#274: MAGIC Goes Digital with Kelly Helfman, President of MAGIC

Guys, get ready for episode number 274 with my friend Kelly Helfman from WWD Magic. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works, from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub, and I can't wait to chat. All right. Hey, guys. Welcome back to the podcast. This week I'm joined by one of my dear friends in the industry and someone who has all of the inside information what's happening in the industry, my friend, Kelly Hoffman, the president of Magic. Kelly, thanks for being on the show today.

Oh, thank you for having me. I'm so happy to be here. Love you.

I love you too. And it's a special show because most of the time on the podcast we just get the audio version, but today we're doing video as well, so you can check it out either on the podcast or if you're joining us on YouTube. You could catch the show either way. But you have been a busy lady. 2020 has impacted all of us in different ways, but you in a very unique way. And Magic is definitely one of our.

Favorite events of the entire year.

Sets the trend, the tone, the season of the year in fashion. So talk to me about how 2020 has been in the roller coaster of canceling shows and moving to an all new experience.

Yeah, listen, I'm so grateful that we were able to have a February Magic and a February coterie event for 2020. So grateful after that, really is when everything started in March and there was so much uncertainty and we were so very hopeful at that point to hopefully execute an event in August and September for coterie and Magic. And then the closer we got, we postponed, phoned and then eventually just ended up canceling. And listen, we are in the business of live events. We believe in face to face events. Our events get 40 to 60,000 people. And as the president, I think that's stage four. So that's far away. And ultimately we just couldn't risk the health and safety of our attendees. So we had to make the very tough decision to cancel these events. And we know how many buyers and brands look forward to them, so. So it was super disappointing. I mean, I haven't missed a magic since 2006 when I started here. It feels yucky and I think there's a lot of disappointment and that's okay. But with that being said, it forced us to pivot really fast and launch a digital trade event, which I'm so excited about. And we're learning a ton. I seriously feel like we're a startup company, even though I work for a big corporate company in Forma, but we are. Our salespeople are learning to sell a different product. Instead of a booth, they're selling digital platforms. And our retail relations team is having a different conversation. So we're learning a lot. It's moving the industry forward and I kind of am excited and refreshed about it, to be honest. I feel like we also needed some of this change and maybe the pandemic forced us along. Right? Yeah.

I think about just the times you and I away from the event have gotten together and had drinks and just talked about the industry as a whole. And really this has been something that has been a long time coming. I feel like just the shift that's been needed to mesh an omnichannel experience in wholesale. So, yeah, nothing like a pandemic to force your hand and to make those things happen. But talk to me about really the complementary nature of digital plus face to face and how you think this will shape the future of our industry.

Yeah, that's the key. Right. So digital will now be here to stay. It's always going to be here and it's going to be a great hybrid moving forward. So I believe in face to face events. That is the nature of our business, to network, engage, touch and feel that product. With that being said, there's a great opportunity to use a digital platform in between your major markets. And then also for those that maybe don't have the budget either on the brand or the store side to come to a show or an international customer, they can participate digitally or virtually and not have to spend that budget to come. So there's going to be so many more options and I think that that's going to be the new way of the world. Right. And we, we will figure out how to use the digital platform at our face to face events. So not only are you using it when you're not at the event, but you're using it at the event. And how does that coordinate? And we partnered with New Order, who is really advanced already in this technology and in the space in our industry for fashion, and they have exclusive relationships with people like Nordstrom's and Bloomingdale's and Saks. And so we feel that partnering with somebody like that, that not only understands the technical place, we have the relationships with the brands and the buyers, and we really do the marketing and convene the market with them, providing that platform tool. So it's exciting. I think it has to be a lot more than just an order management system, though, and for you to write your orders for stores, it has to provide more value. And that's the thing we're all going to be challenged of, is how do we provide you, the buyers, with more value different than what other platforms are doing potentially. And so that's our responsibility as fashion industry experts, Magic and Coterie, to really figure out how can we serve you better, how can we fill the gap for you and so forth, and how can we innovate you to also take your store and your buying to the next level. So I am excited, but it is a lot of work. Ashley.

I hear you. Startup Life 101. It is a lot of work. I think that is so neat, though. It is a big difference in just providing an online ordering system, like you were saying, and being who you are and being true to who you are is Magic, which is a leader and where people come to get excited and understand trends and learn how to optimize their business.

