A
t GDS – international event for shoes & accessories 879 exhibitors from 38 countries presented trends and looks for
the 2013 Spring/Summer order season. Add to this 360 exhibitors at the GLOBAL SHOES held concurrently at the Exhibition Centre.
The highlights of this GDS were clearly the
various events and numerous celebrities. In addition to the GDS catwalk shows Hall 2 housed two further events. The first saw star chef Tim Mälzer unveil the first traditionally crafted and yet 100% compostable leather shoe for Snipe while at the second the Consorzio Maestri Calzaturieri del Brenta celebrated its 35th anniversary with a dedicated runway show.
In addition to Tim Mälzer visitors also met
Bonnie Strange at the trade fair - as a model of the opening show - and actress Julia Dietze. Nina Bott represented ART at GDS. And while extreme sportsman Joey Kelly credibly described how the new outsole "Bergal Flex 77" significantly improves movement, Daniela Katzenberger succeeded in landing a hit with her Romika collection in front of the assembled press despite teeteringly high heels.
"Joining forces with our exhibitors we have made sure over the past few years that shoe fashions obtain ever growing media coverage. We are the only shoe trade fair to organise catwalk shows - which is why the latest shoe styles get almost as much exposure on TV as the apparel at a Fashion Week. This benefits the shoe sector as a whole," explains Kirstin Deutelmoser, Director of GDS and Global Shoes.
Sneakers Key Trend Story In a qualified survey polling GDS visitors,
sneakers were stated as the most important trend for the coming summer. While visitors from abroad clearly favour fashion sneakers, German retailers rate original sneakers and their high- fashion counterparts in equal measure. The second-most important trend is colour accents where colours – in particular fluorescent neon – are only used to highlight. Retailers’ answers to colour also reflected this: alongside the indispensable black, neutrals, nude and beige tones are the strongest colours for next summer. Also important: blue, turquoise and red shades. One interesting difference between Germany
and other countries was noted: while domestic retailers focus on powder and pastel shades for the coming summer foreign visitors place more emphasis on white, green and olive.
In terms of materials, smooth nappa and
suede/nubuck continue to be the key materials, as was expected. With the summer season canvas will herald a comeback. Also more in demand are embossed or printed materials. Germany will also see noticeably more glitter and effect materials than abroad.
APICCAPS and GDS launch International Compendium All new: For the first time the Year Book of
APICCAPS will be published in partnership with GDS. 2011 saw the Association publish the Yearbook for the first time, thereby documenting developments in the global footwear industry. “For years we have analysed and compiled
evidence-based information on the global footwear sector. We want to enhance this market insight in cooperation with GDS and make it available to an even wider professional audience,” says João Maia of the APICCAPS Study Centre.
High-quality Audience despite Lufthansa Strike GDS has consolidated its ranking as an
international trade fair – roughly half the visitors came from abroad and a total of 100 countries.
Shoes are also gaining importance as an
extension to fashion ranges. Here, GDS increasingly serves as a leading fair, since this time clearly more fashion retailers found their way to Düsseldorf than in previous years.
All activities related to GDS and GLOBAL SHOES can be found online at:
www.gds-online.com
www.globalshoes-online.com
Exhibitor Testimonials regarding Events at GDS: Heiner T
erbuyken, CEO of Gabor on the Snipe
100 Event: “GDS proved the perfect “launching pad”
for our all-compostable shoe. We received plenty of support for the show on the part of the trade fair and this paid off: be this on TV, radio or in the print media – Snipe 100 and Tim Mälzer were omnipresent.”
Carl-August Seibel, President of Josef Seibel Holding GmbH on the Romika PR campaign: “Romika already enjoyed high recognition levels before enlisting Daniela Katzenberger. But we wanted to “dust down” the brand and succeeded in doing so with the help of this “it” girl. And sales-wise the collection is also a success story. We already realised last year that an important launch like this has to be held at GDS. This is where all the big and important retailers go. Apart from that, I think it’s great when the press ‘beats the drum’ making an event restricted to trade visitors also known outside the industry.”
Siro Bardon, President of “Consorzio Maestri
Calzaturieri del Brenta” on the Anniversary: “We have been represented at GDS on a joint
stand for 35 years now, because Northern Europe and Germany, in particular, are very important markets for us. This is why I thank Messe Düsseldorf and in particular Kirstin Deutelmoser for their support over the past 5 years and, more specifically, for the great organisation of our catwalk show.”
69% Retailers used GDS for Orders The survey also showed that the atmosphere among retailers was rather subdued due to the retail sales for the 2012 Spring/Summer season. Most retailers stated that business fell short of summer 2011 sales or was on a par at best. One third of retailers polled plan to reduce their order volumes for Spring/Summer 2013 due to the economic situation. Nevertheless, this time 69% of retailers (compared with 65% at the March event) stated they had placed and/or would place an order at GDS.
Due to the nationwide strike called by the cabin
crew organisation (UFO) the national carrier Lufthansa was forced to cancel 141 flights from/to Düsseldorf on the last day of the trade fair which had a major impact on the attendance figures of GDS. The trade fair registered in excess of 22,500 trade visitors in total, of which the majority were top managers. Explaining the consequences Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, President & CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, said: “The massive disruptions in air traffic not only affected our exhibitors’ departure on the last day of the fair but also, unfortunately, prevented some trade visitors from gathering information at GDS. It is unfortunate that many business opportunities were lost in this way. All the more positive to note is that the percentage of purchasing decision-makers at GDS remained as high as before.”
SEPTEMBER 2012 • FOOTWEAR TODAY
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