Colombiamoda Medellin 2015: ‘Incredible’ Growth Tops 60,000 Visitors, 13,000 Buyers
Evidence of the remarkable growth of the fashion and textile industry in Medellin continues to mount as the 2015 version of Colombiamoda in Medellin drew 60,741 visitors and 13,271 buyers, up 20% from the 2014 show.
According to Medellin-based trade group Inexmoda –which organizes Colombiamoda, by far Colombia’s biggest fashion-and-textile event – the 2015 version included new bridal- and children’s-wear events and displays.
The largest percentage of the 1,703 international buyers came from the USA, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, for what Inexmoda described as “the most powerful fashion tradeshow in Latin America.” Other big exhibitors this year included companies from Portugal and Brazil.
Colombiamoda 2015 commercial displays this year occupied of 7,367 square meters – “incredible growth considering that in 2010, the show had 3,694 square meters,” according to Inexmoda.
In total, Colombiamoda included 30 runway fashion shows on several different platforms, 654 exhibitors and 26 lectures on fashion-industry entrepreneurship, according to the trade group.
For the lectures – jointly organized by Medellin-based Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) and Inexmoda — some 12,740 people attended in-person, while 33,055 others logged-in via streaming, according to the group.
Buyers at the show typically are interested in “full package deals, alliances with Colombian textile and clothing brands, especially from jeanswear, formal casual, intimate, footwear and leather goods,” according to Inexmoda.
Vendors estimated a total of US$341 million in sales deals arising from the event, 11% more than the previous year. These companies “unveil their creations to buyers who are mainly distributors (25%), boutiques (24%) and clothing manufacturers (24%),” according to Inexmoda.
Colombiamoda 2015 also “opened a space for exhibitors, buyers and investors that have hedged bets on new channels: e-commerce, catalogs and direct sales, and through strategic alliances that allow for new business models in the industry,” according to the group.
“One out of every ten buyers at the tradeshow looks for products they can commercialize through digital mediums, which affirms that fashion e-commerce is a global consumer trend.”
An “Épica Innovation Challenge” program – a joint venture of the Medellin Mayor’s Office and Inexmoda – helped 55 entrepreneurs from the city develop their brands. Two of these entrepreneurs also participated in runway shows, which were televised live by local TV station Telemedellin.
The personal-products multinational P&G brought its “Pantene” and “MaxFactor” lines for backstage operations. Stylists made-up more than 400 models, including Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega (a Colombia native) and international fashion-runway star Toya Montoya (also a Colombia native).
