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Ahead of the 20th Couture show, we asked show organizers, designers and retailers to tell us: What memories do they have from their first Couture experience?

What follows are answers from 20 industry players who have contributed to the show’s growth and evolution over the years, from Memorial Day weekend 1995 in Newport Beach, Calif. to the years in Arizona and, finally, to the Wynn Las Vegas, where the show has been since 2005.

Bookending this collection of memories are the recollections of three individuals who gave the show its start—Howard Hauben, Mindy Fielman and Nancy Robey—as well as the man who is seeing to its future, current Show Director Gannon Brousseau.

Howard Hauben, CEO H2 Events

First show: 1995

“I was called by my show manager Frank Paige at 4 a.m. the morning of opening day with bad news. ‘Howard,’ he said. ‘We will not be ready to open the show on time in the morning, as some of the trucks with all of the decorator’s showcases still have not arrived.’ We sized up the situation and decided we needed to try to somehow open without the promised showcases and build them overnight after the first day of the show. Though we had a team on hand, we still needed a lot more hands to clear the floor of all the unassembled materials so that we could open with white shell schemes and cocktail tables and tablecloths. We got the needed extra people by heading down to a Newport Beach farm laborer stand with two small buses and hired about 40 farm laborers to help us. By around 1 p.m. we were ready to open and retailers like Harold Tivol were clear that they were eager to get to work. I remember standing up on a chair outside the ballroom and Harold looking up at me and saying ‘Come on Howard, open the show already.’”

Nancy Robey, The Nancy Robey Partnership Inc.

First show: 1995

“When the booths were still not open at noon, the amazing David Arnold gave three disgruntled exhibitors free full-page ads in Town & Country magazine when they adamantly insisted that the show could not open unless their booths were built. The Four Seasons draped tables with their signature pink tablecloths in lieu of the hijacked showcases for each booth front, laid out a delectable buffet, and the retailers, who felt so sorry for the exhibitors, poured onto the show floor and wrote more business in that one day than had been written at any other trade show in four whole days, a testament to a community pulling together to support each other. And the rest is history … The Couture business model has gone on to survive [multiple] changes in management and owners while still retaining its cache and glamour.”

Mindy Fielman, Hearts on Fire

First show: 1995

“I could list hundreds of funny anecdotes from the very first Couture, including arriving in the hotel lobby at 4:30 a.m. after being paged (yes, I had a pager back then) to find Howard Hauben and Nancy Robey in a phone booth (yes, a phone booth) trying to determine how they were ever going to get the collection floor open in the next four hours. But, when I look back, it was the determination, energy and passion of those first crazy moments that developed the seeds of the ‘Couture community’— a community that is flourishing 20 years later with a sense of cooperation, partnerships and identity unseen in other trade shows.”

Todd Reed, designer

First show: 1995

“I was with ViewPoint, they were my dealer, and I just remember like being in awe of all the great designers. I remember my first emotion. It was just like, ‘This is the best of the best of the best.’ I felt small and it felt so important. I had come from doing a few craft shows, I had done JCK Design Center. But as soon as I got into Signature and Couture, I went wow … I don’t want to be good anymore; I want to be great.”

Marie Helene Morrow, retailer, Reinhold Jewelers

First show: 1995

“If I had to get (to Couture) on crutches, I would still go. I love Couture. It has a sense of style, a sense of fashion. It always did from the inception. Even from the ‘dinners in the dirt’ at the Phoenician—dinner in the dirt was one of Howard’s ideas. It was quite a bit of a walk from the hotel in Scottsdale and everybody went. And they had the best time. I think it was Robert Lee Morris who made up the phrase ‘dinner in the dirt.’ We used to laugh about it every year; it was very special.”

Jim DeMattei, ViewPoint

First show: 1995

“It was unlike anything we’ve ever had as a trade show and really took on a new flavor for camaraderie   in the industry. When it when to Phoenician it really was like getting together with family over Memorial Day weekend. It had a very relaxed atmosphere for a trade show. We had our own groups and we hung out. It was like going to camp. You really can’t turn the clock back and recreate what you had years ago. It’s a different time and it’s a different business. Vegas isn’t your homespun arena. That being said, it truly is as close to that as we can get in Las Vegas. We see each other during the day, we see each other at night. It really is a time to bond.”

Myriam Gumuchian, owner, Gumuchian

First show: 1996

“The Ritz-Carlton, Pasadena: I remember meeting customers at the bar-pool-tennis court, in that order. I thought that was the greatest way to meet new customers who, over the years, have become friends.”

Jim Rosenheim, retailer, Tiny Jewel Box

First show: 1996

“What I cherish most about Couture is the connections with other retailers that I’ve made, the intimacy of Couture and the very personal nature of it … all of that is so wrapped up in my memories of Couture. Couture in its early days was like nothing I’ve ever experienced and nothing I’ve experienced since. I love Couture (today) and it’s what I go to Vegas for, but it’s not the same experience as when it was small and by invitation only and wasn’t connected into the hubbub of Vegas. It was a very special moment in time in our industry that you can’t re-create.”