Like, there's a whole other level of.

What you provide on the normal. So to put that into a digital experience, that's a really big task. And I'm excited to see what you guys come up with.

I can't wait to show you. Yeah, yeah. So talk to me.

Specifically, those of you that are listening and you're wondering, what is the dte? What is the digital trade event? How does it work? What's it going to be like? Walk me through some of the specific, starting with dates and how people can get more information.

Yeah. So basically, on one platform, we're going to have. Okay, picture this. You log into a site, you're registered as a buyer, and you can shop five different digital marketplaces. Coterie. Coterie is going to be the home for more of that contemporary women's. So if you typically shop Project Women's, Stitch, Moda, Coterie, you would shop Coterie Digital. If you primarily shop WWD Magic or Fame, you would click on Magic Digital. So we have five different marketplaces, Magic, Coterie, Project, Children's Club, and Megan. These are all going to launch the same date, which is September 1, and they're going to run eight weeks. So they'll be September 1 to November 1, and they're going to be available 24, 7 for you to Shop anytime to access education seminars, everything you know and love about Magic. So that's the best thing, right? You can work from your home, you can do your ordering, you can watch all these great virtual summit and seminars that we have and so forth. Now you can cross shop into these five marketplaces. So you're going to have five boxes again, Coterie, Magic, Nikam Project and Children's Club. You can shop in Children's and then switch over to Magic and vice versa. So you can go in and out of all of them. Just to give you a heads up. So Coterie of the brands that are on there, we've already, by the way, we have a couple selling weeks. I know this might be off at the airing, but we have already 1000 brands that are signed up. Okay? So we're gonna have a thousand brands in total for this whole digital marketplace. And we already have over 11,000 buyers that have registered for the platform. So this has been great success. A lot of other virtual or trade shows that have popped up with our competitors haven't had a success. And I think it's only because we really do have the plethora of all different markets, levels of distribution, genders and so forth. So because we serve men's, women's and kids footwear, accessories, contemporary, fast fashion, we really do have that advantage. And the cross shopping is going to be what's most important to you. So Coterie has Rachel Zoe, Free People, BB Dakota, Bella Doll, Joie, French Connection, xcvi. That's just a little sampling of what you would see at Coterie. Me Cam Americas is actually formerly known as FM Platform. It's our footwear show at Magic. And so if you buy footwear, that's where you want to go for men's, women's, kids, footwear trend and contemporary. And some of the Me Cam America's brands we already are going to have on the platform are free people. Frye J Slides, Live in Denmark, Cupid, so tons there. And then Project. If you're a men's buyer, I know you don't have a ton of them, but you have a few. If you shop men's Project digital is the way to go. And that's going to be the home where you're going to want to shop all things men's, from suiting to young men's to streetwear. And they already have people like DL, 1961, Hudson Jeans, Marine Layer, Nautica, Pollen Shark. So we've got a great lineup there. Children's club is children's, obviously infant all Sizes and they have Little Me, Baby Cotton's Chaser, Bella Doll, angel deer, also Deal, 1961 and so forth. And then of course, my favorite is Magic. So Magic Digital is the home for wwd, Magic, Fame and pool. So if that's like what you typically would shop in the live physical space, that's where you'd want to shop on the digital event. And some of the brands that highlighted here are articles of society, Aster, the Label, Buy Together, who We Love, Diff, I Wear, Hidden Jeans, line and Dot, Toby Hart, Ginger, Miss Me, Moon river and so forth. So I hope that gives you a good idea of where to shop. I can narrow it down for you that way, but you can cross shop in the platform whenever you want. Sorry, that was a really long answer for you. No, that was perfect.

That was perfect. That was going to be. My next question is, I know there's always a lot of questions about what is the difference between all of the shows. And I guess if you've never been to Magic, like if you're new and you're listening to this and you've never been to Magic or any of the shows, this is probably a good way to start because it's going to identify you online really quickly, what's going to work for you and what may not work for you. So I think that's awesome. When they log in on September 1st, you said, right?

Yeah, that's when we go live. But you can log in whenever you need. Perfect.

So when you log in, you're going to be able to choose what show you go to. Then you're going to be able to. Will you sort by trend? Can you sort by brand? Talk to me about some of the features of the platform.

