Going, going, gone.
That could describe what happened with the once-popular Project trade show — at least in New York City.
When Advanstar Global purchased the men’s show for $9.9 million in August of 2005 from founder Sam Ben-Avraham, it was the must-attend event for the menswear industry, both in New York and in Las Vegas where it competed with the company’s MAGIC Marketplace. Advanstar was purchased by UBM PLC in 2014 and that company was subsequently acquired by Informa plc in 2018, Project’s current owner.
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After a successful run of several years — the Tents at Project became a destination for a variety of popular men’s designer brands and complemented the more affordable labels at the flagship show — Project began to diminish in importance and size. And now, it will not hold a show in New York during men’s market week in July at all.
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Project had long been held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, but it was put on hiatus during the pandemic. It returned in January of 2022 in a smaller space at Iron 23 in the Flatiron District. In January of 2024, it moved into an even smaller space in Greenwich Village with just 12 brands on display where it remained for three seasons.
And now the decision has been made to not hold an event at all this summer.
“With the men’s wholesale events and community shifting and changing, we are continuing to plan for and restructure how Project shows up in New York for 2026,” Edwina Kulego, vice president of events for men’s, international and sourcing at MAGIC told WWD when contacted for comment. “As we received feedback and worked with the menswear community as a whole to plan during the upcoming men’s market in July 2025, we are shifting our focus to host a series of community and industry events and supporting initiatives to complement the existing men’s market schedule in the interim before we roll out our plans for 2026.”
She said the company will sponsor the MR awards in July, host “an intimate dinner with retailers and press, as well as other partnerships to be announced later during the year that will bring the community together.”
She also said the Project Las Vegas show will continue to be held, running Aug. 18 to 20 at the Convention Center there and feature “a series of events and programming as well as brands who will showcase their latest collections.”
The other competing trade shows are planning to hold events in New York in July including Man, which is relocating from Spring Studios to The Altman Building on 18th Street from July 22 to 24, and New York’s Best Menswear Show at the Park Central from July 20 to 22.