02: STYL and KABO Fairs – information summary

Accept our invitation to the world of fashion and design! From Sunday, the 18^th to Tuesday, the 20^th August 2013, the 42^nd annual STYL and KABO fashion fairs will be held at the Brno Exhibition Centre. Traders from the textiles, clothing, leather and footwear industries are thus offered a unique opportunity to get acquainted with the latest trends and innovations and establish direct business contacts with partners not only from the Czech Republic. Nearly 260 exhibitors from 19 countries will showcase and present new models and collections of nearly 600 brands designed especially for the spring - summer season 2014.

International fairs of fashion and footwear remain a gateway for foreign firms to the Czech and Central European markets. In addition to traditional foreign exhibitors from Slovakia, Poland, Germany and Austria, there will be representations from Bulgaria, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Hungary, Pakistan, Portugal, Greece and Uzbekistan.

STYL will again be featured in the largest hall of the Brno Exhibition Centre, Hall P. 173 exhibitors will offer traders various products of 400 brands, from 14 countries. Collections of women's and men's clothing will dominate, together with lingerie and swimwear, fashion accessories and jewellery, baby and children's clothes for children up to 15 years. There will also be maternity wear, fashion in extra large sizes and hosiery. A new zone called Fresh Fashion will present original fashion and jewellery from independent designers.

We have good news for all those looking for interesting textile material. Starting this August, once a year the STYL fair will be extended with the range of haberdashery, textiles and equipment for the production of clothing, both at the stands of manufacturers and suppliers, as well as by a trend forum with samples of textiles and haberdashery for the upcoming season.

August fashion shows are enhanced by new topical sections - the STYL Show is traditionally focused on clothing, swimwear fashion for the next season is revealed at a separate BEACHWEAR Show and a new "Night & Day" LINGERIE Show is reserved for lingerie, hosiery, day and nightwear. Visitors can again look forward to special shows, always at 1 p.m. Sunday 18 August will present PRET-A-PORTER collections of world renowned designers Oscar de la Renta and Emilio Pucci. The current collections of the world's catwalks will be presented here - exclusively for the STYL fair. On the second day of the fair, Monday 19 August, a fashion show of interesting models called ICONS OF TIME by students from the College of Fashion Design in Prague will be shown. All shows will take place on a large catwalk in Hall P. The main stars of the shows will include Tereza Fajksová and Denisa Domanská.

The key event of the supporting programme will feature a trend lecture, organized in cooperation with the renowned forecasting agency - World Global Style Network* (WGSN) from London on Monday. Key trends across the full range of women's and men's clothing, accessories and footwear will be presented to participants in a lecture by Sue Evans, who has had a long and distinguished career in trend forecasting and fashion consultancy in partnership with global retailers and manufacturers. An in-depth analysis of the key styles, colours, shapes and materials that will be the driving force behind sales for the spring / summer season 2014 will be presented.

The Association of Textile, Clothing and Leather Industry invites professionals to exchange experience during the trade fairs at a seminar entitled "Prospects Of Vocational Training". There will also be a workshop entitled "Aspects Of E-Sales Of Textiles", which aims to inform about the quality of sales in electronic stores, product labelling legislation and electronic sales.

Hall F is dedicated to the KABO Footwear Fair, which features 83 participating exhibitors from 11 countries who will present a collection of models of more than 180 brands. The assortment of goods on display includes women's, men's and children's footwear, leather goods and leather accessories, all of that not only from the major market leaders, but also from traditional small brands on the Czech market.

The informal opening of the fairs in the Live Gallery at 9.30 a.m. on the first day will feature the announcement of results of the 7^th annual competition for young footwear and leather goods designers, the Jan Pivečka Foundation Award. Monday, 19 August from 3 p.m. will include the "Czech Quality" and "Giraffe - healthy children's shoes" awards in the KABO BAR in Hall F.

An interesting contrast to the modern handbags that will show the trends for next spring and summer at the KABO exhibitors' stands will be highlighted at the "Handbags Symphony" exhibition, presenting the history of this phenomenon. This is a preview of an exhibition prepared by the Brno City Museum which will be officially launched on 26 September at the Špilberk Castle.

Easy orientation of visitors in the halls will be taken care of by an overview MAP OF COMPANIES AND BRANDS which the visitors will receive at the entrance to the grounds or at the box offices. Throughout the duration of the fashion fairs, the premises can only be entered on the basis of a compulsory registration or pre-registration on the Internet. The venues of the fairs, Halls P and F, are located in the western part of the trade fair grounds. The Main Entrance, Hall E Entrance and Hall P Entrance will be open for visitors. Easy movement throughout the exhibition area is made possible by FREE STYL-KABO busses, running at frequent intervals according to a set timetable. The busses will run on two routes (from the Main Entrance and from Hall E) to Halls P and F and back. Their stops are clearly marked, you can not miss them. STYL-KABO busses can also be used by visitors to the fair who will arrive by car and park in a covered EXPOPARKING house, situated directly at Gate 4 opposite Hall E. Car passengers can also use a large car park by Hall P (entrance through gate 8 or 9).

You can find detailed information on the 42^nd STYL and KABO fashion fairs at www.styl.eu or www.kabo.cz. Visitors can use the opportunity of discounted admission offered by the organizers upon online registration which is available on the same websites.