Held in Riva del Garda from the 13^th to the 16^th of January, the Italian trade fair specializing in footwear, bags and accessories hosted 1 300 exhibitors and brands from 39 countries, an increase of 15% as compared to the January 2023 edition, and attracted 9 000 buyers, 80% of whom came from Europe and 20% from the rest of the world. The organisation highlighted that these figures exceeded “all expectations for a market facing such challenging circumstances”.

Looking more closely, this edition, which offered a preview of the upcoming autumn/winter 2024-25 collections, saw a “notable surge” in participants from Italy, the UK and Poland. However, the number of visitors from Germany and France fell slightly, which, according to the organisers, is “indicative of the relative decline in these countries’ respective economies”. The data also shows that 30%.4% of buyers were from the retail sector, 19.3% from distribution and 5.2% from e-commerce, followed by 15.5% from manufacturers.

“We focused on getting to know more about exhibitors' production and the market dynamics our visitors face. We have cultivated important relationships with institutions and trade associations to facilitate the exchange of valuable information and collaborate on projects that offer tangible benefits to the industry (…). It was crucial for us to convey our vision of the industry’s future to them”, commented Alessandra Albarelli, General Manager of Riva del Garda Fierecongressi.

In her view, this edition confirmed “that the innovations implemented in recent years, including new digital, business and marketing services, are genuinely enhancing the value of the event format”.

“Through the Market Focuses on the Far East, Latin America, Africa, Europe, and the USA, along with the one dedicated to handbags and accessories, we continued to gauge the industry's pulse. The four sessions in the new Highlights Area, on the other hand, in collaboration with Arsutoria, provided us with insights into the prevailing styles favoured by consumers of handbags and accessories. We cast a glance into the future, looking beyond fashion alone, with Innovation Village Retail, and also with the Startup Competition that awarded the Spanish iF Returns Solution, a logistics optimisation and control platform for returns management”, summarised GianPaola Pedretti, Exhibition Manager.

A highlight as well to the Celebration Night festivities, an event that celebrated the 100^th edition of the trade fair by recreating “the atmosphere and spirit of the early days, when people would meet on the shores of Lake Garda to do business and forge relationships”, commented Paolo Villa, President of ASSOPROV.

The next edition of Expo Riva Schuh & Gardabags will take place from the 15^th to the 18^th of June.