The 34th International Shoes, Sportsgoods and Leathergoods Fair (Couromoda), is going to bring together over 1,000 companies that produce in the leather and shoe sector between January 15 and 18 at Anhembi exhibition hall, in São Paulo.
The fair will include Brazilian retailer and distributors, as well as importers from over 60 countries.
The largest fair in Latin America and the fourth largest in the sector in the world, Couromoda will cover an area of 80,000 square meters and will open the Brazilian season of shoe, accessory and garment business.
The fair will cover the whole of the Anhembi Exhibition Pavilion and will include a pavilion especially built to house exhibitors in the textile sector, where the Brazilian Garments and Fashion Accessories Fair (Feninver) will be taking place.
"Those visiting the fair will be able to check out the new proposals by 3,000 brands," stated the fair president, Francisco Santos. According to him, with each edition Couromoda confirms its position as a meeting point for the global shoe sector.
"For this year’s edition of the fair, we hope to receive around 4,000 foreign buyers from 60 countries. The fair receives groups of buyers from the United States, France, Italy and Spain, among other important markets for the sector," he explained.
According to the president of the Couromoda, importers will have the opportunity of closely analysing the potential and the quality of the Brazilian shoe industry. Among the foreign visitors will be a group organized by François Browne de Kilmaine, president of the French Shoe Federation.
The delegation will include 15 French retailers who will participate in the fair with the support of the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) and of the Brazilian Association of Shoe Manufacturers (Abicalçados).
"Brazil has various positive points for competition on the international market among them price, quality, design and limited and guided production, as well as standing out due to its fashion. All of these factors attract the attention of buyers from all around the world to Brazilian shoes and accessories," stated Santos.
Couromoda seeks buyers in the largest global markets through international promotion of the fair, which reaches 90 countries. The work is developed on various fronts: through Brazilian embassies, media on the main sector vehicles in Europe, the United States and Latin America, contacts with importers on five continents through mailing lists and participation in international fairs WSA (USA), Micam (Italy), Modacalzado (Spain) and Midec (France).
"All of these actions have helped make São Paulo the world shoe capital in January each year," stated Santos.
Collective Stand
In this edition of the Couromoda, the Brazilian Association of Shoe and Leather Components Industries (Assintecal) will have a collective stand covering an area of 352 square meters where it will show the products made by dozens of component sector companies.
The collective stand will also serve as a space for business roundtables in the Apex Buyer Project, through which businessmen from abroad visit the fair to do business with Brazilian companies.
Al Invest is another program to provide incentives to the sector and that will also have a collective stand. Organized in partnership with the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp) the objective is to provide incentives to strategic alliances between Latin-American (Brazilian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian) and European (German, Italian and Portuguese) companies.
Assintecal is going to show at its stand models of shoes developed by Brazilian stylists as well as projects like Brazilian References, which searches for elements of culture and handicraft from various regions of the country to present them to the shoe industry, presented as prototypes of handbags and shoes.
Couromoda
Data: from January 15 to 18
Site: Anhembi Exhibition Center, in São Paulo
Site: www.couromoda.com
Anba