UK -- Buyers and exhibitors were in an optimistic mood at the spring edition of Moda, which took place at the NEC in Birmingham on 9 – 11 August. The show recorded a record number of first-day visitors for a spring edition and, over the three days of the show, attendance was up by two per cent on the same time last year.

“Retailers are a lot more positive this season. They are doing better than expected, and they are ready to buy again into the ranges” said Michael Black, agent for Libra. “We wrote some good orders, especially from new customers which was great. It was good to be back.”

Buyers from department stores including Harrods, Fenwicks, Allders, Arnotts and Debenhams were in attendance as well as independents including Psyche in Middlesbrough and Alizari in Chester, plus online retailers ASOS and Children’s Salon.

The mood of optimism continued at Moda Menswear, which had its strongest August show so far with 25 per cent more brands taking part than in August 2008. “I hadn’t visited Moda Menswear before and I was very impressed with the diversity of the brands on offer,” said Steve Cochrane from Psyche. “We don’t usually buy at shows but we wrote orders with new and existing suppliers and had the time to talk to existing suppliers about new ideas for the store.”

Robert Burgess, agent for Claudio Campione said, “We enjoyed a very successful return to Moda Menswear, picking up a number of new accounts and re-establishing contacts with several others.” But he added that buyers were being more cautious. “In difficult trading conditions on the high street, buyers are playing it safe. However they have been impressed by the quality and price of the collection and even more impressed with the colour and vibrancy of the spring Range.”

Moda Footwear also featured an influx of new brands including first-time footwear exhibitors Fly London, Feud, Firetrap and Strutt Couture. “Moda Footwear is a growing show which is encouraging more premium-placed brands,” commented Strutt co-founder and designer Ian O’Connor. “Our first time at the show has been very successful. Even though there’s a recession, the quality of buyers have been very good and they have been willing to write orders. We are happy with the business we’ve received at the show.”

Exhibitors overall were encouraged by the high-quality buyers and strong attendance at Moda, which introduced a new womenswear platform and Moda Beach area this season. “We’re really happy, especially with the quality of buyers we’ve seen throughout the three days at Moda Beach. The open plan design and stand-build works so well and, considering this has been a first, we’ve been doing good business.” commented Jacquie Copley, managing director of Aguaclara Agencies.

The August edition also featured a new swimwear catwalk show as well as its regular menswear and womenswear catwalk show and a seminar programme giving retailers and brands expert advice onhow to trade successfully through the current downturn.

Event director Sarah Moody said, “The attendance overall is up on last year and the quality of visitors has been very high. The new initiatives we introduced to the show this season have been very well received and feedback from exhibitors has been incredibly positive. We are pleased that Moda August 2009 has enjoyed such a positive result despite the difficult economic environment and that many retailers are looking ahead with cautious optimism.”

Next season’s Moda takes place on 21-23 February 2010 at the NEC in Birmingham.

Statements
“We’ve had a brilliant reaction to our new collection. The credit crunch doesn’t seem to be having an effect as the customers we have seen have bought more than last year.” Sharon Dray, sales and operations Director, Moda in Pelle

“Our SS10 swimwear collection is the best yet and buyers were impressed by our range. We had a great mix of national accounts and smaller independent buyers on our stand, as well as a number of new customers interested in our collections and old customers wanting to start stocking the Panache brands again.” Helen Kemp, marketing, Panache Lingerie

“We decided to show at Moda to reach a UK wide audience and we’ve done really well. We were busy right up until the end of Tuesday and opened quite a few new accounts, which was surprising considering the current downturn.” Rosine Sauvage, NYDJ

“This is the first time I have been to Moda in a while. It’s a good opportunity to see lots of brands in one place and to get an overview of the market place as well as visit existing customers.” Colm Coleman, buyer, Arnotts

“We’re very pleased about having returned to Moda. We’ve had lots of people on the stand throughout the event and wrote some good orders. People are a lot more confident this season and that is reflected in the show.” Claire Carmichael, marketing manager, Emreco / Chianti

“We’ve had a great show, we’ve been busy from the word go, and the feedback on the collections has been great. We’ve seen some good-quality retailers, and orders have been very good.” Paul Harrison, agent, Faber and Doris Streich.
 
ITE Moda Ltd