Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons

Inside NY Now: Why Wholesale Still Matters for Independent Designers 👜🛍️| Emily Blumenthal & Matthew Mathiasen

• Emily Blumenthal • Season 1

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In an era dominated by DTC, what role do trade shows still play in building a fashion brand?

In this episode of Handbag Designer 101, we sit down with Matthew Mathiasen, Show Director of NY Now, to unpack why wholesale isn’t just relevant—it’s essential for emerging accessory brands looking for long-term growth, especially now with The “It Bag x NY NOW” new program.

With over 100 years of history, NY Now has evolved from a traditional gift show to a curated marketplace where boutiques and innovative designers connect. Matthew explains how specialty retailers are becoming brand champions, helping independent designers break into new regions, build community, and create consistent cash flow—with fewer strings than big-box retail.

💼 You’ll learn:
 👜 Why boutiques offer better margins, faster payments, and stronger loyalty
 🛒 How NY Now’s “The It Bag” section helps handbag designers showcase their hero products
 📦 How to prep for a trade show like a pro—from booth setup to buyer pitches
 🔁 The hybrid wholesale model: in-person connection + online ordering via Bulletin
 📣 Why knowing your brand story and supply chain readiness is key to wholesale success

Whether you're a first-time exhibitor or scaling up your sales channels, this episode offers the clarity and tactical advice you need to navigate today’s wholesale landscape.

🎧 Listen now and discover how to grow your brand through smarter retail relationships, and apply to be part of “The IT Bag x NY NOW.”

Our Guest: Matthew Mathiasson is the Show Director of NY Now, America’s longest-running gift and lifestyle trade show. With decades of experience in the wholesale space, he champions independent designers and works to create meaningful connections between brands and retail buyers both in-person and online.

Host Emily Blumenthal is a handbag industry expert, author of Handbag Designer 101, and founder of The Handbag Awards. Known as the “Handbag Fairy Godmother,” Emily also teaches entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is dedicated to celebrating creativity, craftsmanship, and the art of building iconic handbag brands.

Find Handbag Designer 101 Merch, HBD101 Masterclass, one-on-one sessions, and

Youtube: / Handbagdesigner101-ihda | Instagram:/ Handbagdesigner

TikTok: / Handbagdesigner | Twitter: / Handbagdesigner

SPEAKER_00:

They want to make sure at the end of the day that they are set up for success with your product. So the more information you have, the more demographics that you know about your buyer, your customer, your, you know, your girl, as I like to say, who's buying your bag, wearing it, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, why she wears it, where she wears it. What other brands do you usually sit with?

SPEAKER_02:

Hi, and welcome to Handbag Designer 101, the podcast with your host, Emily Blumenthal, handbag industry expert, and the handbag fairy godmother. Each week we uncover the stories behind the handbags we love, from the iconic brands and top designers, the creativity, craftsmanship, and culture that define the handbag world. Whether you're a designer, collector, or simply passionate about handbags, this is your front row seat to it all. Welcome, Matthew Mathiason of New York Now, show director to handbag designer 101 the podcast. So excited to have you.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. Thanks for inviting me.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my goodness. So you are part of the new guard, as far as I'm concerned, of New York Now. We'll get into your background, but I would love, love, love to dive into where we are at right now with trade shows because what they were and what they are now very much reflects where we're at with retail, because retail, especially with tariffs, is totally different than what it was.

SPEAKER_00:

