After announcing plans to expand FN Platform into New York, UBM has now decided to stick solely with its Sole Commerce format in the Big Apple.
Starting in February, the show organizer will expand Sole Commerce to include more women’s and juniors’ names. At the same time, it will unveil a separate space, Sole Commerce Collections, in the main Coterie area. The FN Platform nameplate will not be used in New York.
“While we’re proud of the brand name FN Platform, we recognize in most people’s minds that meant men, women and children show. That was not our intention or the plan [with this show],” said Leslie Gallin, president of footwear for UBM.
Moving forward, the expanded Sole Commerce space will sit directly in the middle of UBM’s recently acquired Business Journal Inc. shows. “The retailers will have to walk through Sole Commerce to see the apparel,” Gallin said.
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Sole Commerce Collections, meanwhile, will be a luxury footwear area focused on women’s footwear. “It will be a highly juried show,” Gallin said.
FN Platform will continue to run twice a year in Las Vegas.
