More than 600 exhibitors coming from around 30 countries worldwide presented the new collections of around 1000 brands at the last edition of Mos Shoes in Moscow, the leading leather and footwear event for the Russian market. Continuing with a trend of constant growth were European brands in particular, featuring leading market names like Primigi and Relaxshoe from Italy, Pikolinos from Spain, Barker from Great Britain, Bartek from Poland, and Walkys from Portugal. At the same time, there were also important brands like Democrata from Brazil, Ugg Australia from Australia, as well as Sketchers and Fila from Russia.
Instead, the national pavilions – a formula that gives the participating companies a number of advantages in terms of promotion and organisation – featured not only the traditional presence of Germany, India, China, Armenia and Uzbekistan at this edition, but also the new additions of Spain and Brazil, which decided to present their products in the framework of collective expositions.
Compared to March 2018, visitor numbers to Mos Shoes increased by +11.4%, for a total of 12,136 operators. In particular, the number of professional visitors coming from the regions of Russia and CIS countries increased, considering that the format of the event, which simultaneously presents all segments of the leather and footwear industry on the same dates, is especially advantageous for buyers.
This edition of Mos Shoes once again presented a rich programme dedicated to buyers, who assisted by the exhibition organisers, were able to schedule in advance the meetings with representatives of important chains and get feedback on their products.
The recently concluded edition also saw visitors and exhibitors show a strong interest in the initiative “Leather and Components”, a section of the fair – which is one-of-a-kind in Russia – that brings together manufacturers of leathers, accessories and components for footwear and leather goods production, with around 80 companies participating. Among them were leading Russian companies such as Russkaya Kozha, Verhnevolzhsk Tannery, Taldom Fur Factory, Markovich Company, Gramos and many others.
Increasingly important was also the presence of companies specialised in machinery and components, with leading realities like Desma (Germany), Kenda Farben (Italy), Corplast (Italy), Celme (Spain), Teseo (Italy), and Wintech (Italy).
At the same time, MosPel, the exhibition of bags and fashion accessories, was once again held in conjunction with Mos Shoes, presenting over 120 companies and well-known brands (up +59% over March 2018), including Pierre Cardin, Di Gregorio, Laura Ashley, Goroshek, Richezza, Tergan, Cangurione, Dolci Caprici, and Fulton. The number of visitors interested in the segment of bags and accessories increased by 71% compared to March 2018, thus confirming the growing importance of a key trend in retail that increasingly reconfirms the popularity of total look proposals, offering not only shoes, but also matching bags and fashion accessories. Mos Shoes also dedicated an increasingly strong focus to children’s footwear through Mos Shoes Kids, registering more than 100 footwear companies, of which 28 were new entries, for an increase of +17.4% over March 2018.
One more innovation of Mos Shoes was the Trend-Zone MS Fashion, organised jointly with the famous expert and fashion-video producer Andrey Abolenkin, presenting 5 key trends of the Fall/Winter ‘19-20 season, with an ad hoc area created through tactile, visual, and audio components of the exposition, which was aimed at helping buyers better orient themselves in their purchases. MS Fashion represents a fundamentally new approach to the organisation of the Trend-Zone, offering the possibility to understand the origin of every single trend and above all how they can be used not only for the new collections, but also in conveying a more modern appeal to the products already on store shelves and in store windows.
Last, but not least, there was the usual extremely rich programme of events dedicated to retail, which focused on especially relevant sector issues like marketing activities, merchandising, and human resources management. Just as important were the meetings dedicated to the mandatory labelling of shoes, discussed during the session of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the National Footwear Union. Finally, another significant event confirming the international scale of the exhibition was the Forum entitled “Creating conditions and promoting equal competition”, organised by Mos Shoes in collaboration with The Russian Union of Tanners and Shoemakers. Attended by representatives of industry associations from Germany, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Turkey, India, Armenia and Iran, the Forum tackled key-issues like customs duties and tariffs and the role of associations in developing practices of equal competition.
The next edition of Mos Shoes will be held from 12 to 15 March 2019, with a number of new proposals and a complete panorama onto the latest market trends.