True. True. You know, in many ways, the show is 101 years old. It is the longest-running gift show, not only in the country, let alone New York City, one of the greatest cities in the world. As you know, as you live there, I'm very jealous. But with that, it's gone through a lot of changes, you know, and not just in since COVID, but since day one in the 1920s. You know, New York now started off as a hotel show with a couple reps that got together and they figured they could do something stronger together. I still carry that ethos through to today's show floor. It did take a moment where I left New York City. It traveled across the country throughout the 30s and 40s and then came back home. Since then, it's had about, I think, five different names over the years and decades. Many people still refer to it as the International Gift Show absolutely. Shelly Shelly, because that's what its name was for several decades. It has been New York now for a little over two decades at this point, almost push three decades. But with that, we still carry that ethos in, which is the, you know, the rep, the experience, the buyer connection at our show floor. Regardless of the size, regardless of the location over all these years, it's always coming back to the connections being made in person. And, you know, as part of this new guard, as you say, with uh New York Now, which is true, we do have a new team as far as owning and running this show, but not so new. They've all veterans in the industry and we've been on the show like yourself. I've been through a few fashion showrooms in my days. And so we have a really good team on the brand these days, really focused on driving the brand awareness, brand values, connections, making sure that we bring the right brands for the buyers that are still shopping and working in this industry. You know, as you know, it's been tough for buyers and retailers out there, especially the past five years. I think we're now we're going through a whole new renaissance, if you will. You know, it's it's tricky out there. It's definitely tricky. But with that, that's where we've tried to pivot in York now. You know, we're not a 500,000 square foot trade show anymore. We haven't been since 2018. I don't know any trade show that's still that size in the space of consumer goods and wholesale ordering. I just haven't seen another show of our size and caliber restage at that size since 2020. They've all found a new pivot, a new area to flex on. And that's what we're doing here at New York now as well.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, I dealing having dealt with so many designers, and I think so many of them are laser focused on direct to consumer. And I think I think that's important. And I think that is your gateway of having any proper large retailer to believe that your brand is worth actually buying inventory. I mean, we know that most sites now, like Nordstrom.com, Walmart.com, anything through Federated, they will do drop ship before they actually buy inventory because it's safer for them. I have a lot of designers that actually prefer that, knowing that they can then control the inventory and it allows them to go into production with a whole lot less at risk. However, there is a huge, I think, gray area in this new wave of designers that they tend to not realize the power and the value of boutiques. And those are your soldiers who will get your brand out, who will speak about who you are, who will brag that you are the one that they should invest in. And they want to be the ones who were responsible theoretically for discovering you and bringing you to the forefront. And I think, you know, considering this was historically the gift show, and there are a lot of trade shows that do exist. How is New York now truly different from the others, especially in terms of these boutiques who are coming that are trying to find the new and the innovative? Because we all know that there's a deficit of that right now.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. No, it's a really great point to call out is the backbone of America is and always will be, in my opinion, Main Street America. That's how we started as a country. Everybody wanted the American Dream. That American Dream to me includes Main Street America with, you know, person-owned businesses, not as much the corporate-owned line. The corporate's great. Yeah, I'm sure we all shop at all those big names, you know, to get our paper towels and probably picked up 17 other things along the way of getting those paper towels, which is their whole purpose. That's why that works in their instance. That being said, it's not for every brand. And most brands will actually discover they actually are going to have a longer running business line with more diverse options for themselves if they spread it across independent routine uh boutiques, retailers, and the specialty stores. Going all chips in one bag is usually not the best idea. And it can backfire. And I've seen it happen a lot of times. Sometimes you hit it rich, and that is great. Uh, we can all list a lot of brands that we have seen on those shelves that we also then see at every single, you know, store across the country. They see it on Amazon, they see it on Walmart, they then see it at the kiosk at the airport when they're traveling. Yep. Which is great. That's awesome for that brand. I love that. That being said, you can't compete in that marketplace anymore. Your product is now gone into the world, which is great. You're getting probably getting a great paycheck, but it's no longer probably what you started your company with and probably started on. So, you know, focusing on a diverse opportunity is great for a show like New York Now because, yes, we are presumably and always have been the gift show. With that, though, our buyers will say the number one reason they're coming to shop New York Now is for gifts. You look at the secondary and tertiary levels beyond that, though, are they see jewelry as a gift. They see a handbag as a gift. They like everything is a gift in that instance. It's not your tried and true, oh, I think gift, and I think of tissue paper, wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, and stickers, which is great. Love that things. Also, like unicorns. But gift at New York Now is so much more. And that's where you're going to see that. Also, what's nice about the buyer that's coming to New York now to find these products in all categories from home, gift and lifestyle, drawer and accessories, handbags, they are also the decision makers of their business, which is so huge. I think our last survey says over 60% of our attendee base is the decision maker of her company. She is the owner, she's the operator, she's the buyer, she is finance and accounting all in one. And uh, with that, when you, you know, get to partake in a show like that in person, you're meeting with the same person that's issuing the payment to your invoices. The same one's gonna call you and say, Hey, we sold out of those red bags. Can I get some more? Which you're not gonna get that level from some of the other larger retailers, which are in the room too, but that's a special arrangement that you're gonna get. And you're now and and many other trade shows, but that is a true type that you're gonna see walking our aisles.

