Competition for buyers’ attention was palpable at Milan’s women’s apparel and accessories trade shows last month, as fairs hosted a series of special events and emerging talents in an attempt to lure retailers from their frenetic fashion week schedules.
Milano Prêt-à-Porter ran from Sept. 23 to 26, while White and Pitti Immagine’s Touch, neoZone and cloudnine were held Sept. 24 to 26, during the heart of the ready-to-wear runway collections. This made it a challenge for exhibitors to catch top retailers, and for the retailers to squeeze in a visit and take advantage of all the fairs had to offer. But squeeze they did.
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“I went very quickly to White and the Pitti fairs,” said Silvia Bertocchi, buyer for men’s and women’s apparel, shoes and accessories at 10 Corso Como. “The fairs are becoming too big. It would need a few days to really cover them thoroughly.”
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Still, emerging designers from Italy and abroad, who were specially selected to premiere at the fairs waited for the likes of Bertocchi and buyers from other Italian concept stores, like Antonioli and the new Excelsior Milano, to pass by.
“We are not distributed yet in Italy and our goal is to enter this market, especially in concept stores. The Italian market is one of the most important in the world,” said designer Pierre Tillit of Paris-based Même T’Aime, a first-time exhibitor at Milano Prêt-à-Porter. Même T’Aime offers a unisex collection of architectonic, lightweight designs inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent film “Metropolis.”
“The biggest challenge is finding the right boutique and to stick with them and find loyal customers,” said Israeli clothing and jewelry designer Mirit Weinstock, who showcased feather d’or earrings and combs, delicately bejewelled twig-shaped pendants and silvery and golden raffia palm necklaces.
A special guest at Milano Prêt-à-Porter, VPL by Victoria Bartlett showcased its body-hugging ready-to-wear for next spring. Sales and press director Melinda Wansbrough said VPL was recently chosen to sell at Milan’s Excelsior, the new luxury retail concept from Gruppo Coin, and it aims to expand further in the market.
“In 2010, the U.S. was our biggest market, but Italy can be really huge since our designs are very body-conscious and Italian women have amazing bodies,” Wansbrough said.
Shrugging off the economic doldrums cast by Italy’s stagnant economy and volatile raw material prices, the fairs still recorded an increase in buyers and attendees. White closed with 12,202 buyers, up 20 percent from September 2010.
The number of international buyers was up 15 percent, while attendance by Italian retailers rose 5 percent. Pitti Immagine said Touch, neoZone and cloudnine overall saw a 20 percent increase in foreign buyers and a 14 percent rise in Italians against the year-ago shows.
“In a moment of crisis, there can also be a phase of change. There is a lot of opportunity but designers need to be creative and young people must embody that change,” said White president Massimiliano Bizzi, who invited six international young talents — including Altewai Saome, Augustin Teboul, Co|Te, Kevin Kramp, Mirit Weinstock and Natacha Talay — to showcase their designs at the fair in a special area, called White Lounge. In another part of the show was a focus on five emerging designers from Ukraine.
The week was punctuated with participation from international brands like Alexander Wang, Kolor and VPL. White, which showcased 360 women’s apparel, accessories and fragrance brands, led the way in terms of events. White coorganized a charity event at Milan’s Ambrosiana Library, which houses the Da Vinci Atlantic Code drawings and writings.
Italy’s Boglioli and Kolor’s Junichi Abe teamed up for a capsule collection comprising four cashmere and cotton jackets. Revenues from the jackets will benefit Save the Children Japan, to help children and families that were affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
As if all that weren’t enough to create a buzz, Alexander Wang designed a Rocco Bag especially for the White fair. The White Pony Rocco Bag, made exclusively for Milan’s Antonioli boutique and London’s Selfridges, bowed at Antonioli on Sept. 23.
London-based magazine Dazed & Confused, which will fete its 20th anniversary at an exclusive event in its home city’s Somerset House in November, also appeared at White, hosting a sunset aperitivo and a stand displaying some of its most provocative magazine covers.
In terms of trends, Milano Prêt-à-Porter, Touch, neoZone and cloudnine, as well as White, unfurled collections that drew inspiration from the urban, the natural and even the androgynous.
Pitti Immagine joined forces with Not Just a Label, the online platform dedicated to promoting and supporting new designers of contemporary and experimental fashion, to promote the collections. Not Just A Label’s founder, Stefan Siegel, said the demand for fresh creativity is growing at a rapid pace and sales from the first nine months of 2011 were 350 percent higher than in the first nine months of 2010. The site is now registering 20 million hits per month.
“The press calls us the Net-a-Porter for young designers, and we know leading retailers, press and stylists look at us for young designers,” Siegel said.
While young, emerging designers were spotlighted throughout the trade shows, fairs like Pitti also welcomed returning labels like Bagutta, Herno and shoemaker Pantofola d’Oro 1886. Pantofola d’Oro chief executive officer Kim Williams said the fairs have “exploded” and, like Bertocchi, he thinks it’s impossible for buyers to reach every one.
“There are too many fairs now,” he said, but added that neoZone is useful in terms of reaching buyers from its main market, Italy.
Herno president Claudio Marenzi agreed. “It is a fair in which the most important buyers internationally pass by for a quick second,” he said. “We intercept a lot of clients that might not commit this time, but next season could become a regular client.”