Colombiamoda 2016 Launches July 26-28; More than US$340 Million in Deals Seen
The 27th annual edition of Colombiamoda comes to Medellin’s Plaza Mayor July 26 through 28 in what show organizer Inexmoda describes as the most important clothing-fashion business fair in Latin America.
Some 1,700 international buyers from 50 countries will join some 11,560 Colombia-based buyers and 650 clothing, footwear, textile and accessories exhibitors, with more than US$340 million in business deals seen likely to be signed.
In all, the three-day Colombiamoda 2016 spectacle – featuring 28 runway fashion shows — is likely to attract some 60,700 visitors, based upon trends seen over the past five annual editions, according to Inexmoda.
During that 2011-2015 period, international buyer attendance has grown 20%, exhibitor count grew 45%, countries participating expanded by 12%, and national buyer attendance soared 208%, according to the Medellin-based trade group.
Notable Colombian runway-show exhibitors this year include Renata Lozano (who employs novel 3D printing in fashion design); Jorge Duque (high-fashion wedding dresses); international stylist Johanna Ortiz; new-generation fashion designers Andrea Landa and Andrés Pajón, and David Alfonso, whose clothing designs are inspired by the native Kuna and Embera tribes in Colombia.
Commercial brands at this year’s show include Studio F, New Balance, Agua Bendita, Leonisa, Bronzini, Inizio, Jon Sonen and Carmen Steffens.
Meanwhile, the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB), the Colegiatura Colombiana and the Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina will provide academic speakers on clothing-industry trends and emerging fashion trends.
Among Colombiamoda 2016 trade-show floor highlights:
1. An expanded area dedicated to shoes and leather goods, featuring 80 suppliers from countries including Colombia, Italy, Portugal and Brazil;
2. A section featuring the latest offerings from 120 textile-industry and fashion-industry specialist suppliers;
3. Special sections dedicated to children’s-wear (1,100 square meters of exhibitor space);
4. A section devoted to the growing market for body-molding underwear. According to trade-promotion agency Procolombia, Colombia-based producers of body-molding underwear saw their export sales from January to November 2015 jump 28.7% year-on-year, to US$43.6 million;
5. A section featuring 40 Colombia-based fashion designers in casual, formal, jeanswear and “urban” styles.
The continuing growth in Colombiamoda attendance parallels the Colombian clothing market, where domestic sales hit COP$4.1 trillion (US$1.3 billion) in the January through April 2016 period — representing a per-capita spend of COP$84,000 (US$28.50), according to a new Inexmoda-Raddar survey.
