Agenda is a lot of things. Overwhelming is one of them.
Last week, I learned that I was a part of a small population of the Southern California youth who have no idea what Agenda is. Apparently, I was the weird one for not knowing about it.
When this year’s Agenda came under discussion at The Inertia office, I felt that horrible, self-deprecating feeling of being on the outside of an inside joke. Thankfully, I was allowed to attend this year’s event, and wow, do I have a lot of mixed feelings to share.
Just some quick background info. Agenda is the “most diverse and creative lifestyle fashion trade show in the world.” It’s basically a way for big brands, small brands, trendy brands, classic brands and every outdoor/lifestyle/fashion company in between to give potential buyers a preview of their newest products. With three shows throughout the summer, in Long Beach, Las Vegas, and Miami, it’s kind of like the fashion week of “lifestyle” brands.
Okay, now back to my experience. I went into it with no expectations, and left feeling completely overwhelmed.
First impression: The event is massive. Like, the sit down with a map and plan a course of attack type of massive. The chances of seeing all the vendors is incredibly slim, even if you go both days. My recommendation? Pick the brands you are particularly stoked on and go after them first. From there, you can check out the neighboring booths and start to immerse yourself in the event. Pro tip: I highly discourage blindly wandering. You won’t retain anything. You might get lost. You might find yourself crying and alone in a corner.
Soon after I began my descent into the madness, I lost track of time and was overtaken by the sheer amount of creativity in one place. The brands are only given small, cube-like spaces to showcase what they’re up to, but this proved to hinder none of them. Instead, they thrived and implemented some incredible devices to draw visitors to their spots. The various centerpieces included cars, half pipes and even a full scale beach house.
ROKIT’s Exhibition
Needless to say, it was refreshing to be around so many ambitious people who had similar goals, yet went about their business in completely unique ways. I was particularly excited about the new products from Poler, Great Bear Wax Co., HUF amongst many others.
Honestly, I am still processing the whole experience. But I can say that it was definitely a positive one. There were, of course, a few drawbacks. Such as the fact it felt like everyone there spent two hours in front of the mirror getting ready, or that some of the vendors gave off the “too cool to be here vibe.”
Indeed, Agenda is definitely a place to see and be seen. Yet, it’s clearly more than just a place to work on your social networking. There is some very cool stuff happening in the action sports retail industry, and more broadly, in the lifestyle-brand field as a whole.
