Professionals visiting the CPM exhibition are already used to seeing a traditionally strong Italian delegation at it. This time 98 Italian manufacturers took part in the exhibition: 104 brands of men's and women's clothing, 20 brands of children's clothing and 10 companies producing underwear and beachwear.
A total of 134 collections were presented on an area of 7000 m2.

According to the Russian Federal Customs Service, for the period from January to November 2016, the volume of imports of Italian clothing showed an increase of 24.4% compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to 273.7 million euros (11.03% of the market).
In November 2016, Italy gained the third place among the main suppliers. 

The Moscow office of the ICHE Agency has implemented a special support program for Italian participants. It included the organization of a business trip of 40 Russian entrepreneurs from Armavir, Birobidzhan, Vladivostok, Vladimir, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kemerovo, Krasnoyarsk, Kurgan, Novosibirsk, Novorossiysk, Ulyanovsk, Tomsk, Perm, Irkutsk, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, Stavropol, Krasnodar, Nakhodka, Ulan-Ude, Vladikavkaz and Yakutsk.

A new project implemented at the exhibition deserves special attention, – Napoli Fashion Maestria. As part of this initiative, the best Neapolitan clothing and footwear manufacturers were specially selected, who were given the opportunity to show their products at CPM. On the one hand, this simple but multitasking idea was inspired by the Neapolitan tradition of production. The initiators of the project set the task to create a network consisting not only of companies, but also including industry specialists and universities that contribute to professional development, development and protection of the culture of handmade products "Made in Naples".

The delegation included small companies with a high level of production of various products, which are united by common principles: respect for cultural heritage and sartorial art, traditions of manual production, as well as a modern approach to business. Enterprises with ancient traditions are traditionally strong in the province of Naples. The art of creating high-quality clothes, shoes and accessories is passed down from generation to generation along with pride in their work. The project aims to support these family-owned enterprises and create a unique offer of Italian products for buyers all over the world. The organizers of the project strive to attract young professionals to realize their abilities in the field of fashion and to participate in innovative processes. They plan to create a school where they will teach manual production.

Participants of the Neapolitan delegation gathered at BOSCO Cafe on the opening day of the CPM exhibition to tell representatives of the Russian press about their companies and their plans. They thanked SMI – Sistema Moda Italia and the Agency of the Italian Embassy, the Department for the Development of Trade Exchange for the opportunity to present their products to Russian buyers and highly appreciated the importance of the Russian market for their companies. The dinner was held in a friendly atmosphere, accompanied by exquisite national dishes. During the conversation, the journalists learned that almost all companies employ only natives or residents of the province of Naples, and in fact each company is a big friendly family. The owners of the companies shared their hope that this project will be able to attract young residents of the province to the production, who are not very eager to develop traditional crafts, but with proper support they will definitely see prospects and return to the production of their grandfathers.

The Napoli Fashion Maestria project will provide new retail opportunities. All the companies involved in this project share a common feature - a rare combination of creative creativity and openness and a high professional level. And there is no need to talk about the traditional love of the Russian buyer for Italian fashion.