Sit back around a table and write orders face to face. Touching materials and finished products that for about two years have only been seen through a screen. It is the desire for normality – different, but vital – the engine that has led and is leading buyers from all over the world to visit the current fairs in Milan in conjunction with the women’s fashion week.
A formula that works: «The synergy with fashion week is fundamental – explains Massimiliano Bizzi, founder of White, a salon that turns 20 and is currently the protagonist in via Tortona – and that’s why we didn’t want to postpone the show. We are happy not to have done so ». White | Sign of the Times will close tomorrow, but Bizzi’s very first balance is positive: «The first day we saw particular enthusiasm. We have welcomed numerous international buyers, including Russians, who arrived before the conflict broke out, also thanks to the massive program of incoming developed with Confartigianato, Ice and Maeci. Many Europeans also arrived, more than we had anticipated ». Less crowded, however, on the second day of the event: “The national transport strike penalized us a lot, having also blocked the trains, but we are confident in the weekend” says Bizzi.
To draw a positive balance is not only White, expression of the valley of the supply chain, but also two fairs that represent the mountain: Lineapelle e Row, events dedicated respectively to tanning and fibers and yarns, which were held in Milan this week. The 99th edition of Lineapelle, which brought together 950 exhibitors at Rho Fiera from 22 to 24 February, closed with 13 thousand visitors. An edition with which Lineapelle “confirmed its dominant role of reference in the exhibition context of the fashion-luxury industry”, said the president Gianni Russo. And with which, despite the global difficulties, it has attracted an international audience with peaks in admissions from France, Spain, the United States, Turkey, Germany, the United Kingdom and Portugal.
Positive results also for the second edition of Mipel Lab, hybrid exhibition format (physical and digital) born from the collaboration between Assopellettieri and Lineapelle to promote the creation of luxury leather goods through the presentation of Italian companies that work as subcontractors. A successful synergy that, according to Franco Gabbrielli, president of Assopellettieri, could also be repeated in New York, London and Shanghai.
As already mentioned, the 57th edition of Filo also closed positively. Paolo Monfermoso, manager of the fair, underlined how decisive the behavior of the exhibitors was “who continued to believe in Filo even in times when uncertainty prevailed”. Also in this case, the success is linked to the presence of foreign buyers. The merit of the incoming program promoted by Ice and Maeci confirms its importance: it has brought buyers from France, England, Belgium, Holland, Chile, Peru, South Africa, Romania, Mexico, Angola, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia. Now the spotlight is shifting to Micam, Mipel and TheOne who had postponed their dates due to the pandemic and will start on 13 March.