Numerous were the Asian buyers seen in the halls of MICAM, including a growing number of buyers from the duo of China – Hong Kong, which taken together grew at a rate of 68.6%, along with buyers from the ASEAN delegation organised by the ICE Agency.

There was then the excellent performance recorded by the North American market, up +43.2%, while within Europe, Spain rose by +9.6%, followed by Portugal (+4.5%), and Switzerland (+7.8%), which confirmed its role as a key logistics platform for the sector. Instead, France and Germany, and Russia and the CIS area were characterised by a negative performance with a downturn in their numbers.

“MICAM is still an event with a strong international vocation – was the comment of Annarita Pilotti, President of Assocalzaturifici at the end of the event – In an attempt to maintain this leading position, when Italy’s Vice Premier Di Maio visited the exhibition, we asked him to free up as many resources as possible to help small businesses and cut social security contributions and taxation, because this is the only way companies can afford to pay their employees more, become more competitive and continue to invest, generating wealth and promoting an upswing in consumption. It is also important to eliminate the sanctions imposed on Russia, which have had a negative impact on the participation of buyers from the country. Lastly, we need European legislation making labelling of origin obligatory to protect the excellence of our manufacturing industry.”
Buyers at the fair appreciated the selection of the SS 2019 collections presented by 1,396 exhibitors – of which 618 were from abroad – expressing international excellence in the mid to high-end and luxury footwear range, which was divided into the areas of Luxury, Contemporary, Cosmopolitan, Active and iKids. Among the names present were re-entries par excellence like Fratelli Rossetti and Moreschi, illustrious figures such as American stylists Kenneth Cole and Tommy Hilfiger, and young talents that were fruit of the scouting activities of the Emerging Designer area… As always, the exhibition revolved around the pivotal point of its special areas:

the Fashion Square in Hall 1, which hosted not only the event’s fashion shows and the Z Generation and Sustainability seminars, but also the highly glamorous MICAM party with celebrity spokeswoman Natasha Stefanenko, and the show from the musical Kinky Boots. At the same time, the Man Square once again presented its Barber Shop in collaboration with Proraso, while the Style Square featured human shoes made by body painter Johannes Stötter, with M. Plant instead creating shoes from plants and flowers in the iKidsquare. In the Fun Square, the protagonists were Adorn’s hairstyling and makeup stations, tattooing on sneakers, LED walls, and virtual reality stations. Finally, WGSN’s seminars on fashion and retail trends in footwear returned to the MICAM Square.

The next edition of MICAM will be held from 10 to 13 February 2019 for the presentation of the FW 2019-20 collections.