SPEAKER_02:

But I love what you just said, and you know, having started my own personal roots with trade shows, there's also this key point of payment. You get paid up front.

SPEAKER_01:

That's true.

SPEAKER_02:

As opposed to the net terms. It's funny, I my business was so boutique focused for so long that by the time I started getting into bigger retailers and they were saying net terms. And I said, wait, so you mean you don't pay me as soon as you get it? That's true. You know, cash in hand is really what's important. And especially with all of these tariffs that are happening. I know it's it's allowed a lot of independent designers to really shine and have a lot of great opportunities because they're not making it in China. They are making it in other countries, they might be making them in countries where it's about sustainability or giving back or social responsibility. Sustainability, as you and I both know, is also very, very tricky because most things are never truly sustainable. They have a percentage, and we all try to do our best. But, you know, to do these call-outs and to what makes your brand special, the specialty stores are the ones who have those human relationships that can talk to the customers. And I think there's another missed opportunity that a lot of designers don't even think that you can go on a boutique tour to visit your best boutiques, to do in-store events, to have the boutique owner invite their best customers and then have a wine cheese grapes shop party. And then you get your local influencers essentially for free because they're already buying your product. I think there's something to be said for realizing that it's such a missed opportunity not to give a trade show and uh another chance. But we were saying like that the cost nowadays could be perceived prohibitive, which is why I was so excited and I've been wanting to do this for so long that we came together to create this very unique program called the It Bag, which you know, and and no disrespect to people who can take a full booth, but I feel, in my opinion, that if you're gonna have a full booth, you need to have enough customers and people looking out for you to make it worth your while, or else your success rate is not gonna be as high because you won't be a destination. And putting yourself perhaps in an emerging, emerging section, again, that works for a lot of designers. But as far as handbags are concerned, the buyers only want to see your best bags. They don't want to see the product that you've created to fill up the space. They don't want to feel, they don't want to see the, oh, let me make this just in case. They want to see what are your hero bags, what colors are they in, and what's your delivery. So we came together to create this very, very special section, if you will. And I'm so excited called the It Bag, which essentially we are taking a very select curated group of designers to have them show their essentially top five bags. And therefore, it gives them an opportunity and almost like a sax floor retail environment that buyers can walk the show. They have a reason to come stay, they have a reason to interact. It's not going to be so sparse. There'll be lots of people there. You won't be alone, you'll get that community vibe. And, you know, we used to for years have our audience fan favorite display within a variety of trade shows. I think the last one was at New York now. And it was wildly successful because all the designers were there. We had about 50 bags that were on display. And the buyers would say, Oh, can I buy this bag? Can I buy that bag? And I'd say, No, they're not for sale. This is your vote on which one you like.

SPEAKER_00:

Totally.

SPEAKER_02:

And it always like gave me that little like thorn in my side. Like, this is I hate missed opportunities. I hate when, you know, there's that gap from designer to sale to what's gonna happen next. So I knew that if the bags were presented in a collective way, that buyers will come and say, okay, I get it. I see how these bags should be merchandised. I see your top bags. I want two from you, three from you, one from you, boom, I'm on my way.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. Exactly. We've we've done the edit for them in many ways.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00:

And what's also nice is where we've placed this uh launch pad, if you will, is right on the line with our luxury lifestyle community. So you're it's you know, there's not a competition as far as other bags in that space. It's predominantly luxury couture-level jewelry that you're gonna be. So nothing better than, you know, a great handbag is a great necklace, in my opinion. So exactly, you know, it's a great area on the show floor where it's gonna create this little synergy between the two, a lot of good crossover between the retailers coming through that area. And to your point, it really is putting a spotlight on the key items that the buyer should have in her store. You know, as we've been chatting about money and price and values and times and commitments, you know, the buyer's time at this point of life going on, it is so limited. I'm sure every designer that has tried to reach out to a buyer to sell her bag or her product has discovered I don't get any responses. Well, that's because the buyer gets about 500 emails a day from other brands. Yeah, they're not reading your email.

SPEAKER_02:

No, they forgot.