Yeah. So basically we're really going to do it similar to a big box retailer online store. So you'll come in, let's say you want to shop Magic Digital, you can sort it by, you could search by product, by price point, you could search by delivery immediately, spring, summer 2021, people who drop ship, you can search by sizes, so you can do extended sizes or plus or petite and so forth. So we really narrow it down for you. Sustainability, Made in USA and so forth. The big thing in each of these five digital platforms is going to be you're going to be able to discover through content. So we're going to make some really great suggestions for you. And so if your girl is more Western, we're going to have a western wear lineup of the best brands that carry that type of girl is More bohemian. We're definitely through content, going to give you some suggestions there to shop and so forth. So think of if you're on net, a porter or some Nordstrom.com and it's like looks you're going to love. We're going to do a lot of that to help you discover and find new. Because at a physical trade show, it's aisles and aisles of boosts and we bring the buyers. But how am I going to get you, the buyer, way back at the aisle to that one accessory brand that's at the end of the aisle? It's our job on the digital event to drive business to these brands through content. And content is gonna be key. And we're gonna drop new content literally weekly, daily. We're gonna have major trend reports. We partnered with wgsn. We're so excited. So they're gonna give you all the trend reports that you know and love that you need to help your buying for the next seasons. It'll be big based on which marketplace you shop and so forth. And then we'll also make suggestions that way. And then, of course, people like myself or Wendy Bandoni, who's a professor who does a lot of trend science, will also be doing a ton of trend work throughout the eight weeks to help you shop and buy and give you new ideas week after week. So the great part about the platform also, Ashley, is the brands over the eight weeks will be continuously updating their inventory and adding new products. So it's not like a one time and you get to see everything and it runs out. They know that they need to drop throughout the eight weeks. They know that they need to continuously update, deliver new freshness. Otherwise why would I run this for eight weeks? Right. You know, I would be a three day marketplace again. So it's gonna be exciting for you to like, almost weekly set yourself an alert to check in, see what new seminars are happening, new content, new product from the brands you know, and love what new brands have joined because new brands will be joining throughout the eight weeks as well.

Yeah, that's really exciting. It is, yeah.

The concept of drops.

Yes, I love the drops, the trend piece. Let's talk about that specifically, because when we're together, usually during the physical event.

The boutique hub has a get together.

And you always come to that event. There's usually about 200 boutique owners or so and you do trend reports. So I want to pick your brain and hear now kind of what you're looking forward to in terms of, let's say fall, fall, winter and then let's jump forward to spring, summer 2021. Kind of what you're seeing in terms of trend.

Yeah, absolutely. And I'm going to actually have a section on Magic Digital called President's Pick. So it'll be very similar what I do for the boutique hub, where I'm going to pick my brands that I think every week it'll be different brands that are based on the trends that I think are happening. So listen, for fall, winter, definitely, it's about cozy, chunky knits. Again, we need to make sure we have those. A lot of comfortable, oversized stuff. We don't want it to be too tight. We're home. We want to throw it on with leggings. So I think that you have to continue to invest in the oversized, chunky knits. Still a lot of leggings. The sets and the jumpers are huge. But you're going to want to obviously take your jumpers to be pants, not shorts. The sets are great for home. And to dress it up to go outside our footwear, it's tons of sneakers, a lot of flat boots as opposed to heel boots. If we're going to have a heel, it's going to be just a tiny bit. So we're also seeing for jewelry, headpieces. So the headband, the clips, those aren't going anywhere. Not as much dazzle. More we're seeing on the headbands, like more velvets again, and a lot of. What do you call that material? Oh, feathers. Tons of feathers still. And I think I said that like last time, but the feathers are getting bigger. I think I was a little ahead of myself when I said feathers was coming, but now those are continuous to come back. A little bit of stud work, too, on your accessories, on your headbands, and on your bags again, for the animal prints, it's now less snake, and we're back on to leopard and zebra and giraffe. Giraffe is big as well. Let me think. What else? Okay. And then so spring, summer, we're going to see still a lot of mesh and shears, so that's important. And obviously, you know your girl, so you want to make sure it works for her. So some boutiques can be a lot different than others, but a mesh and sheer material on your tops, your pants, to go to vacation, and so forth. We definitely see more of the tighter tops for spring, so less flowy and more fitted. And a lot of softer colors, more in those beigey nude tones as opposed to, like, bright and bold. So I'll drip That all to you on the DTE on the platform weekly to make sure that you feel comfortable with exactly what you need to do by season two. But yeah, you know, I love to talk about this. We can do a whole session on it. Oh, and technology, you gotta. There's a lot of people on the platform that are selling really cool tech accessories and obviously the beauty and wellness stuff. So not just like a candle or face products, but a lot of essential oil products, face rollers. We have people from poultry who are selling like crystals. Anything to just better yourself. You know, statement teas that have joyful sayings on it for pot. You know, in this post pandemic world we're gonna live on, it's all about working on yourself. Words of positive affirmation. So the statement tees are really gonna continue to be big and we're gonna not just only on the girl boss stuff, but more on like self care. What am I doing to put good vibes out there in the universe sort of items?

