Swim Collective bought out by Emerald Expositions

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Aug 15, 2016

Major trade show owner Emerald Expositions has bought out Swim Collective and its sister show, Active Collective.

Emerald Expositions is owner to Outdoor Retailer and Surf Expo. It is based in San Juan Capistrano, CA. It purchased Swim Collective and Active Collective for an undisclosed amount from founder Shannon Leggett.

“It is gratifying to see how critical the Collective shows have become to the swimwear and activewear markets. I am confident that Collective’s exhibiting brands and attending retailers will benefit from Emerald’s presence in overlapping and adjacent markets and also from Emerald’s scale, resources, infrastructure and industry relationships," Leggett said in an official statement.

Swim Collective was founded in 2010 and takes place biannually in Huntington Beach. Brands routinely exhibiting include Mara Hoffman and Manhattan Beachwear.

Active Collection was founded in 2014 after the success of the swim show. It features active brands such as Alo Yoga, Breath by Body Glove, Gaiam and Prana.

“The Collective trade shows have grown strongly over the last few years under Shannon’s leadership, and we are excited that they will now join Emerald’s Specialty Sports and Apparel Group...  The Collective shows are truly must-attend events and share many like qualities with our existing brands,” said Darrell Denny, EVP of Emerald Expositions.

Denny continued, “Bringing Collective events into Emerald will allow us to quickly leverage the strengths of all our shows to enhance each individual show and create new and better opportunities for brands and retailers to succeed.”

In addition to the first ever East Coast edition of Swim Collective in 2017, Emerald plans to add a third show to take place during Active Collective next year. That show will be called Beach Collective and is slated to debut July 2017.