(Filed Under wholesale Lingerie News). All future iterations of The International Lingerie Show (ILS), the bi-annual Las Vegas trade event, have been suddenly and permanently canceled and the new Altitude Intimates has announced its intention to try to “accommodate everybody” at its own upcoming event.

The Altitude show is scheduled to open the afternoon of April 2 and run for the next two full days, April 3 and 4 at Planet Hollywood. Executive director Eric Ehrens told BODY that over two dozen prominent exhibitors were already confirmed for the show including (as the list was presented to us): Glamory Hosiery, Legg Story/ DBH Creations, Eros Veneziani, Body Language, J. Valentine, 7-Til-Midnight, Mapalé/Espiral, Fantasy, Roma, Allure, Music Legs, Oh La La Cheri, Hustler/Electric Eel, Gregg Homme, Escanté, Coquette, Dreamgirl, René Rofé/International Intimates, I-Collection/Golyta, X-Gen, Pleaser USA, Hoss International, Be Wicked, Ellie Shoes, Patrice Catanzaro and Magic Silk.

Official word of the cancellation of the ILS was only sent to its exhibitors in the first days of 2017, and so many of those wholesalers were suddenly thrust into the process of trying to arrange exhibits at the Altitude show. Ehrens emphasized he is trying “to find space for everybody,” adding that “if we have to we will cut back the owners booths,” referring to the original group of ten founding wholesalers of the Altitude show.

Until late into December, Jeff Yunis, the owner of the ILS, had insisted his April show would go on as scheduled with over 100 brands expected to exhibit including “two dozen new companies.”

In his letter announcing the closing of the ILS, Yunis wrote, “Of course the new competition was a major factor in my decision but, to tell the truth, at age 75, with many more things I want to do and places I want to visit and family considerations, the timing was right.”

Crystin Ehrens, managing director of the show, repeated that Altitude “has made it an urgent priority to expand and accommodate as many exhibitors as possible interested in exhibiting.” And Eric Ehrens admitted the show had originally planned for a relatively modest number of exhibitors for its first event (certainly not on the order of a hundred or more) and had anticipated a period of coexistence with the ILS. In recent days Altitude show management has had to go back to the hotel to find more ballroom space and hotel rooms. He noted that while all the exhibition spaces will be located within Planet Hollywood, some exhibitors or buyers might be assigned hotel rooms in nearby venues.

According to Ehrens, Altitude Intimates is owned by ten companies, Allure Lingerie, Coquette International, Dreamgirl International, Elegant Moments Lingerie, Escante, Fantasy Lingerie, Mapalé by Espiral, Roma, Hoss International and J. Valentine. He added that under the original show plan, the first eight companies on this list were scheduled to take six 10’ x 10’ booths each, while the last two were allotted two booths each. Some of this might change due to the new circumstances.

Ehrens said he has been in recent contact with many of the prominent exhibitors at the former ILS and was confident that many would be moving to Altitude Intimates in April. He said that in addition to lingerie, shoe and apparel firms, he was also going to “try to accommodate” adult novelties at the new show. In general, while the situation is still in flux, it seems that the show is looking to include as many different exhibitors as possible, even if some will be taking smaller booth spaces than they otherwise might have.

“This show is basically a show for the industry, by the industry,” said Ehrens. — NM

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Published 01-04-2017 by Nick Monjo