SPEAKER_00:

They're not. It's probably not if anything, they're like, oh, that's really cute, that's really nice, as they're actively going into another meeting because it happened to ping on their phone that at that exact moment that they were looking at their phone. Otherwise, in person is her undivided attention.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's really where the trade show comes in. And being able to be part of this, this platform and being in the it bag, it creates this area already where the buyer knows we're advertising it to go and visit this area to see handbags. There's no questioning it. There's no, what am I gonna find here? Do I need to uh you know look under this stone? No, it's here's handbags. They've been curated, they are the it bags for you to see. And that's what's so special to me is that it's it's done, it's ready to go.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. No, I really couldn't be more excited about this. This has been something that has, since the handbag awards, I've really wanted to do because I know that my I know what I'm best at. And that's discovering talent and working with designers and helping them move to the next level, whether they're at inception or already on the shelf and looking for, okay, how can I grow and make better what I've already started? I just think it's it's just such an amazing opportunity, not to make this episode entertainment or an advertorial, but just quietly, it's my podcast. I can do whatever I want.

SPEAKER_01:

There you go. It's your name, it's your name on the board.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my God. But let me ask you. So if someone has never done a trade show before, what should they bring? How should they prepare? What are their key things that they could say? Oh my God, I never even thought that these are the things that I would need to do, prepare, get ready.

SPEAKER_00:

Great question. It can be a long list. It can be daunting, especially coming into a show like New York Now. You know, it is a highly packaged show. You're playing in the same field as legendary brands on the show floor that have all connections in the room. You are also playing the field of emerging designers all in the same building. Uh, I always like to say New York Now is uh everything from handmade to high volume in one-stop shop. It's been quite curated since the past. So it's even easier for the buyer to do her job. But with that, it's up to you as the designer to stand out. I mean, there's going to be anywhere from 800 to 1,000 brands in that show floor over three days. There's also other shows happening in New York City at the same time. The buyer has limited time to get around, as we say. So it's up to you to really be prepared as you come into the space there. So initially, you want to know your brand. You want to know yourself, you want to know your brand and want to know your products. You never know where you're going to have the moment to pitch that. Is it in your booth? Or are you staying at one of the discounted hotel partners that we have where fires are staying as well? So, you know, you could be in the elevator that morning running to get your coffee and realize that, oh my goodness, I'm next to the cutest boutique in Massachusetts that I've had on my list forever. Yeah. And you just strike up a conversation. You want to be ready for that too. So it's the same preparation between that. So know your five-minute pitch, know your 30-second pitch, know what sets your brand apart. You know, really define what that means. It can be anything to any brand. There's not a select rule or rule of thumb on this. I've heard every pitch in the world, and it's the ones that are unique, the one that tells me why I should have your product without shoving it down my throat, is what stands out. So I say that's step one is know who you are, define your identity, define your pitch, and define your brand. Next step there is know your operating procedures for going into a trade show. Because that is a whole nother part. I know a lot of time we're dealing with creatives. Myself, I like to split my brain in half. I have a creative side and an operational side. So it can be a daunting task to look at move-ins to a trade show, building out for a trade show. Even just getting to the trade show alone with all your products can be daunting. So, great thing is that we have webinars at New York now that will teach you how to do things live. I'm on those webinars with our operations team. You can ask us questions in the moment. You can also contact us 24-7. We have all the ways that you can reach out to us to get your questions answered. But read your exhibitor service manuals when you do shows, not just New York now, but any show. Read all those tools. I know they're long. They're sometimes they're 80 pages long at some of these shows, but it's for your, it's for your benefit. So there's nothing worse than showing up to a trade show realizing you can't do anything that you thought you were going to do, and you now have a very expensive move-in procedure. So that's another step there is you know, know your brand, but also know what you need to do to get physically into that show and set yourself up for success. Whether that is knowing the day that you can arrive, what kind of vehicle you can arrive in, where you park that vehicle, where you don't park that vehicle because you might want to drive it home later, but not have it towed. All those types of things are gonna really be helpful. I would say the third thing of getting ready for a trade show, especially if you're emerging and coming out of the block, is build your target lists, build your outreach lists. You know, no show is gonna give you lists, and if they do, question what they're doing with your data.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my God, that would be I would kill for that. That was one of those things. Like, oh my God.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

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SPEAKER_00:

So don't be shocked when the larger shows you work with and the corporate shows, like a New York Now show, they're not going to give you contact information of buyers. That is not why you sign up for a trade show. You're not buying a list. I know sometimes it feels that way, and you're spending a lot of money, so you think that you should get this list. You're not going to get the list. You're just not going to. Same way that we don't sell the designers' information out to other people. That just doesn't happen. So what I say is, and it's always hard, this is the number one question I get from emerging brands is well, I don't know the buyer there. Or how do I know the buyer there? Or how do I know this? And I go, Google LinkedIn and Instagram. LinkedIn, Instagram, social media, you know, all those different outlets and resources, get Excel, start making a spreadsheet. You go, and then what's also great with ChatGPT and other AI programs, it's literally a godsend. When you type in, you go, what is Revolves email cadence? Or what is, you know, and you look up and it's gonna go, oh, well, 90% of emails at this company that you just asked about use a first name.lastname at company.com. Or they'll be like, you know, this company is more like first initial last name. I know it sounds wild, but literally take that information, go to your sell list, pull up LinkedIn of every company that you want to be at. Oh, there's the buyer. Her name is Lauren Emily. And I know that this company is usually gonna be, you know, of an email cadence that is first name, last name, whatever. Write them all into that scripture. Yeah, type them all. Try multiples, try multiples, then start sending emails. Reach out on LinkedIn. If you don't get a response there, create a newsletter. Staying active. I know we said they don't open emails, but this is at least gonna tell you is the email valid? Is it gonna bounce back? It's a lot of trial and error, but building that list over time is gonna help you. Also, in New York now, while we're not gonna give you contact information, once you log in, you're all set up with your account, you have your New York Now online page powered by Bolton. With this on the back end, exhibitors are able to see the active list of buyers registered for the show. So it's not gonna have their contact information, but it's gonna give you names, names, companies, and their areas of buying. So again, this is another insight tool that builds your personal list. So use those types of tools to give way to your lists. And when you're on a show site, again, you're in person, your smartphone is a mobile app. It turns into a scanner. You can scan every single person that you connect with's badge that they wear, they have to wear a badge, then you can download that list. And now you have their contact information.

SPEAKER_02:

Are the badges colored now? Because I know they have from show to show, because back in the day, like if someone's badge was yellow, they were press. If it was blue, it was a buyer, if it was green, it was an exhibitor. And then they have the like rando, you know, black, like meaning you just showed up and I don't care about you. Yeah, you're just you're just walking.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yes. They are still um color-coded. And that is another thing that is included in some of that pre-show material so that you know when you're in your booth, if you see a green badge walk into you, green means what? Money. So that's what we say. We have changed those badge types so that if you're a buyer on the show floor or a person with purchasing power on the attendee side, that badge type is going to be green. So it's just an easy way to know as they're walking up the aisle. Look, by day two of a trade show, those of us with the best eye vision um will still be seeing double.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So this is a way for you to get color coordinated and be like, ah, okay, I see green. Let me puff up my chest a little bit and get ready for this. I know my five-second pitch. I know what I'm gonna say here. Maybe I'm gonna hold my product and play with one of the features. Maybe my bag has a strap that comes on and off. I'm gonna be taking it on and off while standing at the end.

SPEAKER_02:

100 and bring extra product. I mean, within within the it bag segment, we are, as we said, only showing the best of the best. But make sure you have a bag that you can wear of your own. I can I tell you, I've had so many designers, and I've spoken about this ad nauseum that there's so many designers who've created hidden products, but yet they still wear their Louie or their Gucci or whatever. And I'm like, girl, what's wrong with you? Like, no, you're your best. No, no, no, no, no. You're that's a marketing write-off, too. Like, no. It's true. Yeah. And also assume for the worst, assume something will happen to your product, assume samples will not show up on time. Make sure that you have swatches ready, that you have swatches are your best friend. Put them in a lovely book and make sure you know your delivery dates, make sure you know your reorder delivery dates. That's like the grayest area. Make sure you understand your pricing. Wholesale is one thing, but a lot of buyers ask, what are you selling it at retail? What are other people selling it at retail? Is your retail consistent from your site to somebody else's? How often do you go on sale? What are your typical discounts? Like all of these things are things you have to know because someone's gonna throw it at you and you don't want to go um. This is your brand, this is your chance, and you want to close it. And the great thing, at least, with this section is that we're allowing you to have the sale so laser focused because here are my best selling bags.

