Madrid, 6th September 2011.- The sixty-sixth edition of the Madrid International Fashion Fair, SIMM, which took place between 1st and 3rd September at Feria de Madrid, closed its doors with some highly favourable results. This excellent performance is not only confirmed by the rise in trade visitors (+ 14%), but also by the majority opinion expressed by the exhibitors that the Spanish market has begun to gain renewed confidence.
In total, throughout the fair's three-day duration, SIMM welcomed some 10,783 professionals, which represents an increase of 14% compared to the edition that took place in September 2010. This increase was the result, above all, of the rise in the number of buyers from Spain, whose attendance level increased by 16%. According to region, we might highlight the significant growth regarding the number of visitors from the trade in the Madrid Region, Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia and the Basque Country. Most of these regions are coastal areas.
With regard to the fair's international dimension, the attendance of foreign buyers witnessed a slight decrease of 3.7%, although the number of countries increased from 50 at the edition in September 2010 to 62 at this edition. In this respect, the countries that witnessed above-average increases regarding their numbers of visitors included Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, all from Latin America, and the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland from Eastern Europe. Furthermore, this sixty-sixth edition of SIMM witnessed a recovery regarding the numbers of visitors from Italy, the United Kingdom and Greece, which had all declined at recent editions.
According to the Director of the fair, Pola Iglesias, these figures demonstrate the fact that "the Spanish market, with the announcement of the forthcoming general elections, is gaining confidence in an imminent economic recovery and expects that by spring 2012 - which is when traders must pay for the purchases they have made at this fair - domestic demand will have already emerged from the current recession. This sense of optimism and confidence has yet to be detected among the foreign buyers".
This last edition of SIMM, in addition to featuring a larger number of participating companies (755 brands, a 16.5% increase compared to the last edition) and trade visitors, was also characterised by its intense trade activity, which remained stable throughout the fair's three-day duration. This much is confirmed by brands such as Strenaand Derhy, both of which have stated that they achieved excellent results regarding their numbers of visitors, new clients and volume of orders, in spite of their initially unoptimistic expectations, based on the current economic climate in Spain. Other brands such as Divina Providencia and Scripta were also pleasantly surprised by their first-time participation at SIMM, where they were able to establish new and important trade contacts.
On this occasion, swimwear fashion exhibitors enjoyed their own space at SIMM, including brands such as Phax and Tartaruga, who also recognised that they had fulfilled their expectations way beyond their -initial forecasts,-in spite of the fact that the fair is not exclusively devoted to swimwear items. In this respect, Patricia Chao, the designer at Tartaruga, stated that the company had increased its orders by 50%.
For their part, the new designers who came together within the EL EGO Area also declared that they were highly satisfied with the results they managed to achieve at the event. In this sense, we might mention Eva Sánchez, from the firm, Vintage Waves,, the designer, Sara Coleman, and María José Marín from We are Knitters. These three designers confirmed the fact that EL EGO is an effective forum for launching new brands, enabling them to present their collections to buyers who would otherwise be inaccessible to them without their participation at SIMM.
Another of the points on which all of the exhibitors consulted at the fair were agreed consisted of the fact that buyers have become more demanding and more selective when it comes to placing orders. "And they look for multi-purpose and versatile clothing items", added Alberto Rodríguez, the Manager of Vilagallo.
At the same time, most of the companies that took part at the IFEMA Fashion Showrooms have already informed the fair organisers of their intention to take part once again at the Showrooms at the fair's next edition, especially in view of the exclusive environment, easy access and facilities available to them at the North Convention Centre at Feria de Madrid.
The Trends Showcase
The sixty-sixth edition of this fair, organised by IFEMA, presented the most varied trade exhibition that has been staged in recent years. Thus, alongside an extensive variety of women's fashion collections - ranging from cutting-edge designs and party-wear creations to urban fashion, casual-wear, swimwear and accessories -, the fair presented a selection of men's fashion and children's clothing companies, not to mention footwear brands and designers that manufacture items using suede and glace lamb. Furthermore, the IFEMA Fashion Showrooms featured a record participation figure on this occasion, based on the presence of nearly one hundred high-category women's fashion brands. The EL EGO Area, featuring the participation of a number of new talents from the world of design, also served as an excellent attraction at the fair, based on the presentation of a series of original and carefully-worked ideas from 21 new designers.