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The opportunities I have had here at LIM College, in only my first two weeks, have been unreal.

If you would have told high school senior Maria Triantafillou that within her first two weeks of college, she would be volunteering at  , working a trade show, and attending Coterie, she would have, without a doubt, not believed you, laughed … and probably cried.

UBM Fashion is the company in charge of renowned fashion tradeshows and marketplaces like Coterie, bringing in top fashion brands from all over the world to present products to buyers.

From September 15-17, 2019, Coterie held their show at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan; I was lucky to attend on September 16 as part of my Introduction to the Fashion Business class. Walking into the Javits Center felt like a whole new world. Big splashes of floral and pink filled the room—I couldn’t help but smile. As I walked through the aisles, it was amazing how I was treated as a potential customer! Of course, their presentation changed when they realized I was not a buyer, I was a student; everyone was polite and answered any questions my group and I had, making the experience over the top.

Coterie has so many product categories to choose from including Fame, Sole, Moda, Edit, Accessories, and Vintage. My group and I toured the Accessories category:

• We saw handbags with bright “sherbet” colors, as Robert Rokoff from TMRW Studio described the Spring 2020 bag trend.

• Sunglasses were bigger shaped—not much tiny cat eyes anymore.

• Belts were made of animal print or chains.

• Hats were big and floppy.

While we were exposed to all accessories, my group and I really took an interest in the jewelry. We were fascinated by these booths not just because the designs were amazing, but because we noticed similarities between each jewelry booth: chains. Chains were everywhere. We spoke with Momo from , who described the chains as “a classic”—their jewelry consisted of chunky gold chains with bright colored stones making the jewelry unique.

We then walked across the aisle to , where we once again saw more chains, only this time instead of bright stone, there were coins along with mixed metals. The person we spoke to there said, “Coins never go out of style—it’s a really big trend we have right now.”

Finally, we walked over to , where chains once again filled their collection. We asked the salesperson what they thought the biggest jewelry trend was this upcoming spring: “Definitely big chains and big hoops.” It was amazing to see one trend interpreted in so many ways. It was one common trend, but each piece we saw remained so unique and original.

I could have spent all three days at Coterie looking at clothes and talking to more people. It was great getting a peek at the upcoming trends we’ll see this spring. I am all for the sherbet-colored bags. Personally, I love the chain trend the most. I am a big jewelry girl, and this trend is so simple … yet so unique! You can dress it up or dress it down. It is such a great piece to complete any outfit. Ben-Amun stood out to me, and I think they nailed their Spring 2020 Collection. I loved the style, the big chunky chains, and the bright-colored stones they incorporated in their line. It’s easy to follow a trend, but making it stand out from the rest is hard.



I am so grateful for being able to attend Coterie, and I am thinking of my spring outfits already!