The halls of MICAM were packed full of Asian buyers: +68.6% from the duo of China – Hong Kong alone, along with buyers from the ASEAN delegation organised by the ICE Agency. On the rise were North America (+43.2%) and Europe, with Spain increasing by +9.6%, Portugal by +4.5%, and Switzerland by +7.8%, thus confirming its role as a commercial hub. Instead, France and Germany were characterised by a downtrend, along with Russia and the CIS area.

The event maintained a strong international vocation, represented by 1,396 exhibitors, of which 618 were foreign in origin, expressing international excellence in the mid to high-end and luxury footwear range. At the fair, all footwear segments were represented from Luxury to Contemporary, Cosmopolitan, Active, and Kids footwear.

Despite the strong fashion vocation of Micam, the selection did not overlook the segment of safety and professional footwear, represented by names of the calibre of Soldini, Grisport, New Gisab, Damar, and Macri, along with the Brazilian brand Usaflex, the Spanish brands Nuovo and MBT, the English Kidderminster, and the Turkish Ferundun.

Among the most noteworthy moments of this edition was the visit of Vice Premier Luigi Di Maio, who was asked by Assocalzaturifici President Annarita Pilotti “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”. At the same time, she also pushed for the elimination of sanctions against Russia and for the promotion of obligatory origin labelling. There were then the visits of Kenneth Cole and Tommy Hilfiger, the Emerging Designer fashion shows, which were also protagonists of “The Envy for Micam” contest – the theme of this edition of MICAM, and the re-entries par excellence, Fratelli Rossetti and Moreschi…

The exhibition and events at the fair revolved around a number of special areas: the Fashion Square with its fashion shows, seminars, and the Micam Gala with the show from the musical Kinky Boots; the Man Square with its Proraso Barber Shop; the Style Square with its ‘human shoes’ made by body painter Johannes Stötter; the iKidsquare with the plant and flower-based shoes of M. Plant; and the Fun Square, with its Adorn hairstyling and makeup stations, LED walls and virtual reality stations, and tattooing on sneakers. Finally, there was the Micam Square with its seminars on fashion and retail trends in footwear.

Fashion, business, networking and inspiration, return with MICAM from 10 to 13 February 2018 for the presentation of the FW 2019-20 collections.