The Fifth edition of the PLAYTIME New York Show will take place from August 4th to 6th. Located in the chic neighborhood of SoHo, PLAYTIME is a boutique trade show that enables buyers, retailers, and agents to discover select children products with unique designs.   For the second time this year, UBIFRANCE will come to the show with 10 French brands featuring innovative and trendy products in children’s apparel, accessories, shoes, decoration …   Come discover childhood with a French twist! More information about the participating French brands coming soon.   Location: 82 Mercer Street, SoHo – New York, NY www.playtimenewyork.com   Follow us on Twitter and facebook , or join the French / North- American Fashion Business Group on LinkedIn

Best known for selling books and electronics, as well as its Kindle e-reader, Amazon.com Inc. has placed its focus on becoming a bigger player in the fashion business. The Seattle-headquartered Fortune 500 company recently placed ad campaigns in glossy consumer magazines and hired seasoned fashion veterans as buyers for the apparel offerings sold in its Amazon Clothing Store . It’s another step in the company’s ambitious mission to offer the world’s biggest market of goods. Amazon commands one of the biggest online audiences in the United States. In December, digital business analytics company comScore Inc. ranked Amazon as America’s fifth-most-visited Internet site, right after Facebook . But Amazon has also made an effort to build its brand offline. The e-commerce site took out a two-page spread to promote the Amazon Clothing Store in the March and April issues of Lucky . It also has been running ads for its ShopBop division in consumer fashion magazine Elle . Amazon acquired ShopBop in 2006. Footwear e-tailer Zappos joined the Amazon portfolio in 2009. In the past eight months, Amazon revved up its fashion business by hiring experienced buyers from traditional powerhouse retailers. One recent hire was Amy Glick, who spent more than 10 years at Nordstrom Inc. Former Barneys New York fashion director Julie Gilhart was brought on as a consultant to elevate Amazon’s merchandising mix. And Amazon buyers shop trade shows such as MAGIC , Agenda and the Los Angeles Fashion Market . “Amazon is a key and vitally growing women’s retailer now,” said Liza Stewart, who runs her self-named Liza Stewart Inc. showroom in Los Angeles. “It’s working hard to establish itself as well as compete in being the ‘go-to site’ for fashion.” read the full article on apparelnews.net

For the first time at PLAYTIME New York (March 10-12) , UBIFRANCE introduced six French designers that presented their exclusive winter collections of Kids’ Fashion ( LEsprit de Luna ; Louann ; Moon Et Miel ; Pile Poil Paris ; Le Vestiaire de Jeanne ), Shoes ( Pom dApi ) and Interior Design for Babies Room ( Pile Poil Paris ). PLAYTIME New York, the international trade show dedicated to the Universe of Children has been growing for the past 2 years and is now recognized as the “boutique trade show” that features high-end and contemporary children’s lines. The show is held in a very warm and bright space in the chic area of SoHo in NYC; more than 80 exhibitors were featured during this last session. To enhance the exposure of the French exhibiting companies, UBIFRANCE partnered with EARNSHAW’S Magazine, the Premier Children’s Apparel magazine in the United States. For most of the French designers, this was a first approach to the U.S. market ; they were very excited about the show, the new contacts they made and the opportunities ahead. The visitors were also very enthusiastic about the new lines they discovered. Don’t miss out on the next edition of PLAYTIME New York with new French exhibitors on August 4-6, 2012. F ollow us on Twitter @UBIfashion and join our   French / North-American Fashion Business  Group on LinkedIn  

Jennifer Cattaui is the Editor-in-Chief at EARNSHAW’S Magazine, the Premier Children’s Apparel magazine in the US. She has also created and been running for the past 7 years the specialty stores in New York City and online retailer for babies & children: BABESTA.   As EARNSHAW’S and UBIFRANCE put together a partnership and a game  to support the French companies exhibiting at the upcoming PLAYTIME New York Show (March 10-12), Jennifer Cattaui shares with us her insights regarding Babies & Kids Fashion in the US. She provides us with advice and tips on how to success on the US Market, and highlights the strengths and the assets of French designers on the children’s market.   Click the following link to listen to this expert of the Universe of Children! (Please do not mind the French introduction, the podcast comes in English)  

The UBIFRANCE & EARNSHAW’S game on Twitter for PLAYTIME New York has launched! From March 10 to 12, UBIFRANCE will be participating to the PLAYTIME New York Show with 7 French designers featuring their avant-gardiste children’s collections. Come and Play with them! Find the jumbled words dispersed on the French Designers’ Booths, put together the sentence, mention it @UBIfashion and win a prize! To learn more, please download the game rules (available at the end of this article), and don’t forget to check out our exhibitors list

The male shopper, who pretty much was missing at the onset of the recession, is buying again. And to the delight of retailers, he is not just stocking up on suits and dress shirts, but also doing something women have been doing for years: binging on accessories. Bracelets. Bags. Hats. Umbrellas. Men are buying so many accessories that some forecasters predict sales growth for men’s clothing and accessories during the first three months of this year will set a 20-year high. “That guy had been away for a while during the tougher times,” said David Witman, general merchandise manager of Nordstrom’s men’s division. To get traditional women’s accessories to appeal to men, some designers are giving them manly names and styles. That’s not really a bracelet; it’s wristwear. And that’s not a purse, nor the dreaded murse, but a holdall. Read the full article on The New York Times

  Ubifrance-French Trade Commission is thrilled to announce their partnership with the Academy of Art University in an effort to boost the presence of French textile manufactures to American students of the Fashion School of the Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA regarding the Spring/Summer 2013 Collection that would be previewed in NYC in July of 2012 and shown in its entirety as part of the university fashion show during Mercedes Benz Fashion week in September 2012. For the project, meters of fabric will be donated by the French mills of a variety of types and weights. 18 women’s wear designers from the Academy of Art University Master of Fine Arts program and between 5-20 French manufacturers, exhibitors at Premiere Vision Preview Show New York (next edition taking place January 10-11 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York), will be joining forces. Current potential mills include: print (AB Creations); silk, jacquards (Belinac, Denis&Fils, Malfroy Million, Philea, Soieries Chambutaires, Sprintex); wools (Clarenson); lace (Sophie Hallette, André Laude, Goutarel, Riechers Marescot, Solstiss); knits (Deveaux, Philea, Sprintex); tweeds, muslins, taffetas (Malfroy Million) and prints (Price, Vernet, Minakani) and production of small & big series of metallic accessories (Mettetal Creation) With more than 17,000 students, Academy of Art University ( www.academyart.edu<http://www.academyart.edu >) is the nation’s largest private art and design university.   Established in 1929, the school offers accredited A.A., B.A., B.F.A., M.A., and M.F.A. programs in Acting, Advertising, Animation & Visual Effects, Architecture, Art Education, Fashion, Fine Art, Game Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Architecture & Design, Landscape Architecture, Motion Pictures & Television, Multimedia Communications, Music Production & Sound Design for Visual Media, Photography, and Web Design & New Media. Online degrees are offered in most areas. Academy of Art University is an accredited member of WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges), NASAD, and Council for Interior Design Accreditation (BFA-IAD). Follow us on Twitter  , or join the french North-American fashion business group on LinkedIn