Mark Patterson, designer

First show: 1996

“It was like the most pleasurable trade show I had been to. I remember all the other designers and even the retailers playing volleyball in the pool. There was a slide, and (I remember) seeing designers and retailers going down the slide into the pool … People were so much more relaxed back then. I don’t know if it was the newness of having a show at a resort like that. It just seemed that people were less stressed and had more time to hang out at the pool and have fun.”

Jan Mohr, Couture retailer liaison

First show: 1997

“I was not a retailer or working with the show. I was actually working in Tiffany’s wholesale division. My memory is the salons were very small then, even for a name like Tiffany. Everyone had the same set-up. Our salon was really small but it was great. We loved the whole sense of community. I think what made Couture so special—and still makes it so special today—is that they created a very focused event for the higher end part of the industry. And it created a real community within that group.”

Marion Fasel, jewelry author and editor

First show: 1997

“In retrospect, (my first Couture show) seems like the dawn of designer jewelry as we know it today. I remember meeting John Hardy at the end when he was breaking down his own little booth by himself. It was small and intimate show with a relaxed atmosphere. Everyone spent time at the pool. It’s amazing how Couture has maintained the luxury and quality part even if the pool time has evaporated because the show has become so large.”

Paula Crevoshay, designer

First show: 1998

“I remember standing at the Phoenician and silver trays of fabulous snacks and foods being delivered during the day. The food was so fantastic at the Phoenician. I’ll never forget how fresh it was. It was wonderful. And, also, just being a part of something designers are worthy of—the best format for showcasing and selling their beautiful works. It was a very reaffirming and respectful feeling that I think we are worthy of as a group. It was just a genius formula.”

Stephen Webster, designer

First show: 1999

“I had a table. I want to say it was as far removed from a prime spot as you can get—it was under the stairs. I had a table under the stairs. But something happened. Because Couture was so small even with a table under the stairs, I became discovered. Suddenly there was this kind of buzz—have you seen the guy in the purple suit and his table under the stairs? Everybody had to see what I was doing. It was probably my purple suit that did it; it probably had nothing to do with the work. Even David Yurman came by. He said, ‘This stuff’s amazing.’ I was so excited because it was my first American show under my own name.”

Rodney Rayner, designer

First show: 2001

“It was perfect for the whole concept—networking and socializing with people. That was a new experience for us, working in that way. It’s a not a very English way to work. We find the lovely American retailers—Americans in general—are very friendly and open and chatty, more so than the European buyers, who are more sort of closed. The retailers all talk to each other. We were launching our Orb collection at that show. We suddenly found that we were one of the talks of the show. There was a buzz going around. In Europe if a retailer finds something new and interesting they don’t tell anybody.”

Irene Neuwirth, designer

First show: 2003

“I was in the Design Atelier, which was a bit hidden in the back at that time. It was definitely a slow start getting appointments (I’m not sure we had even one that first year!) but people kept promising it would get better and now it’s incredible. I look forward to it every year.”

Glenn and Susan Rothman, founders, Hearts On Fire

First show: 2004

“After having participated in numerous trade shows held in convention centers over the years, the Couture show was a most welcome change back in 2004 when Hearts On Fire was invited to participate. Joining Couture was a huge shift in the way we did business at a show, because it was more than just a show … it was an enjoyable, luxury experience. In our ballroom, we always strive to create a ‘home’ for our retailers, as well as our team. It is the epitome of doing business … relaxed, comfortable, welcoming.”

Gurhan Orhan, designer

First show: 2005

“(My wife) Fiona is very allergic to almost everything. She has a huge sneeze. One night she sneezed in the show ballroom as we were getting ready for the show—middle of the night, very concentrated trying to put the jewelry out, all those things—and at that time when she sneezed, sudden silence. And then they start applauding. She sneezes very strong. That’s what I remember … (Also) we didn’t have many appointments but we had an amazing first day. We went to celebrate immediately after that.” 

Stellene Volandes, style director, Town & Country magazine 

First show: 2005

“My first Couture show was the first one at the Wynn and my greatest memory is the private breakfast with Steve Wynn. He was still with (his now ex-wife) Elaine at the time, the Picasso (Le Rêve) was still intact (Las Vegas casino magnate and art collector Steven Cohen accidentally put a hole in it with his elbow the following year), and I was overwhelmed by his vision and determination to create this kind of experience in Las Vegas.”

Jennifer Gandia, retailer, Greenwich Jewelers

First show: 2010

“I remember being so excited to be invited, and I think that feeling did keep us on a little bit of a high for the rest of the show. It meant that we had evolved to a certain place and were on our way to becoming the type of store Christina (Gandia’s sister and co-owner of the store) had envisioned. We were definitely still a little green and very easily impressed, and it’s such a beautiful show. We really had our socks knocked off by being in such a beautiful space.”

Gannon Brousseau, Couture show director

First show (as director): 2012

“I remember walking the halls during the show and seeing how genuinely excited people were to see one another. I had always been told Couture was an incredible community but you don’t fully understand that until you are a part of it and once you are, the feeling is unavoidable and incredibly inspiring. This community of artists and retailers and editors is so special and I am so lucky to be a part of it.”