Coterie 2019

On Feb. 28 the School of Fashion took students to the Coterie trade show in New York City. Coterie follows New York Fashion Week and allows buyers to purchase clothing and accessories for their stores and see upcoming trends in action. While I was at Coterie I got see many different brands and their upcoming collections. Here's just a taste of what I saw.

ban.do:

Founded in 2008, ban.do is a clothing, accessories and homeware brand known for the bold graphics and bright colors. While most known for their eye-catching stationary, recently ban.do has dived into the clothing market. What started as simple tees and sweatshirts has moved into a full line including jackets, dresses, swimwear and even roller skates. In addition to their own brand, their online shop features clothing from recognizable brands that fit its quirky, vintage-esque aesthetic like Levi's, Rachel Antonoff and Lazy Oaf. Despite looking cutesy, this brand isn't child's play. ban.do is definitely more suited for the young woman (18-28) who is still a child at heart. Despite the popularity of the brand, I was surprised the booth wasn't crowded.

ban.do's trade show booth perfectly matched the brand's aesthetic with pastel pink being the dominate color. On each side of the booth were shelves displaying the latest homewares and accessories and the middle had two separate racks with their clothing, which was mostly tees, sweatshirts and jackets. Despite being a trade show for the Autumn/ Winter season, there was still plenty of pastel pinks and yellows featured in this collection. However to give things a more fall vibe there were also some dark forest greens, which i think paired very nicely with the pastel pink. I definitely feel like the vendor was on trend. Graphics have been very prominent lately, especially vintage looking ones and all throughout Coterie I was seeing brands use pastels for fall.

Mary Frances Accessories:

Inspired by the bright and color San Francisco Bay Area, Mary Frances designs whimsical, beaded purses, wallets and accessories. These aren't your typical handbag. Mary Frances Accessories pay homage rainbows, hippie vans and even Frida Kahlo. These bags are works of art. In the past Mary Frances has won the Accessory Designer of the Year award at the Dallas Fashion Awards and received the Best Design award in Milan for her 2013 and 2014 collections. These bags are bold which is why despite their higher price point, they are suited for young women who want to make a statement but I can also see an older, free spirited women rocking one of these bags. Lily Tomlin's character Frankie even wore one on the Netflix series Grace & Frankie.

This trade show booth was empty when I stopped by. I was a little surprised because of how beautiful and intricate the bags were, but also it isn't too well known of a brand. The booth was simple, which complimented the bags well, and they were displayed around the booth on simple white shelves. Another trend I saw a lot of was embellishment. These bags definitely nailed that trend, and the artsy aesthetic also perfectly captured the boho trend that was also popular at Coterie. The style of these bags is pretty consistent throughout the seasons though, so I wonder if they will still be popular if the boho trends fades away,

LTJ Apparel:

LTJ, which stands for Letter to Juliet, is a denim wholesale brand that describes themselves as "a young, contemporary line of jeans catering to bold and vibrant women in their 20's to 50's." Inspired by the classic romance Romeo and Juliet, LTJ wants the wearer to experience love and adventure.

This trade show booth was also pretty quiet when I stopped in, which didn't surprise me because their display was relatively simple, just a few racks with different cuts and washes of denim and their product assortment was pretty small. These jeans were nice though, high quality in contrasting medium blue and black washes. Keeping with the boho trend many of the pants had raw hems or were trimmed with lace while another blue-gray pair kept with the vintage trend by featuring a red and pink stripe down the sides of the legs.

At Coterie I was able to spot some upcoming trends such as bohemian styles seen in lacy tops and flared jeans and pastels, even though it was for the Autumn/ Winter season. Another trend I saw a lot of was embellishments on everything from sequined jackets to Mary Frances bags and even By Lilla hair elastics which double as bracelets.

Overall Coterie was a great experience. As a Fashion Communication student I definitely benefited from the trend analysis part as opposed to the buying aspect though. Coterie is a great experience and I believe every student should experience it at least once.