Sharifa Murdock Isn’t Blessed With Good Luck, She Earned It

An important foundation for discovering and supporting new brands today, trade shows offer visibility into today’s fashion landscape. Behind the scenes is Sharifa Murdock, the brain behind Liberty Fairs, Capsule and Cabana — some of today’s largest trade shows. Prior to fashion, the Brooklyn native had always been devoted to working, starting out from a paper route and making way to Key Food and McDonald’s. Her father had instilled in her from a young age that in order to attain anything, she had to work for it. Sharifa’s entryway into fashion began when she was working in retail at Atrium and Louis Vuitton, where she became their top seller. There, she fostered a relationship with Atrium founder, Sam Ben-Avraham, who took a chance by hiring her to work on a trade show called Project. Unforeseen at its time, Project became an elevated trade show focusing on small boutiques. After it was bought by a larger corporation, Sam decided to partner with Sharifa once more to begin Liberty Fairs in 2013. After the success of Liberty Fairs, the duo went on to purchase Capsule and Cabana, expanding their range of trade shows. Through the years of working with Sam and her fervent desire to give back to her community, Sharifa decided to start ENVSN Festival, an interactive networking event bringing together women in various industries. She hopes that by providing this safe space that young girls like her wont need to “compete with each other anymore” and instead begin “collaborating with