Yeah, I like that. And if anyone hasn't really specifically dove into what's in Pool Trade show, that's one of like the hidden gems for me. One of my favorite places to come and find just n little things. So that's really exciting.

Yeah. Cool. It's kind of like our Etsy stuff. You know, it's these like really cool independent merging designers. It's men's, women's kids. It's very eclectic. They might just still be making product out of their home. It's the only place at the physical magic that you can cash and carry. So you can actually just buy one piece. But beautiful blurry. Again with a lot of positive sayings. A lot of the poultry show brands are great also if you're looking to carry brands in your store that give back or that are women owned. So that's a great spot. Just so you know, if you typically shop our physical show. So like you shop moda or you shop stay at your pool on the dte, you can also shop by community. So you can just click on Pool Trade show when you're in magic and see all the pool brands. So it's easy for you that way you can sort by show. Yeah, that's super easy.

I'm excited about that. I'm excited about the trend piece of all of this as an individual. Right. I know you love fashion. Where do you go to get your inspiration on a daily basis? Like as you're trend scouting, I know there are agencies that you're into it.

Yeah. So you know, agencies are a great way, but they're really expensive. And so I think that's one of the benefits to be a part of the magic and coterie family is that we can provide those tools for you free. So we hire somebody, we pay the bill for somebody, like a WGSN or fashion snoops. And then by you being part of our digital event, we'll have access to all that, so you don't have to pay for that. So, number one, amazing. And I love what they have to say. You know, some of it will feel really futuristic, and you're like, oh, like, my people will never wear that. But that's going to give you insight to really what's coming onto the market in the future and then take it for what it is. So let's say it's maxi dresses are back. You know, think about what type of maxi your girl would wear and have that in mind. So that's number one. Number two, my personal inspiration is going back into vintage eras. So, like, even if you're on Instagram and you look up, like, really cool profiles that are like, 70s inspo fashion, and you just see what they have it bring, everything, you know, comes back, and it reminds me of, like, what makes me so happy. The bell bottom, like the eight puff sleeve, you know, those sort of things. So I'm personally a huge vintage buyer, and that's always made me feel unique. And a lot of the Europeans are way ahead of us, so I follow all the Fashion week feeds, like Copenhagen Fashion Week just happened or Milan Fashion Week, and you could see what's happening there to inspire you. Yes, it won't look like that in your store, but it will hit us, you know, six months to a year later and really become a trend that you need to have on your radar.

Mm. I love that. And I feel like it empowers you so much as a buyer. Rather than waiting for what the brand is gonna bring to you, it allows you to be more of a curator and decide what you want to bring into the store. And that's something that people can't copy.

Right.

This is a busy, busy market that we're in right now. There's a lot of people coming into the boutique industry, into retail in general, but it's easy for someone to try to knock you off. But if you are really educating yourself and getting ahead, it's a lot harder to do that as a community.

So it's gonna set you apart. Absolutely. And I think we do depend on the brands a lot to provide that trend for Us. But honestly, some of them aren't doing the research themselves. So it is up to us. And that's what's gonna set us apart. Absolutely.

So another element that you guys have in the DTE is education, business education, all kinds of education. Tell me about that part of the show.

