The Brno Exhibition Centre is dressing up, devoted to fashion

The STYL and KABO trade fairs begin in Brno on Saturday 24 August. Whoever owns a shop or e-shop and wants to get ahead and become acquainted with fashion trends and new collections, which will only be distributed in half a year, has a great opportunity here. The 54^th International Fashion Fairs will last three days, and exhibitors will bring innovations of more than 500 brands of clothing, lingerie, footwear and leather goods from 21 countries.

The share of direct producers again accounts for almost half of the registered exhibitors.  There will be 63 purely Czech manufacturers, while 49 companies will bring their collections for the very first time. The STYL trade fair will traditionally occupy the largest Hall P, where 141 exhibitors from 15 countries will offer women's, men's and children's clothing, leisure fashion, underwear, accessories, costume jewellery, together with suppliers of textiles and haberdashery. Visitors will for instance get to know the Slovak clothing brand Jankiv Siblings for the first time, who specialize in the design and manufacture of pleated garments. Two years ago, the brand was founded by a brother and sister, who were enthusiastic about the technology of pleating, they personally design original women's and children's clothes and also pleat it themselves. All production takes place in Slovakia and the resulting design items are popular with owners in several countries including Italy, France or the USA.

Renowned exhibiting domestic companies include for example Karpet, a specialist in hats and other headgear, or women's clothing manufacturers Sophia Bohemia or Jopess fashion. Poppy, a Hungarian brand of women's underwear, nightwear and swimwear is heading to the Czech market and after several years the well-known Slovak producer of lingerie and women's fashion Favab returns to the Brno fair. The Dutch fashion brand Geisha or the Italian casual fashion brand Devergo also certainly deserve attention. 

To Australia for natural materials

The DESIGN STREET section of individual designers and original small-scale production will include another unmistakable brand. Saffrine's women's fashion story is associated with a passion for traveling, learning about new cultures and respect for nature. Founded by an Australian professional photographer, the Saffrine boutique brand is inspired by different cultures and captures interest with its photo prints. It is an ethical fashion brand that works with natural materials such as silk, bamboo, organic cotton or cashmere and relies on craftsmanship in production. The Saffrine brand is part of a growing trend that calls for sustainable fashion and an environmentally friendly approach to clothing. Respect for nature is highlighted at STYL by the new ORGANIC / VEGAN section, which includes clothing and underwear for adults and children made from environmentally friendly materials (organic cotton, linen, silk, wool, hemp, bamboo and wool).

The exhibition of footwear and leather goods can be found in the neighbouring Hall F. In total, 92 exhibitors from 13 countries will be present at KABO.

These include Caprice, Gabor, Jana shoes, Consortium T + M, Marco Tozzi, S.Oliver, Wortmann and more. There will be a wide range of children's footwear, brought by companies such as Catwalk Vertrieb, DDstep, HP Čechtín, IMAC, JONAP, Legero, Drago Style, Obutex CR, Pegres shoes and Salamander. The KABO trade fair will also be expanded to include VEGAN SHOES (vegan leather, eco-microfibers, etc.).

Trade fairs will train your salespeople

The supporting programme at the STYL and KABO fairs is aimed at professional shop staff this time. During the weekend, they can visit regular and unique professional lectures full of know-how to improve their sales skills. Hall P will feature the theme “Smart Collection” with a sales strategy specialist from Fashion Planet, Nikoleta Apostolu, who will focus on building a collection in small and medium-sized boutiques. Another topic will examine the materials from which the garment is made. The lecture “What you do not know about the materials you wear” will, among other things, provide information on whether certain fibres are truly natural, including their production, or if they’re just a marketing trick. Hall F will offer a mini-training course partnering with Torumia, focusing on “How to sell Accessories and Other Goods”. Professional lectures as well as admission to the fairs for members of the STYL and KABO Visitors Club and their accompaniment are free. If you do not already have a club card and do business or work in the textile, clothing, footwear and leather industry, you can apply to get it. Information can be found on the trade fair website.

Those who are looking forward to fashion shows will not be disappointed. Each day of the fair, four shows of women's and men's clothing and fashion designers’ collections will take place on the catwalk in Hall P. There will be two different shows alternating, STYL SHOW I and STYL SHOW II taking place twice per day each.

The trade fair programme will also include a ceremony, which will take place in the KABO LOUNGE in Hall F on Sunday. The winners of the 13^th Young Shoe and Leather Designers Competition by the Jan Pivečka Foundation Award will be officially announced and rewarded.