MICAM 93, MILANO, Italy – March 13th to 15th 2022
MICAM 93: STYLE, SUSTAINABILITY AND NEW TRENDS The next edition of MICAM Milano will be packed with new features. With 821 brands, the international footwear trade show at Fiera Milano Rho March 13 through 15 represents another opportunity to re-launch the industry at this time of growth in the market despite concern over the Ukraine conflict.
The Italian footwear industry showed signs of an upturn in 2021. Last year, sales grew +18.7% over 2020, to 12.7 billion euro. This is, however, still lower than pre-covid figures (-11% compared to 2019). Exports (+17.5% over the previous year) reached the second-best result ever in terms of value (10.3 billion euro), even taking inflation into account.
The top two destinations performed particularly well: Switzerland (+16.2% in value over 2020 in the first 11 months) and France (+24%), traditionally associated with work performed on contract; while the USA (+42%) and China (+37.5%) also performed well above 2019 levels. The balance of trade was up (+22% between January and November) and is expected to be just under 5.2 billion over 12 months.
According to Assocalzaturifici Chair Siro Badon: “After the collapse of 2020, a year heavily penalised by the lockdown and the restrictions imposed during the various waves of the pandemic, the sector has taken off again, with a physiological bounceback in the second quarter followed by recovery at a less intense rhythm. This recovery is, however, uneven, and often insufficient to make up for companies’ losses. Only one company out of three has returned to pre-covid levels. Manufacturers are therefore looking forward to MICAM as an essential business appointment, an irreplaceable opportunity to negotiate orders and strengthen exports by penetrating new markets and consolidating existing ones. In this regard, we cannot help expressing great concern about the dramatic consequences that the economic sanctions on the Russian banking system as a result of the Ukraine conflict will have for Italian companies’ sales on this essential market. The order campaign was looking very promising despite the continuation of the pandemic, political tension and instability. But now, the collapse of the currency and the impossibility of conducting financial transactions with a number of banks have put yet another season at risk, despite many clients’ intention of visiting the trade fair to complete their purchases”.
THE EVENT: FIGURES ON THE 93RD MICAM
With 821 brands, the focus will once again be on the F/W 2022-2023 collections, with a wide range of footwear for all occasions for men, women, and children. Brands that will be coming back include Bikkembergs, Frau, Jeep, Nerogiardini, Nine West, and Wrangler. Moreover, to offer exhibitors important business opportunities, more than 100 international buyers and reporters from Europe, Africa, the US, Canada, Southeast Asia, and the Gulf Area will be attending, selected by ITA Agency, which has always played an active role in building a highly qualified, concrete opportunity for exhibitors to do business.
NEW THIS YEAR: THE MICAM GREEN ZONE This year MICAM will be offering plenty of space for sustainability with the new MICAM Green Zone, an area that is intended to provide both a think-tank and a promotional opportunity for companies. The area will be set up in pavilion 7 and is dedicated to all those in the industry who wish to address the issue of sustainability. The pavilion will be divided into different areas, including a special display of exhibitors’ footwear expressing several provocative ideas about the sustainability of materials, production systems, and product life cycles. The MICAM Green Zone will be launching VCS (Verified and Certified Steps), the certification mark owned by Assocalzaturifici and intended to be used by footwear manufacturers who want to achieve the highest standards of sustainability: VCS guarantees a sustainable approach, quality, and excellence in manufacturing, and is intended to be a symbol recognised by buyers, manufacturers and financial institutions.
EMERGING DESIGNERS ARE BACK The usual space dedicated to Emerging Designers will showcase the items of 12 creative designers from Italy and Europe. Their creations will range from the rediscovery of age-old traditions to more extravagant research into forms and materials, with original style, mindful of the values of sustainability and brimming with influences from cultures all over the world. Emerging Designers selected by a highly qualified panel of experts will bring a selection of their concepts to the trade fair and recount their creative stories, closely intertwined with the love of travel and exploration characterising their incredible biographies.
