Innovation, New Consumer Trends and Experiential Marketing Make Up the Know-How Area, Ideaslab-March 2013

a new edition of the competition, Ilovemyshoes, which has been staged at previous editions, recognising the man and woman with the best footwear at the fair; exhibitions featuring the work of students at the Higher Centre for Fashion Design of Madrid and the Secondary School of La Torreta; and even a Table Football Tournament.

The fair has already surpassed the number of registered visitors recorded in March 2012 by 15%.

In relation to the new companies that will be taking part at this edition, we might mention names such as Guru, Coolway, Piedeli, Armand Basi, Frida, José Sáenz, Liberitae and Paco Valiente, among others

Madrid, 1st March 2013.- Modacalzado+Iberpiel, Footwear and Leather Goods International Week, an event organised by IFEMA, is making the final preparations for its thirty-first edition, which is due to take place between 9th and th March at Feria de Madrid. An Activities Programme will also be staged to coincide with the trade exhibition.

Among the activities that have been prepared for this occasion, the staging of a new edition of the IdeasLab Area is especially important, this being one of the main points of interest for the thousands of professionals who attend this fair. IdeasLab will be located in the Connecting Area between Halls 12 and 14 and, as at previous editions, will include an extensive Conference Programme throughout the fair's three-day duration, based on a series of morning and afternoon sessions. On this occasion, the Conferences will focus on trade management, the world of design, the latest fashion trends, and innovation within the field of footwear.

This forum for the promotion of know-how seeks to introduce traders and professionals from the industry to new techniques and successful tools designed to cater for demand within an increasingly competitive and innovative market, one in which the Internet and new technologies are coming to play an especially prominent role. All of the presentations will be made by leading experts within different fields of knowledge, including fashion and the latest trends, retailing, marketing and sales techniques, among others.

These Conferences will offer free access to members of the industry, entailing no extra cost regarding the entrance price for the fair. They will be staged alongside the trade exhibition area, where more than 400 Spanish and foreign brands are due to present their footwear and accessory collections for the Autumn/Winter 2013-14 Season.

With still a week to go before the start of the thirty-first edition of the fair, Modacalzado+Iberpiel has already surpassed the number of registered visitors recorded in March 2012 by 15%.

Regarding the new firms that will be taking part at this edition of the fair, we might mention names such as Guru, Coolway, Piedeli, Armand Basi, Frida, José Sáenz, Liberitae and Paco Valiente, among others. These names will be complemented by other prestigious brands that take part at the fair on an habitual basis, such as Pons Quintana, Pura López, Sacha London, Magrit, Desigual, Hispanitas, Callaghan, Kangaroos, Xti, Mtng and Victoria, among others.

Conference Programme

The Activities Programme at this edition of Ideaslab will kick off on Saturday 9th March at 12.00 p.m. with a conference entitled "Generating Business Via the Internet", delivered by Paco Fernández, a Business Developer at Barrabés Internet.

At 3.00 p.m., Isabel Mesa, the Head of the trends forecast portal, Word Global Style Network (WGSN), will deliver a joint presentation with Paula Fajardo on the main fashion trends in footwear and leather accessories for next 2013-14 Season.

Also on Saturday, a conference will be staged entitled "The Importance of Experience When Making Purchases", delivered by Carlos Sánchez, the Head of Experiential Marketing and Contentsat M2M- Factoría de Innovación. Those attending this conference will discover the opportunities offered by new sales techniques that are becoming increasingly popular, such as experiential and emotional marketing, which seek to reach consumers directly through their feelings, effectively creating an emotional connection with the product in question.

The Conference Programme on the first day of the fair will be concluded by Gema Gómez, the founder of the Sustainable Fashion Forum known as Slow Fashion Spain. Her presentation, entitled "Eco-Innovation: Success Stories Regarding Sustainable Footwear", will present the main values associated with sustainable and eco-friendly footwear.

