(fibre2fashion - 05/02/2010). The 70th edition of FIMI, the International Children’s and Young People's Fashion, showcasing all the latest introductions for the Autumn Winter season 2010-2011, and held concurrently with Cero a Cuatro, the International Babycare Fair, came to a close in Feria Valencia in a climate of recovery and visible optimism. Both exhibitors and visitors commented on the noticeable change of attitude in comparison with previous months.
According to Pepa Ortiz, Director of FIMI, “it is surprising how the overview of the market has changed in just six months. Now manufacturers and commercial agents, together with buyers,namely, points of sale, are more interested and motivated. We have to work with a positive attitude, and this edition of FIMI proved that this is possible.”
A total of 320 brands (212 Spanish and 108 international) presented their new collections at this international trade event, which also hosted the Pasarela FIMI Fashion Show,featuring new collections from twelve renowned brands, both Spanish and international:
AKR Kids, Barcarola, Bóboli, Cóndor, Elisa Menuts, Floc Baby, Giesswein, Girandola, Lourdes, Tuc Tuc, Tumble&Dry, and Tutto Piccolo.
One another note, Custo Barcelona chose FIMI as the perfect backdrop to present Custo Growing, its new children’s fashion brand, for the first time in Spain and with its own stand and individual fashion shows. Custo Growing is designed for 4-12 years old children, sharing the colourful, striking and undeniably unique spirit of this brand.
Thanks to the new format of the fair introduced during the previous edition of the fair, this 70th edition of FIMI again underscored the creation of a unique space where commercial and business aspects coexist alongside the fringe activities highlighted in the so-called Plaza Activas or Active Spaces. Asepri (Spanish Association of Manufacturers of Children’s Products) organised two of these active spaces. The first was dedicated to
Trends by asepri.es. With an illustrative video and a meticulously produced guide, Asepri explained to visitors to this stand all about the influences, materials, lines, fabrics, colours and prints, that will be seen in the new trends for the Autumn Winter 2010-2011 season: Recycling Folk, Magical Formula, Sweet Legend and Urban Tribes.
Asepri’s second active space hosted a series of window-dressing workshops, dealing with baby products, casual fashion, footwear and collections for special occasions. During this formative sessions, experts gave tips on how to make window displays a centre of attention and attraction; in other words, all the keys to creating the perfect window display were provided. These two initiatives were specially directed at POS.
A total of 7,000 trade professionals from the sector visited FIMI mainly from the Spanish market, together with other buyers from Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Holland,Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK, Ukraine and USA. Many of these visits were organised as part of the commercial missions programme.
Likewise, at this latest 70th edition of the fair, FIMI presented its new web 2.0, a much more interactive web connected with all the major social networks of the moment. Operative since last January 25th, this tool contains all the information on the children’s fashion industry such as trends, training, booths, video of fashion shows, etc.; highlighting the values of innovation, business, accessibility and know-how.
Another of the most remarkable features of FIMI was the consolidation of the See Me space, a new section focused on happening trends which was introduced for the first time at the previous edition with the mission to throw a spotlight on alternative children’s fashion, footwear and accessories. See Me showcases the contemporary face of children’s fashion with a selection of brands boasting a distinctive style and aesthetic.
On another note, FIMI also lent special attention to the introduction of FIMI & Agents, a new initiative providing a space specifically aimed at encouraging the active participation of commercial agents during the fair. This facilitated the active involvement of agents in the Spanish market while also improving the product offer for points of sale.
Following its 70th anniversary, FIMI is now ready to begin working on its next edition. So much so that this international fair has already received application forms from 75 brands interested in exhibiting at the June 2010 show, just one week after the latest edition closed its doors.
To ask for more information, please complete the following e-mail form.
05/02/2010