MAKE WAY FOR INNOVATION AT MICAM X As always, Pavilion 1 will host the MICAM X area, a laboratory for innovative ideas, offering meetings and initiatives dedicated to its four major themes: The Future of Retail, Sustainability, Trends and Materials, Art Fashion Heritage & Future. Seminars and presentations will be held every day with the goal of offering ever-new stimuli and anticipating future scenarios. MICAM Tales Square MICAM Tales Square, an area in Pavilion 3 inspired by the MICAM Glass Slipper advertising campaign, will entertain visitors once again by offering them a special photo set in which anyone can become a prince or princess. The first 250 people to interact with the installation and tag @micam.milano during the 3-day event will receive a super-exclusive limited edition gift. Find out more at: https://milano.themicam.com/ #micam #bettertogether
The world’s leading footwear fair scheduled for 20 – 22 February 2022 at the Fiera Milano Rho prepares to present the second chapter in its ‘fairy-tale’ ad campaign MICAM Milano 93: FEATURING “GLAMOROUS MAGIC” Success for the Micam Milano Digital Show with 100 brands from all over the world showcasing more than 250 collections and 15,000 products Milan, 1 March 2022– a new chapter in the fabulous fairy-tale world of MICAM is about to be revealed: “Glamorous Magic”, the second episode in the #micamtales communication campaign, will accompany visitors to the coming edition of the international footwear trade show, due to take place from 20 to 22 February 2022 at the Fiera Milano Rho.
Shots taken by photographer Fabrizio Scarpa, and a short-film directed by Daniele Scarpa, draw spectators into the world of the protagonist who, after a disastrous attempt to create her own look for the Grand Ball, now falls under a ‘glamorous’ magic spell. Drawn towards a strange ray of light, the young girl finds herself in a garden where an enchantment awaits her in the form of a new party look and, particularly, a fabulous pair of sparkling, diamond-studded glass slippers, thus enabling her to fulfil her dream of becoming a princess. The shoes – object of desire for generations of women – were made exclusively for MICAM and pay tribute to the boundless creativity that lets us dream and create products that are both “beautiful and wellmade”.
Glamorous Magic is part of the “Micam Glass Slipper” communication campaign, developed under the creative direction of MM Company with accounting by Laureri Associates. On top of the visual images, the campaign also involves visitors to MICAM Milano in a real-life happening: for the last two editions, in fact, visitors have been able to interact with the campaign theme in the area dedicated to it in the MICAM Tales Square, an event that was followed on Facebook by 40,000 followers with 54,000 interactions, and on Instagram and LinkedIn by 30,000 and 2,000 followers, respectively. “Social media and digitalisation are essential levers for MICAM – says Siro Badon, Chair of MICAM Milano and Assocalzaturifici. The success, not only of the new means of communication but also of an innovative way of hosting trade-fairs, is confirmed by the positive results obtained by the MICAM Milano Digital Show – the platform that enabled footwear companies and buyers from all over the world to connect and do business without physical barriers. An event that is sustaining the footwear industry in the shift towards digitisation, and that proved to be invaluable during the pandemic emergency when it was not possible to travel, running alongside the physical event which remains indispensable for our sector”.
More than 100 brands from all over the world took part in the latest edition of the MICAM Milano Digital Show which has just ended – including, for the first time, a delegation of Japanese companies, in addition to those from Italy, Spain and Brazil. Over 250 collections were uploaded, with a total of 15,000 products. The show had 4,000 visitors, a figure in line with the previous edition, indicating that being able to access MICAM’s product offering both during pre-event scouting and the end-of-season follow-up stage is still considered important. Lastly, after the success of #strongertogether created by MICAM in 2020, followed by #restarttogether in September 2021, in February 2022 it will be the turn of #bettertogether, reinforcing the concept of belonging, of engaging with the event, and above all, the importance of in-person interactions in ensuring the success of one’s business.