On Sunday 10th March, the artist, Alexandra Prieto, will present her success story within the framework of the IdeasLab Area. Under the heading of "Art in Footwear", the artist will explain how her paintings and sculptures have served as a source of inspiration for various footwear and accessory collections, which then establish a unique association with each piece.

Julian G. Sánchez, the Manager of the firm, Sacha London, will also present his success story on Sunday 10th March, sharing his know-how under the heading of purchasing innovation and experience.

Furthermore, Sunday will witness the staging of the roundtable entitled "Opportunities, Retailing and the Independent Market", featuring the participation of the following figures: Hilario Alfaro, President of the Confederation of Traders and Businessmen of Madrid (Cocem); Imanol Martínez, the Head of Marketing at the Spanish Footwear Industries Federation (FICE); and Francesco Malatesta, the Director of Modacalzado+Iberpiel. This roundtable will tackle many of the problems that are currently affecting the retail industry in Spain, as well as focusing on new consumer habits, which are largely based on the progress of e-commerce. At the end of the roundtable there will be a question-and-answer session in which those attending the event can also make their contribution..

For his part, Javier García Lillo, the General Secretary of FICE, will gauge the current state of the industry by focusing on the economic climate that is currently affecting its performance. This paper will be entitled "The Footwear Industry Today" and will take place on Sunday 10th March at 4.30 p.m.

The key aspects regarding the optimisation of results within the fields of marketing and sales will be presented at a conference to be delivered on Monday 11th March byLola Chicón, the Head of Marketing at Creadsmedia, an innovation and technology company that specialises in mobility solutions.

Also on Monday, the last day of this edition of Modacalzado+Iberpiel, the NGO, Humana, which collaborates on the financing of cooperation projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America through the sale of second-hand clothing at its shops, will present an exhibition designed to promote the awareness and acceptance of a new fashion approach amongst manufacturers and retailers within the footwear industry.

An Attractive Range of Coinciding and On-Going Activities

In addition to the comprehensive programme of conferences and seminars organised within the framework of the IdeasLab Area, Modacalzado+Iberpiel will also host the staging of different exhibitions and ongoing activities.

In this respect, ever faithful to its date at the fair, the Footwear Foundation Museum of Elda will surprise visitors with an interesting exhibition entitled "Stepping Over the Finish-Line". This exhibition will propose a review of sports footwear throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through some 50 footwear items, including climbing shoes, baseball boots, football boots, tennis shoes and cricket shoes. This event aims to show how the use of sports footwear on a daily basis has become increasingly generalised and popular over the last twenty years.

Furthermore, as is customary, the fair will host the staging of the "Golden Pencil" Exhibition, which will exhibit the models created by students at the Secondary School of La Torreta. It will also host the staging of "Wallpaper", featuring the designs and creations of students at the Higher Centre for Fashion Design in Madrid.

In addition, Modacalzado+Iberpiel will place a specialised fashion industry job pool known as: FashionJobs.com at the disposal of all visitors and participants at the fair, a tool that will enable them to consult and publish job offers free of charge on the fair's wall on the web.

Modacalzado+Iberpiel will also implement a new edition of the competition, #ilovemyshoes, an initiative staged at previous editions in which the man and woman with the best footwear will be chosen from among the professionals attending the fair. A photographer will take snapshots of the footwear models worn by trade visitors at the fair that stand out for their originality, daring appeal or elegance. All of these photographs will be exhibited to visitors on a panel located alongside the Ideaslab Forum. They will also be published on social media sites. A Jury of Experts will be entrusted with choosing the winners, who will receive a pair of shoes as a prize. In the case of the men, the prize will be offered by courtesy of the company, Joma, whilst in the case of women, Sacha London will provide the prize.

Alongside all of the activities mentioned above, a Table Football Tournament will be organised within the framework of the fair, located in the Central Passageway of Hall, involving the participation of visitors and exhibitors at Modacalzado+Iberpiel. The winners will receive a prize pack by courtesy of the firm, Gioseppo.

Modacalzado+Iberpiel will take place between Saturday and Monday, from 09.30 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. over its first two days, and from 09.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. on its last day.

(11/03/2013)