SXSW Launches Fashion Showcase

The annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference is coming up in just a couple of months. This will be my first year attending as a “local”. I am very much hoping the event is better than it was last year – it was my first disappointment in 6 years attending SXSW. If this will be your first year attending, here’s a SXSW Primer I put together.

Last week SXSW announced a new addition to the music, film and interactive portions of SXSW. It’s called Style X and is a retail fashion showcase. Even though one of my rules is to never call SXSW “South By”, they have suggested that you pronounce Style X as “Style By”.  The show will take place at the Convention Center on March 18 from 2-9pm and March 19 from 11am-9pm. The event opens one hour early for wholesale buyers and VIP guests. After the VIP hour, the event is open to the general public — meaning anyone can attend. Unfortunately the fashion shopping comes after the Interactive portion has ended.

The event is setup as a retail marketplace so you can actually buy fashions direction from the designers. Mobile payment service Square appears to be the processing partner for the event. If you are interested in offering your fashions, pricing for vendors ranges from $1,400 to $3,500. I do have a couple of slots open in case anyone of the designers need a male runway model.

If anyone is attending SXSW and has questions, feel free to email me. I am happy to help you navigate hotels, car rentals, logistics, etc.