Inside the Booths at the Spring/Summer 2018 MAN New York Trade Show

Trade show coverage continues! This time, we make our way to MAN. More and more brands have shifted their booths over to MAN’s floor and this season has really cemented MAN as the trade show du jour. With a brief visit to a showroom, here’s what happened on MAN’s trade show floor.

Eat Dust

From Belgium, Eat Dust maintains their motorcyclist angle with a bevy of denim garments.


Blluemade

Husband and wife team and champions of linen, Blluemade brings their love for linen back. And this time, it’s with more color than ever before. Bright yellow, kelly green, and tomato red join the natural flax and indigo fare.


Corridor

Intricate woven patterns, indigo linen, and prints inspired by fine art — it was all there in the Corridor booth. They’re also introducing Sunshine Blues, a line of garments made in India using lightweight materials.


Lady White

Keeping up with a blooming knitwear brand isn’t easy, especially while you’re maintaining a new store front. Phillip Proyce is doing just that, and this season sees his brand, Lady White Co., continuing to push the knitwear envelope. More textures, more drawstrings, and more polos.


Merz B. Schwanen

Legendary German knitwear brand, Merz B. Schwanen has a long history to back up their goods. That foundation continues to support the brand, and they had a few things to show off. You can expect to see tube knit goods dipped in that blue stuff, a range of new colors, and vintage details galore.


Nine Lives

Love a good Hawaiian shirt but find that all the ones in your closet lack a certain, I don’t know, Cthulu? Well, Nine Lives has heard and answered your low-priority prayer. And that crazy black and white patterned shirt? It’s actually a kind of camouflage called Dazzle Camo. It was originally used to paint entire ships in WWI to make it difficult for enemies to track.

Nine Lives also got together with Good Art Hollywood to make some pieces with a bit of a silver flair. Yes, that’s a sterling silver shiv.


Oak Street Bootmakers

The biggest news coming from Chicago’s Oak Street Bootmakers is materials. Difficult to acquire, and normally reserved for the likes of Edward Green, they’re now using a super nappy, top-of-the-line Italian suede.


Older Brother

Thick, thick seersucker is the story over at Older Brother. Natural fibers, natural dyes, and comfy cuts continue the Older Brother narrative with the main dye coming from hibiscus.


Portuguese Flannel

A family tradition led brothers to start Portuguese Flannel. All made in Portugal, the brand focuses their attention on shirting and some outerwear with an emphasis on super soft flannels. Wide wale corduroy makes its way into the mix, too.


Reigning Champ

Just beneath New York’s Highline Park, Reigning Champ set up their showroom. Sportswear-driven, the Canadian brand presented knitwear pieces that went beyond their basic crewneck sweaters. The line flaunts cutoff sweat t-shirts, hoodies that merge jersey with temperature regulating mesh.

You can also expect warm up jackets, coaches jackets, and even a robe. Or, if a modern take on the Type III Trucker jacket is your thing, Reigning Champ’s version is made of a lightweight black linen. And, they’ve of course rounded off the collection with a gang of clean, Made in Portugal sneakers.


Novesta

Novesta continues with their classic sneaker done up in several new fabrics as well as a new style of sneaker that brings back velcro.


Japan Blue Group

The Japan Blue Group consists of Japan Blue (obviously), MomotaroSoullive, and Setto. All of them have indigo as their main ingredient, but their differences are in their executions. Japan Blue is perhaps the most straightforward with denim and button-ups. Momotaro delves deeper into artisanal indigo like their natural plant indigo denim. Soullive strays into interesting embroidery, prints, and fabrics as in their velvet collar noragi. And Setto focuses their efforts on texture.


R.M. Williams

R.M. Williams, Australia’s premier pull-on bootmakers continue their expansion into the international market, bringing their handcrafted shoes in a variety of leathers.


Seavees

Doling out classic deck sneakers, California casual shoe brand Seavees had more to offer than just their usual canvas wares. On display were boat shoes, tyrolean-style shoes, and even pull-on boots (curiously, right next to the R.M. Williams booth).


Shuttle Notes

Only somewhat recently venturing off into producing their own line of garments, Shuttle Notes paved their own way starting with silk-blend oxford cloth button-ups, comfy knits, and military-inspired outerwear. This season, their booth saw the brand leaning into textures, playing with a pastel color palette, and exploring their grungy side, naturally.


Viberg

A last-minute addition to MAN’s brand roster, Viberg showed up with shoes aplenty. The usual Viberg fare of beefy welted boots were present, of course. On the opposite end of the spectrum, their simple suede slippers were showcased in a variety of colors. Surely, they’re of the aspirational house shoe category. Slip-on shoes were also on display including one done in an embossed floral pattern shell cordovan as well as another made with transparent horsehide. Transparent horsehide.


And, until the next New York trade show season, that’s what we saw. Did you see anything that has you brandishing your wallet?