SPEAKER_01:

That's all that's it.

SPEAKER_02:

Here are my best selling bags. It's available in blue, purple, green. I don't have them here. Here are the swatches. Out of those pop colors, the green usually gets people excited. Do you sell bags that are green? How does green do in your store? It doesn't. Okay, I've got neutrals too. How do they do in your store? That's it. The end. That's all.

SPEAKER_00:

Where do I where do I submit my credit card?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

That was perfect. That's exactly it. And really well said. That's exactly what's going to happen in these conversations. They want to make sure at the end of the day that they are set up for success with your product. So the more information you have, the more demographics that you know about your buyer, your customer, your, you know, your girl, as I like to say, who's buying your bag, wearing it, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, why she wears it, where she wears it. What other brands do you usually sit with? You know?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, that first question, I remember when I was going into Bendels and that was a question. What other brands do you hang with? And I, you know, responded cheek-ily like, I hang with all the brands, like who, you know. But and and please, please be realistic as to who your actual competition is. Your real competition is never ever Louie or Gucci. It is never, ever, ever that. Who within that emerging independent designer space falls in line with your aesthetic, with your materials, with your price point, with your press, with your target. Oh, she typically would buy Brandon Blackwood, but you know, I know that her box aesthetic, she would find that she would enjoy my product too.

SPEAKER_00:

Totally. It's so, so good to know those things. You know, uh, we were at a show recently and I was looking at this one company's huge pieces of mushroom leather. And I remember years ago, this was just something being spoken about in a textbook. And now here I am holding my hands. And it's yeah, it's it's amazing. It's such good quality. Like it's coming out in all different colors, shapes, sizes, textures. If you make a bag out of that, for example, that actually puts you in a playing level of leather bags. It puts you at a playing level of sustainable bags, um, clean ingredients, reusable, you know, you have many arenas there. So always look at that for other brands that you could sit with and stores you can sit with. Because, for example, at New York Now, another way that we encouraged buyers to shop, knowing that one, this is how the modern consumer is shopping. This is where that Gen Z Gen Alpha is actually spending their money, is based off brand values. So, yes, it's cute. Yes, I like it, yes, it fits right. However, does it match my value as a person? You know, some people only want to support and wear female-founded goods, which is amazing. It's actually the number one brand value shopped at our show is female founded. Um wow. Yes. Handmade products make up over a third of the offerings at New York now across the floor, all sections. Wow. Handmade is a huge component of our show. No matter how much, you know, you might want to walk our show and say, oh, well, that's a huge line. That's a huge line. Yes. But if you go into the actual data and details, handmade products is a huge focal point at New York now. So if you make a handmade, handmade product, lean into that. Check that box on your directory page. Because you can put these all as filters on your pages and it's female founded, it's black owned, it's Letin X owned, you know, it's clean ingredients, it's sustained. Like there's there's 16 brand values that we have identified. You can choose all 16 if they identify with your company. Please don't go greenwashing the world there. Oh god.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. But uh, but that's another way to that sets you apart and allows you to, you know, get in front of that buyer because that buyer might only be shopping for, you know, handmade female founded goods. And she's gonna have double filters on her page, and she's that's what she's looking for because that's what her consumer buys. She might not be looking for any of that, she might be looking for the color green, which in that case, good thing you had your swatches, as Emily said.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. No, I think, and also making sure. Now I know this sounds crazy. What kind of paperwork should they bring?

SPEAKER_00:

It's not crazy. It's actually a great, great question. And very interesting topic as well, given I think our overall society's confusion, if you will, between will we, won't we? Where are we? What are we doing? Am I all plugged in on a phone and an iPad? And that's I've gone full digital. Or do I still want to read a book paper to paper, front to back cover? I think we are in uh between all generations in our current society, blending between what we want as a uh, you know, as a carbon copy form, as well as what I'm willing to save as a file in my folder on Modestra. So it's a good question. I will say both at this current stage. So it's always good to have a paper line sheet, a paper, you know, list of your products with pricing and an image. It does not have to be fancy. It you can make this in PowerPoint, if you will, them out at FedEx Kinkos. It does not need to be fancy. It needs to be informative at the end of the day. This is not a lookbook. This is a sheet that has pricing, images, specs, so that when you have that connection, if she's not ready to buy today, which don't be shocked if she's not ready to buy today. She's got a lot of things to look at and a lot of books to run through. But if you can give her something that goes into her purse, that when she gets back at that hotel later in that night and she opens that purse and pulls out all these lovely new things that she found today, you now physically have something in her hand. So that is the benefit of paper paper and paper line sheets and items like that. Paper order forms, a little bit different. I think we are officially, as an overall community and world, finally shifting away from the yellow, pink, white carbon copy or pull the copy, pull the copy. Pull the copy, pull the copy, pull the copy. I mean, we have officially really seen the true adoption going into digital ordering. Or at least just uh, you know, we'll write it up on my iPad here. I'll send you an email of the items that you put on your orders today, so you have that as your copy.

