Everyone at the Orange County Convention Center attending a fashion show is being tested daily. “There are a lot of eyes on this event happening,” Kelly Helfman said.Helfman is with Informa Markets Fashion which runs the show, bringing together MAGIC Pop Up Orlando, WWIN Orlando Showcase, and OFFPRICE to get vendors and buyers face-to-face. It’s one of the first Orlando events to demand daily COVID-19 testing for thousands, in addition to a socially-distant layout and nearly three dozen other safety protocols.“The majority said we’re ready to come back to these live events as long as there are these safety measures in place that make us more confident to come,” Helfman said. Once people are tested, they’re given an armband to show that they are negative. In addition, before they can enter the show floor, they also are scanned by a mass fever screening system that reads body temperature.After that, they may enter.Jay An is CEO of HYFVE. He’s glad to know that retailers and customers are COVID-19 negative when they walk the merchandise aisles.“I think some of the buyers didn’t come out just because of the whole testing situation. But, just to keep our safety and the buyer safety, I think it was a good idea,” An said.Cathy Cooley of Hale Bob Designs flew in from California. She agrees.“At least you know that the people you’re going to be working around and dealing with on a day-to-day basis, hour-to-hour basis, that they have been tested,” Cooley said. The fashion industry, which depends on touching fabrics and seeing designs up close, aims to prove other industries can get back to in-person conventions and expos, even in a pandemic.
Everyone at the Orange County Convention Center attending a fashion show is being tested daily.
“There are a lot of eyes on this event happening,” Kelly Helfman said.
Helfman is with Informa Markets Fashion which runs the show, bringing together MAGIC Pop Up Orlando, WWIN Orlando Showcase, and OFFPRICE to get vendors and buyers face-to-face.
It’s one of the first Orlando events to demand daily COVID-19 testing for thousands, in addition to a socially-distant layout and nearly three dozen other safety protocols.
“The majority said we’re ready to come back to these live events as long as there are these safety measures in place that make us more confident to come,” Helfman said.
Once people are tested, they’re given an armband to show that they are negative. In addition, before they can enter the show floor, they also are scanned by a mass fever screening system that reads body temperature.
After that, they may enter.
Jay An is CEO of HYFVE. He’s glad to know that retailers and customers are COVID-19 negative when they walk the merchandise aisles.
“I think some of the buyers didn’t come out just because of the whole testing situation. But, just to keep our safety and the buyer safety, I think it was a good idea,” An said.
Cathy Cooley of Hale Bob Designs flew in from California. She agrees.
“At least you know that the people you’re going to be working around and dealing with on a day-to-day basis, hour-to-hour basis, that they have been tested,” Cooley said.
The fashion industry, which depends on touching fabrics and seeing designs up close, aims to prove other industries can get back to in-person conventions and expos, even in a pandemic.
