The debut of the fair at Expo Center Norte and new marketing actions to support the industry and the retail have made the sector more optimistic
The new-look fair that COUROMODA rolled out to the footwear and accessories industry at its 2105 edition – the new pavilion, more fashion, fashion shows, exhibitions and a range of professional recycling events, in addition to greater comfort and quality of service
– found favor with exhibitors, retailers and importers.
Awash with new ideas (including the move to the Expo Center Norte complex, which made the greatest impact and was much commemorated), the 42 nd International
Footwear, Leather Goods and Fashion Accessories Fair was a visible shot in the arm against the feelings of apprehension that pervaded the industry during the closing months of 2014, given the economic difficulties and the slowdown in consumption.
During the four days of the fair the word “crisis” was nowhere to be heard. Encouraged by the fair’s new look, the excellent presentation of the stands and the well-developed fashion collections, retailers from all over Brazil came determined to find market solutions. In all there were 84,000 visits representing some 25,000 individual visitors.
J. Francisco Dos Santos, president of COUROMODA, highlighted the atmosphere of
“having turned the corner” that prevailed at the event. “We put a lot of hard work into delivering the refurbished fair that we had promised when we announced the move to the Center Norte. It was immensely gratifying to see that the industry and the retail sector once again trusted what we did, and were able to detect in all the points of change the encouragement and drive to continue and recover business, both on the domestic market, and in expo rts”.
Dos Santos also drew attention to the change in the time spent by visitors at the fair.
“Besides having highly-qualified visitors, at this edition we noticed that the average time spent by each visitor at the fair rose from 2.4 to 3 days”.
Even the opening of the fair on Sunday, unprecedented in the history of the fair, brought positive results.
The first day, considered a “warm-up” for the weekdays, saw a good volume of visitors which retaiers and exhibitors were able to take advantage of.
Business sets the factories in motion
Another new departure at this edition was the joint holding of São Paulo Prêt-à-Porter, the garment fair also organized by Couromoda Group, a fact that gave the retail sector and international buyers an opportunity to get an extensive and all-in overview of fashion industry proposals in terms of footwear, bags, accessories and garments. For the director of garments company Puccini, Zaher Talal Daoui, there is no turning back from holding the exhibitions together. “One fair complements the other and the resulting chemistry is perfect for sales. The visitors certainly exceeded my expectations, with a highly qualified audience”.
Together COUROMODA and SÃO PAULO PRÊT-À-PORTER represented 850 exhibiting companies that showcased over 2,500 collections in all kinds of products,

styles and price ranges.
The impact on sales was immediate, restarting the industry’s production lines.
The director of Bout
’s Bee Happy, José Luiz Fernandes, points out that major footwear chains and several importers visited the brand’s stand. “This COUROMODA was one to commemorate. We did good business and we are very confident about facing a year of lots of hard work and success”.
For the sales manager of Cecconello, Petra Bloedorn, the four days of the fair saw lots of comings and goings. “Among the retailers we hosted, worthy of note were the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Santa Catarina, as well as most countries in Latin America. We were able to capture several new customer s”.
The sales and marketing director at Beira Rio, Maribel Silva, also shows her optimism with the new COUROMODA. “We were enthusiastic about the success of the fair, and our offer of fashion products, price and quality within the fast fashion system led to lots of business”.
The director of Smartbag, An Du Hyun, admitted to being “positively surprised. We closed a lot of business on the domestic market and also received several international visitors, primarily from Latin America. The volume of sales exceeded what we had imagined”.
The two main collective stands of micro and small footwear and bags companies also posted good results. The collective stands from Franca, for example, which hosted 28 small exhibitors, sold 127,000 pairs for the domestic market and export, generating
US$ 4 million in business, considered the best result since 2008; while the collective stand of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, with 65 participant companies, registered business worth R$ 5.4 million.
A boost for exports
Encouraged by the new Real/US$ exchange rate – which makes Brazilian shoes more competitive abroad – importers were also present at the fair. There were 1,805 international buyers representing 52 countries.
With a view to encouraging the resumption of exports, COUROMODA strengthened the Couromoda Exporter project and provided special advice during the fair to a select group of 77 buyers from companies representing 8,000 points of sale mostly in Latin
America. These importers were selected based on indications by the Couromoda
Consuls, exhibitors and based on the profile of the target markets, which included
Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Costa Rica, Argentina, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Kuwait, México, Nicaragua, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Suriname,
The United States and Venezuela.
In turn, Abicalçados - the Brazilian Footwear Industry Association - invested in the VIP
Buyer Project with the support of Apex-Brasil, and which is expected to generate over
US$ 1,6 million in business. The initiative attracted to the fair a buyer from Shoe Mart, a chain of over 130 stores in Bahrein, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Yemen, Jordan and Egypt, considered an entry door to the Gulf region.

Fashion Shows expanded brand promotion
The return of fashion shows at the fair also had an impact on buyers. The structure of the Couromoda Fashion Show (with a professional catwalk open to the fair, seating for
240 people and all fashion shows broadcast on several screens distributed throughout the pavilion) attracted retailers, the press and opinion makers.
Besides the opening fashion show (which replaced the event’s traditional political opening ceremony) and the concept fashion show of the Jorge Bischoff brand (full with celebrities on the catwalk, backstage and in the audience), visitors were treated to a total of 15 fashion shows with the participation of brands such as Beira Rio, Calvest,
Cravo & Canela, Francajel, Kildare, Luz da Lua, Loucos & Santos, M. Officer, Malu,
Radamés, Ramarim, Usaflex, Werner and West Coast.
Increasing information for business
A wider range of actions by the Couromoda Forum was another measure that made a strong impact. In addition to the 19 th Brazilian Footwear Congress – which was held on the Saturday – the period from January 11 to 14 also saw the Couromoda Seminars, the São Paulo Prêt-à-Porter Fashion Forum, the Abicalçados Talk Shoe event and the
IED Talks Season by the Istituto Europeo di Design. Together the events recorded a total of 4,500 registrations. “A good yardstick to gauge the retail sector’s interest in learning more about management, marketing and new ideas were the Couromoda
Seminars. The public reacted well to the two morning talk sessions starting at 8:30 am, which will encourage us to retain and further enhance the information and professional training secto r for the next COUROMODA”, said Jeferson Santos, general director of the fair.
COUROMODA GROUP
COUROMODA GROUP is one of the largest Brazilian groups dedicated to promoting trade fairs and professional congresses. Headquartered in São Paulo, it has a 42 year track record in the fashion, beautycare and healthcare sectors.