SPEAKER_02:

Is there a program that people use for order forms?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I've seen everything, honestly. So, you know, there's the large online marketplaces that you can join. They do cost money though. So I don't always advise this for an emerging designer. That would be like your new orders, your jours. Don't start there as an emerging designer. Right. You're just paying a lot of money for something that you don't need. Now something similar, Brand Boom. Brand Boom is a much lower cost product, if not even has free options if you don't need too many uh stages of it. Check out Brand Boom if you want to go that route of being able to have something digital to send out. That is doors. You can take it to any show and use it as, you know, if you show up at a store yourself and just have a great connection, you can set it out that way. You don't need any perfect step. Another way, though, is at New York Now, with your booth package, you receive your New York Now online page, which is on Bulletin. Bulletin is an online wholesale marketplace. So it's different from a new order or a journey in the sense that it's visual. You can see it. The buyer can log in herself, see your page, check herself out without even speaking to you. So that's another tool. When you set up your profile page, list your products on that page as well. So if you're bringing those five it bags to the show, put those five it bags on your profile page. Put them in every color too. So maybe you actually have 15 products up there because you want to show each colorway. That way, if she's filtering, changing, you can then add uh product tags to these products as well. Additional ways of filtering and searching on the website. So if a buyer's on the website, it's three o'clock in the morning, she can't sleep, she types in green bag, and you've tagged your green bag on your profile page as green bag, green bag. Think of it as uh, you know, hashtags. Yes, it works like that. It works kind of like that within this matrix. So that's one step tool to use there within the show, like in New York now. That's gonna come as well.

SPEAKER_02:

On bulletin, can buyers place orders, or this is just your profile. They can place orders. They can place orders. Does that go through Brand Boom or they do it just those are separate entities?

SPEAKER_00:

Brand Boom is just another example of a platform that an emerging brand might want to look at to create line sheets, to have something up there. What's nice about your New York Online page is it's also integrated with Shopify. So I know earlier with a lot of brands that have gone immediately into direct to consumer with their products, which is great because you get immediate interest. That margin is super delicious. You are now front loading your entire production on your own. You do not have any other money coming in to front load your production. And to sell to retail uh in direct to consumer, as we both know, means the product already exists. I have to, if you buy it, I now have to ship it to you immediately right now.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

If you bankroll it and blend your back end with wholesale orders and selling direct to consumer, you're gonna get some money to offset your production now that you don't have to front load because you're getting it up front. So between those things, you know, you really can blend it. But if you have products that are held domestically in the US and can ship from US or Canadian warehouses, and that warehouse might be your apartment because let's face it, that's where most good products start is your living room floor. You just have uh, you know, your family deals with the amount of boxes in the other room. You're like, this is fine. This is our child's college fund here. We're gonna sell these boxes until we grow big enough. Either way, you can then transact on Bulletin. So we have a whole one sheet on it. So happy to walk into that one by one with brands as well.

SPEAKER_02:

Do designers keep their product exclusively on Bulletin and use that as their digital platform for trade shows?

SPEAKER_00:

They can. Absolutely. So while we're integrated with that at New York now, that's your page. So you actually tell the Bulletin team and tell us that you want that page removed in the future. So what it is because you can have a bulletin page right now. You do not need to come through New York now. It is a live marketplace. Uh, you can sign up for your page and it's free. It's free to post your products on there. So any brand should just do it for that purpose alone, is that it's not going to cost you any money to just load your products up there and they'd be exposed to another database. Uh, the only time that it's gonna now going to cost something, and I use quotations there because it still does not cost me anything. It comes out of the order, it's a commission. So if you are not part of New York now, but you have a profile page up on Bulletin, but you make an order with a buyer and you're not signed up for the show yet, it's gonna take a certain percentage of commission out of that order once it ships. But Bulletin acts as your banking system in that instance. So they invoice, they they do payment. All you have to do is pack the order and ship it out within 14 days of it arriving. You will then be paid directly into your your bank account that you set up with the profile.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh oh my god, amazing.

