From March 20 to 23, the 49th International Exhibition of footwear and finished leather products Shoes was held at the Expocentre Fairgrounds. The world of skin 2018. Spring", organized by Expocentre JSC and the Italian company Bologna Fiere with the official support of the Association of Italian Shoe Manufacturers (Assocalzaturifici) and the Ministry of Economic Development of Italy.

The exhibition once again confirmed the status of the main exhibition event in the world of shoe fashion in Russia. Representatives of European and world shoe fashion met with representatives of wholesale companies and stores at the business platform. Manufacturers and designers of shoes, bags and accessories made of leather demonstrated new collections of shoes and leather goods of the autumn-winter 2018/2019 season of medium and high price segments.

Compared to last year, the number of exhibitors increased by 10.8%.

Companies from 12 countries of the world took part in the exhibition. On an area of about 4500 sq. m fashion collections were presented by participants from Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Republic of Belarus, Russia, San Marino, Thailand, Turkey, France.

Traditionally, the largest was the national exposition of Italy. The agency ICHE organized a special project for the second time, the task of which was to introduce completely new Italian companies to the Russian market. The exhibition was visited by the director of the Moscow representative office of the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce, Marisa Florio, who highly appreciated the level of organization and holding of the show.

A large selection of shoe models for men, women and children was shown by such leaders of the world shoe market as Dino Bigioni, Marino Fabiani, Baldinini, Fabi, Loriblu, Nando Muzi, Accademia and many other well-known brands.

The show of new shoe fashion complemented the diverse range of specialized salon bags, leather goods and accessories, whose exhibitors were the world's leading brands: Cromia, Valentino Orlandi, Di Gregorio, Ripani, Arcadia, Carlo Salvatelli and many other companies.

Representatives of retail chains, stores, wholesale companies and trading houses negotiated and signed contracts with leading manufacturers of shoes and leather goods. For 4 days, the exhibition was visited by specialists from 24 countries and 78 regions of the Russian Federation, the number of visitors to the spring exhibition increased by 9.7%.

The project "Expocentre" for exhibitions without counterfeit", aimed at combating the violation of exclusive intellectual property rights, was working online.

A trend-guided tour of the exhibitors' stands, which was held for the first time at the spring exhibition "Shoes", helped to orient oneself in modern fashion and market trends, to make an effective purchase of goods. The world of skin" was conducted by the founder of the Russian research bureau "Trendsquayer" Ksenia Leri. The successfully started project will be continued at the next exhibition.

The events of the business program of the exhibition were addressed to the owners of shoe and leather goods trading enterprises. Industry experts spoke about the fashion trends of the shoe market, held seminars, and exchanged retail experience.

The following business seminars were held within the framework of the exhibition:

• "Staff training: a tool of intangible motivation, or how to invest effectively and not waste time in vain"
• «Personnel Management 2018. How to build a dream team
• «How to sign a foreign trade contract with suppliers from Italy, Spain, Turkey and other European countries correctly and avoid mistakes in conditions of increasing state control over document flow. Legal import of shoes to Russia
• "Trends vs preferences of the Russian audience"
• «Legalization of imports and business security in conditions of increased state control»
• «How to increase sales from your website using responsive design»
• "How to create an effective shoe and accessories store and avoid mistakes from the very beginning".

Leading industry experts held master classes. The leading stylist and trainer of PROfashion Consulting Astanda Chegia noted that the appearance of the seller is a reflection of the DNA of the store and a pledge of customer loyalty. The head of the company "NLT Trade" Mikhail Gusmanov spoke about how lighting affects the perception of the store, pointed out the standard lighting errors that kill sales.

As part of the business program of the exhibition «Shoes. The World of leather" also hosted the Festival of Young Designers Shoes Design, organized by the Kosygin Russian State University and Expocentre JSC.

Winners of the Festival:

1st place: Daria Kalashnikova, Golden Volume project; Maria Burova, Good bye project, Berlin!;

2nd place: Daria Chepkasova, The Dark Side project; Nadezhda Solovyova, Le Corbusier Architecture project

3rd place: Nina Meshkova, Trackofthenight project; Olga Gladkikh, project "Exoplanets" Anna Chernaya, My Shoes World project.

Exhibition «Shoes. The world of skin 2018. Autumn» will be held from October 22 to 25 at the Expocentre Fairgrounds. Exhibitors will present collections of the spring-summer 2019 season.

Photo: exhibition press service