobile on the FashionGo App wherever and whenever.

Online attendees can still experience Palm Springs through the livestream experience with FashionGo’s Vendors Lives, where users will show off new and trending products as well as gain valuable insights from industry leaders at Palm Springs. Through curated product feeds, best sellers and trend insights, buyers can stay inspired for their merchandising strategies and be in the know of the most popular products during the event — both online and at the real life event! FashionGo Week Palm Springs provides exhibiting brands an immense audience beyond the event.

Exhibiting brands’ products showcased at the event will also be available for online attendees to purchase, expand- ing the audience and potential relation- ship building beyond the event and into the screen. Exhibiting brands can also utilize FashionGo to continue fostering relationships and grow their businesses with the attendees after the Palm Springs live event throughout the year.

“At FashionGo, we are focused on creating market access for our customers to discover, connect and transact with confidence,” said Paul Lee, NHN Global CEO. “We continue to strive to deliver exceptional value, service and solutions that not only help advance businesses but move this industry forward.”

FashionGo Week will run online on FashionGo in tandem with FashionGo Week Palm Springs, featuring the same digital benefits and promotions. For more information visit fashiongo.net/fashiongoweekpalmsprings.