SPEAKER_00:

I know it's amazing. Now, the benefit of doing New York now with the Bulletin is the second that you sign up for the show and contract your booth space, your commission rates reduce. So for wow. Yes. So for any order that you place running up until the show as well as the time after the show for one month. So let's say our show is in August, you're right, these discounted rates would run through the end of August for any orders that you place on there. Now, of course, if you already have a buyer and she's already your buyer, you just have to give us that list and put it in there and it's pre-approved with our team. It's very easy to do. Any of those orders that you've brought in on your own, there's no commission. So you just have to let us know. So they don't take any commission out of that. So you can run all your orders on there if you wanted to, and it can act as your wholesale back end for you. You just have to let the team know your existing buyers, and then there's no commission on those. Other perk though is on show site, any orders placed, regardless if you know them or not. This could be a brand new buyer. You connected with her at the It Bag Launchpad area. Had great connection. She's like, I'm writing these up. It's happening. I need to buy these bags. They're they're too perfect for what I'm doing in my store. It's gonna matter the customer. They write that order with you live, zero commission. So again, during the three show days, no matter who you wrote the order to, new or returning, zero commission on those orders. So it's another good benefit there for that live in-person. We do that to design that in-person connection and what we refer today.

SPEAKER_02:

And meant to have the return on investment for doing the trade show to begin with.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my God. Matthew, we could like go on and on and on. I so this is like sort of sexy to me. I so enjoy those. I love it. Yeah, I feel like we're gonna need to do one more before the show just to get people jazzed up. So I'm having you back. Matthew, how can we find you and learn more about New York now, whether it's exhibiting, whether it's walking the show, or even wanting or buyers that are listening?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm very, very easy to find. Most of my friends, family, and colleagues say that you're gonna hear me before you see me. Same. We share that personality. Absolutely. So, you know, if you if you uh if you're in LA, I'm based out in LA. I get to fly to New York City for the show a couple times a year. Um, so I get the benefits of both coasts. But um, you know, I'm always in around events in LA. So if you ever see me in person, always say hi, never shy away from me.

SPEAKER_02:

And comma, that's why we have a YouTube channel so everyone can see Matthew and his slick new haircut, too. It's very fabulous.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, they did me right this time.

SPEAKER_02:

No, looks very smart. It's very nice.

SPEAKER_00:

Outside of seeing me on YouTube podcasts like this one or in-person events, I'm online. I am online. Feel free to always add me on LinkedIn. My name is pretty unique. I'm pretty much the only one, maybe less than five Matthew Matthiasins that currently exist in digital uh boy endpoints. I know there just only recently became a couple years ago another one on Facebook, which I know I'm dating myself with Facebook. However, I was shocked. I was like, oh, there's another one. Okay. Well, I'm here first. Um winning.

SPEAKER_02:

I so get that. I so get that.

SPEAKER_00:

My email's on our contact us page at nynow.com. Uh website for the show. Um it's very easy. Just, you know, those lovely little five letters.com. And uh that's gonna get you access to all different information portals on the website there. Additionally, contact us page that has my contact information. It has our entire sales team, operational team, contact information, and the marketing team. So we're all very accessible. Additionally, though, uh add me on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm I'm always I'm always down to what is the New York now uh Instagram? It's at ny underscore now, correct?

SPEAKER_00:

Correct, exactly. So Instagram is at ny underscore now. And that's I know.

SPEAKER_02:

We uh Matthew, this has been an absolute delight. I can't wait. We're definitely gonna have a follow-up to talk more about it back and getting everybody excited. So once we get everybody on board, then we want people to then come and watch and walk the show and come find our designers. So thank you so much for part one, as far as I'm concerned.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, I love it. Thanks for having me. It was a great part one.

SPEAKER_02:

Thanks for listening. Don't forget to rate and review and follow us on every single platform at handbagdesigner. Thanks so much. See you next time.

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Emily Blumenthal

Host