Yeah, so some of the things you know and love about Magic are seminars. And it's really kind of that retail 101 that helps you tips and tricks on how to buy, do markup, so forth. So actually, you are going to be speaking as well as Sarah from the Boutique Hub, who we love. They do great sessions around, like a retail bootcamp. And we have a bunch of great speakers lined up. So all of that will go digital and virtual. This show. What you love about, create and cultivate at our show or what we do at the social house at WWD where we're interviewing celebrities, that is all going to go virtual. And every week we're going to drop like a few new sessions. We'll definitely promote it. You'll have the schedule so you don't miss anything. We're going to pre record them and then we're going to put them on the digital event. And so that's really important because it's free to you. You don't have to pay anything as a registered buyer to get all this free knowledge and education around all different things. You know, working with influencers, Marketing 101, how to sell live tips and tricks and so forth. So definitely make sure that you take advantage of that because it is free to you. And that's one of. We have, I think at Magic, like 500 people attend each seminar and it's like standing room only, and we don't usually record it, so people can't see it after. So this will be the first opportunity for people who are not at the physical event to really see what we're doing and hear the entire session from each of our speakers.

I'm excited about that. I can't wait. So if you guys are coming, please come watch the event. I'll give you some insider info, right?

Absolutely. We can't wait. All right.

Anything else with the digital trade event that you think people are going to ask or wonder that are listening today?

Yeah, you know, I think we're all gonna. We don't know what to expect. We've never really shopped digital trade events before. The word virtual is really interesting because we didn't use the word virtual because that is like people's expectations to walk into a virtual booth and like go through the rack. And that's not what this is. This. Each brand will have a profile with all of their line sheets. Some will have virtual showrooms so they will actually take videos or photos that will be shoppable of their showrooms. That's going to be rad. Some will do it and some will not. Others will have all their line sheets. You could fully do your orders and everything. You can connect with them. So it's really going to have all those capabilities that you know and love from all of your favorite platforms. I don't know if you've worked with New Order before, but they are really stunning at this and they have perfected it. And because of their exclusivities with big box guys, they have been forced to really have the best technology out there. So it's easy to use. Absolutely easy to use, not overwhelming. We are going to make sure we're doing buyer webinars throughout the entire time to help you navigate. We did one last week. There was 400 people on and buyers. We took you through the whole journey how to shop it and it was great. And so that's prerecorded. We have that available if anybody needs the update. Besides that, we can't wait to get started. And you know what, we're all going to learn a lot and we're going to get excited and we're going to see like what the future of this business is and we're going to evolve it together. So thank you guys for being a part of it. And Ash, I'm so happy to have you speak at the digital trade event.

We're really excited to be a part of it. And I know we've been posting lots of links and how to register and some of the webinar information inside of the hub. So you guys can find that inside of our groups and in our emails and of course here on the podcast too. Kelly, I'm sure you get this question about what you know, this is fall 2020. What is going to happen in 2021? Do you have any insight on that yet?

Yeah, listen, I mean, it's still so uncertain. Is the vaccine going to happen? What does that mean for large events? We see people like the Oscars postponing and the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, that's in January. Canceling already. So I'd be lying if I said I'm not keeping a real close eye on what's happening in the world. So my number one priority as president of Magic is to keep all of our attendees safe. And so can we come back to an event where there's 50, 60,000 people in February. I don't know yet if there's a vaccine. Yeah, sure. If there's not, I'm not sure if that's gonna be the right move for us. So what I ask you guys is patience. It's really hard. I want to give answers, but we're gonna have to make that call in a few months. You will be the first to know. Definitely. On all of our social media channels like WWDMagic. We'll announce it there. And then regardless of what happens, we're gonna have another digital trade event. So you'll be able to still shop and do everything. I really am confident. I mean, that by August 2021, we're gonna get back to our normal events. Let's pray. If by then we can't, that would just be such a bummer. But we will figure out a way to convene the market. Whether that means not our traditional live giant magics and more smaller curated events. Hey, maybe we go on the road and go to you guys. I mean, there's so many opportunities. So just, just know that we have your best interests in mind and we will definitely make sure that you can do business and see your brands. And that's what we're here for. So stay tuned.

I love it. Well, thank you for all the updates today. You guys are the definition of resilience. I think about, like all the moves from LVCC and then to Mandalay Bay and now we're going online. What is the world going to come up with next for fashion trade shows?

Who knows? Exactly.

I'm excited to see what it is. You guys have done great work.

Always a pleasure to work with you.

Thanks again for being on the show today.

Thank you so much for having me.

I love it. Hey, guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope that you loved it. Don't forget to hit subscribe and subscribe and leave a rating and review down below for a chance to be one of our featured listeners each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and how to access complete show notes and bonus downloads from our guests, head on over to theboutiquehub.com and join the community. We'll see you next week.

Sam.