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CPD Düsseldorf – fashion industry’s international communication platform

 

THE spring segment of CPD Düsseldorf 2006, staged at the fashion metropolis of Düsseldorf in Germany from February 5-7, recorded approximately 55% increase in visitors. A good one-third of the visitors came from abroad with particular increases from regions outside Europe, reported Igedo Company, the fair’s organiser.

With trade visitors totalling 46,000 compared to 44,000 in the February 2005 show, CPD Düsseldorf is sending out clear, positive signals of its position in the fashion-industry calendar. Visitors were given a concentrated market overview through a broad spectrum of national and international collections at CPD Düsseldorf and its closely integrated showrooms.

According to Igedo, 90% of visitors used CPD Düsseldorf for assured planning and almost one in two now plan to adapt and thereby alter range design after their visit to the fair. For many buyers, the search for suppliers and especially individual fashion — as presented, for instance, in the new segments ‘Styles & Signatures’ and ‘New Discovery’ as well as the established ‘Fashion Gallery’ — ranked highly in their reasons for attending the show.

The even clearer segmentation and particularly the new segments attracted not only new buyers to the exhibition centre but also more exhibitors. A total of 1,670 exhibitors participated in CPD Düsseldorf at the exhibition centre itself and at Düsseldorf Fashion Houses 1 and 2, 10% more than last year’s figure.

Despite a mood of uncertainty and guarded expectations in the run up to CPD Düsseldorf, business at the fair developed significantly better than previously expected. Busy, well attended booths and full houses at the fashion shows demonstrated the trade’s great interest in information and communication, especially in such times as these.

Market research commissioned by Igedo showed that advance orders of 20.5% last year have now risen to almost 30% and that orders placed were estimated to be worth 3 billion euros (US$3.6 billion).

Order activity was focused on the 2006-07 autumn/winter season.

The proportion of menswear buyers rose again at this year’s CPD Düsseldorf. With a 56% increase in exhibition space and accounting for 12% of exhibitors, menswear also attracted more national and international retailers to CPD Düsseldorf. Igedo has already planned to offer this segment on its own independent platform at the July 2006 show — “HMD Herrenmode Düsseldorf — the Menswear Fair within a Fair”.

The spring CPD Düsseldorf was once again not just an international business platform. With its comprehensive event calendar, it offered many opportunities for the sector to come together and be inspired. Among the special highlights, alongside the fashion shows in the Hall of Design and in the Catwalk Café in the Fashion Gallery, was the dazzling opening of the Vivienne Westwood Exhibition — A Retrospective. It was attended by the British designer and fashion pioneer herself as well as renowned figures from the art, culture, fashion and political spheres.

The fashion show “Catwalk with Ball”, an event organised by the cultural foundation of the German Football Association (DFB), also featured in the line-up of special events accompanying the spring CPD Düsseldorf. Up-andcoming designers in the fashion sector were able to show, as the 2006 World Cup in Germany approaches, that football is more than just a goal-scoring game with 22 players and a ball.