500 brands took part in the fair, with 28% more direct exhibitors than in September

The second single-theme edition of MOMAD Shoes, the International Footwear and Accessories Fair, held from 9 to 11 September at Feria de Madrid, added to the warm welcome given by participating companies and buyers to its first edition last March by strengthening its appeal as a meeting point for the supply and demand of both sectors.

For the duration of the event, MOMAD Shoes, which is organised by IFEMA, welcomed 4,855 documented professionals, while the number of international buyers visiting the fair increased by 18%, making them 9% of the total. In addition to these figures, the turnout for MOMAD Shoes also rose since it was held on the same dates as MOMAD Metropolis, the International Fashion and Accessories Trade Show. Together, the two fairs received 18,497 visitors, 7.5% more than the previous September, when Footwear was still being presented alongside Textiles and Accessories at the multi-sector Fashion event.

The positive effect of holding Intergift, Bisutex and MadridJoya on the same dates and in the same place as these other two fairs should also be noted. By coinciding, 5,000 visitors more came to MOMAD Metropolis and MOMAD Shoes and significant synergies were created among all the fairs, turning Feria de Madrid for these few days into the most complete showcase of fashion and trends in the south of Europe.

National and international buyers

The regions in Spain with the largest number of buyers attending MOMAD Shoes were Madrid, with 22%, the Valencian Community, with 18%, Andalusia with 10% and Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla-Leon and Catalonia, with around 6% each. From outside Spain, MOMAD Shoes welcomed foreign professionals from 43 countries, including Portugal, in first place, followed by Italy and France, the major trading partners of the Spanish industry, which accounted for 57% of the visitors. Greece, Ireland, Poland, Russia, the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Brazil were other countries that sent buyers to the fair. These figures show that MOMAD Shoes is one of the major reference points for Made in Spain outside our borders.

Strong participation by brands and new exhibitors

The second edition of MOMAD Shoes brought together over 500 domestic and international Footwear and Accessories brands, 28% more than last September, of which 30% were newcomers. "These figures, together with the number of visitors, confirm that the current single-theme format of MOMAD Shoes is the best fit for today's market, and so we will continue to work to improve its appeal to the professional audience and adapt it to the needs of the sector," said Jaime de la Figuera, the event's director.

The exhibition space for this event also grew to occupy a total net area of 9,000 square metres, 25% more than in September 2015, and hosted an outstanding variety of designs and collections for Spring/Summer 2017.

A positive evaluation from the exhibitors at MOMAD Shoes

MOMAD Shoes ended its second edition with a favourable evaluation from most of the firms taking part and an overall perception that the change to a single-theme fair was very positive. The exhibitors consulted agreed that the visitors were of high quality, public turnout was high and the effective commercial space for making new contacts and increasing the loyalty of existing customers was large.

Francisco García Martín, the boss of EXE, said that he considered the fair's results to be "fabulous" overall, since “we had a great turnout of visitors during the three days, and interest in the collections”. Lourdes Pomar, from theVidorreta design department, also gave a very positive evaluation to her time at MOMAD Shoes: "The turnout was notable and you could see the visitors' urge to buy."

Oscar Segura, managing director of Yokono, said that he had had all kinds of visitors, from small traders to big companies; while Juan Carlos Díaz, sales director of Lodi, said that he had attracted new customers, although most attendees were the firm's usual clients, which allowed them to share impressions of the new collection. Luis Miguel de la Morena, Manager of Luissetti, also gave a favourable evaluation to MOMAD Shoes. "It's on the right track and it has helped us to get visitors back," he stated. Paco Rodríguez, sales director of Sixtyseven, was also satisfied, as he highlighted the high percentage of visitors who had a profile of interest to his firm.

Great showcase of trends

The importance of the second edition of MOMAD Shoes as a showcase of trends was due to the outstanding participation of domestic and international firms that are a real benchmark for the design of Footwear and Accessories and also have great prestige in their respective segments of the industry. Among these brands were Mascaró, Pons Quintana, Pretty Ballerinas, Pura López, Chie Mihara, Martinelli, Estefanía Marco, Lodi, Wonders, Hispanitas, Gioseppo, Pertini, Pedro Miralles, Gant, Mustang, Xti, Refresh, Coolway, Mayoral, Acebos, Vidorreta, Drap, and others.

Joining them were newcomers from the Footwear sector, including Minnetonka, Boaonda, CocaCola Shoes, Ria Menorca, Bata, Flossy Style, Laura Vita, La Repo, Abbacino, Sperry, Keds, N12, Rolling-Hee!, Gas Jeans, What For, Suyute, Valentina Tachi, Moranguito, US Polo and Yokono. The Children’s Footwear sector also added Duvic and Cirqus, among others.

Special importance of Sustainable Fashion

Sustainable Fashion had a strong presence at the second edition of MOMAD Shoes. By scheduling a variety of activities and promotional initiatives, MOMAD, an umbrella brand that covers the Fashion events in Madrid organised by IFEMA, expanded its commitment to this segment, which is made up of brands with an outstanding dedication to sustainable production, marketing and distribution. One of these initiatives was the new “Sustainable Experience” space, a showcase of an informative nature intended to raise awareness and strengthen the dissemination and consumption of sustainable fashion. Also, in cooperation with Slow Fashion Next, MOMAD hosted the exhibition "Analysis of a product life cycle”. In parallel with all this, Hall 12 housed a special area in which, as well as the benchmark associations from this field, 15 textile and accessory companies displayed their Sustainable Fashion offerings for the multi-brand channel.

Interesting programme of parallel activities

Alongside the trade exhibition, MOMAD Shoes hosted an attractive and complete programme of activities. Among the activities were lectures that formed part of the MOMAD FORUM, the informational, knowledge-centred area of the fair, in which the new operational needs of the sector, trends, e-commerce and online communication and branding strategy were addressed.

The second edition of the event also included, for the first time, the MOMAD Fashion Lab, a forum in which the major fashion trends were analysed with the multi-brand channel as the central pillar. It was organised in collaboration with Modaes.es and the Textile and Accessories Trade Business Association (Acotex).

To complement these Forums, the event offered an attractive and extensive programme of activities and displays for visitors. With the cooperation of the Elda Footwear Museum, Alicante, for three days visitors could visit a Handmade Shoe Workshop, in which master craftsmen demonstrated the different stages of making handcrafted footwear.

In addition, the Footwear Technology Centre of La Rioja (CTRC) and the Association of Footwear Industries and Related Industries of La Rioja (AICCOR) organised a series of initiatives, with the aim of supporting the 15 companies from La Rioja taking part in this edition of MOMAD Shoes, while at the same time promoting the exhibition “La Rioja Open Land”. Among these initiatives was the installation outside the halls of a "Giant shoe made in La Rioja", a large sculpture of a man’s shoe, to remind visitors of the importance that the sector has both in the community of La Rioja and in Arnedo, the "city of shoes".

MOMAD, Madrid
(16/10/2016)