LAS VEGAS—Altitude Intimates kicked off its inaugural show at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino Las Vegas with rooms dedicated to different sectors, including one for lingerie and another for pleasure product manufacturers and distributors.
Attendees enjoyed the location—right on The Strip—as well as the setup of the new show. While the original intent of Altitude was meant to focus primarily on lingerie manufacturers, once the International Lingerie Show announced it would no longer produce shows, many manufacturers and distributors of pleasure products made the move to the new event.
“This is a good effort so far,” said Tom Stewart, founder of Sportsheets, which exhibited at Altitude. “You know how when you play poker and you have to put in your ante to see if it’s worthwhile? We put in the ante and are happy so far. This is a show that looks like it is directed toward everyone in the industry, and that’s a good thing.”
In the Sportsheets booth, Stewart and his crew showcased the new packaging for the Edge collection of BDSM items. The brown-and-black color scheme plays into the masculine appeal of the collection.
Stewart also talked of his recent participation in New York at a conference for physicians, occupational therapists and more who work with spinal cord injuries.
“There were six men on one of the panels, and all of them were in wheelchairs,” Stewart said. “I brought a few items with me, including strap-ons and thigh strap-ons, and they all were amazed that such products existed and they wanted them all.
“It was so rewarding and such an honor to be a part of that conference,” he added.
Stewart’s participation in the conference is the latest outreach work he has done. He has often worked with veterans and military groups to use Sportsheets products to maintain and improve their sex lives.
The Sportsheets booth was near the entrance to the pleasure products room, right across from Eldorado Trading Co. The distributor's booth was focused on the services it offers to its clientele, including its StorExtender e-commerce platform and its Elevate U educational program. On hand in the Eldorado booth was Kira Manser, clinical director at the Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health, who is one of the presenters in the Elevate U program. Manser is also giving a presentation tomorrow at 10 a.m. at one of the industry seminars. The seminars run from 8 a.m. to noon in the Sunset Room.
In the Shibari Wands booth, the new line of Hello, Sexy! items were on display. In addition to a curved wand massager, the collection includes the Shimoji Wireless 9x Massager, which boasts six pulsation patterns, three speeds and an ergonomic design for G-spot stimulation. The waterproof dual massager is USB rechargeable and comes in black, pink and purple.
The staff in the Williams Trading Co. booth welcomed visitors with bags of freshly popped popcorn, and were ready to talk about the company’s new Quick Ship program. Quick Ship guarantees orders placed by 11 a.m. EST on a preferred shipping day, will be shipped that same day. Read more about the program on AVN.com.
In the Holiday Products booth, visitors were able to meet and chat with reps from some of the leading brands in the industry, including the Womanizer. And some manufacturers, including Impulse Novelties and Synergy Erotic, had their own booths at the show to meet with new buyers and existing customers. Both of these companies have new, more compact packaging on the way. Impulse’s Gabor Szabo also pointed out items in the new Amie line—small vibrators with big features. Made of silicone, they offer seven speeds and come in bright colors and creative shapes.
We-Vibe reps were at the show to debut new pleasure rings, the Pivot and the Verge. “The rings will be available on April 24, and they are app-enabled so the We Connect app will update at that time too,” said company rep Jennifer Brice.
The rings mark the first products We-Vibe has developed specifically for the penis. The Pivot, available in navy blue, is a stretchier ring; while the Verge is more rigid and comes in slate gray. Both rings vibrate and can be positioned to stimulate the wearer’s perineum during sex or a partner’s clitoris.
Also on display from We-Vibe was the Wish palm bullet.
“It has two of the Tango’s motors in it, which people just love,” Brice said. The turquoise pebble-shaped vibrator has a squishy silicone covering and is palm-sized to stimulate the labia all at once. A softly rounded tip allows for more precise clitoral stimulation, Brice noted.
In the Xgen Products booth, located in the main room with the lingerie exhibitors, the new Frederick’s of Hollywood pleasure products collection was getting attention from visitors. The line features lipstick vibes, cock rings and even kits with a BDSM flavor. Sales rep Chris Lerner talked about the packaging, which is focused on “giftability”: tissue paper, ribbons and a gift card should make these items winners for bridal shower season. He said response is enthusiastic and buyers are looking forward to the collection shipping in June.
Also new from Xgen are Bodywand that include card games, which will be available in a couple of months. In stock now are teddies in the Lapdance Lingerie line, and red bodystockings will be added in about four months.
In the Entrenue booth, also in the main room, a number of manufacturer reps were on the scene. Daniel Bilodeaux from VeDO showed off the Ohhh Bunny collection of products. The Crazzy Bunny bullet vibe, Frisky Bunny cock ring, Kinky Bunny dual stimulator and Spunky Bunny finger vibe are a subsection of the VeDO products line, and will soon be packaged in VeDO packaging.
“The packaging will make it easier for retailers and consumers, since everything can be stocked together,” he said. “The boxes will say VeDO and have Ohhh Bunny underneath.”
Drew from SpareParts HardWear talked about new marketing initiatives just launched by the harness manufacturer. The company now offers Skype training to retailers and consumers, designed to help them learn about sizing and how to choose the right models. Drew also showed off a new collection of swatches that shoppers can use to see how the fabric feels on each of the SpareParts models.
Entrenue owner Joe Casella pointed out a couple of brand-new offerings just added by the distributor. One is an app-driven pelvic floor exerciser called the Elvie. Billed as “your most personal trainer,” the device is a single oval-shaped bead with a tail for easy retrieval. The app, which puts users through daily five-minute workouts, is visually appealing, and the petite mint-green device fits into a tidy cylindrical storage case. (For information, visit Elvie.com.)
Also unique and visually striking is the Zumio, a deep purple vibrator that reaches new heights in pinpoint stimulation. The slender rod fits easily into the hand, and at the tip is a small bead that focuses vibrations in a tight circular pattern. (For more details, see MyZumio.com.)
Altitude Intimates continues through Tuesday at Planet Hollywood. For more information, visit AltitudeShow.com.
