Around 1,300 brands from 30 countries exhibit at CPM 2019

"Attracting an impressive 21,300 professional buyers, the 33rd edition of CPM is the number one platform for seasonal and direct orders. As always, it was rounded off by a specialised three-day programme of accompanying events, which, without a break, covered burning issues such as trend know-how, online/offline strategies and customer loyalty – and also proved very popular among the visitors. CPM is an all-rounder for retailers, Russian manufacturers, strong international partners and a consumer market with a positive attitude. It also offers an ideal platform for young trends and talents. The Russian market is and remains exciting, just like CPM and the orders placed here!" said Thomas Stenzel, managing director of trade fair organiser OOO ‘Messe Düsseldorf Moscow’.

"Despite a certain uncertainty about the implementation of the new labelling law due to come into force at the end of 2019, the aisles were full and there were a lot of visitors at the booths. There was a lot of hard work and ordering going on, confirming once again that the interest in international fashion is still very high in Russia and Eastern Europe. We took the opportunity to discuss the areas for the next CPM from February 24-27, 2020 with interested parties and representatives from the country pavilions," said Christian Kasch, CPM's international project manager.

Like at all other editions, international exhibitors and professional buyers once again experienced an impressive meet and greet with Russian VIPs at the opening ceremony on September 3 welcoming the tradeshow visitors, Russian theatre and film star Maksim Averin heralded in the new season of ordering, catwalk shows and business forums. He emphasised the impressive size of the tradeshow and modelled in the catwalk show finale at the end of the opening event. Also making an appearance on the catwalk were the five winners of the World Fashion Channel – New Model Show project in cooperation with CPM.

An important premiere in the accompanying line-up was 'Shop & Retail Solutions' with a focus on shopfitting, retail fittings, retail marketing and technologies to support the development of the fashion retail trade. On September 3, lectures and workshops on this topic were organised by the online platform ‘retail.ru’. Speakers included Anna Lebedewa (Popai Russia), Marina Kazakova (Woodi Bureau), Michail Gusmanov (NLT), Konstantin Nosov (OZON) and other experts.

During the remaining two days, the Russian Fashion Retail Forum presented the best innovations and technologies for the fashion retail sector. There was a particular focus on the challenges of the digital transformation of Russia's fashion retail sector. From the current market situation to the most important development phases that require the introduction of digital technologies, all relevant topics were covered. Leading top managers and experts from RFRF co-organisers like ITMM GmbH, Fashion Consulting Group and PROfashion Consulting also presented their current analyses and forecasts for the coming season, as well as detailed presentations on the digitalisation of the fashion retail sector and how to prepare for Industry 4.0.

"CPM is the place to come if you want to further develop and widen your business horizons. Thank you very much for the excellent organisation. I was also looking for new brands at CPM and ordered new collections," said buyer Lyudmila Bastron, OOO Bastron, Tyumen.

Professional visitor Tatiana Chodilova of Only Happy, Irkutsk, also found the lectures informative and useful, as well as the many conversations and discussions she was able to have with colleagues. The aim of her visit was also to find new suppliers and some of the collections she ordered were from brands she had discovered for the first time at the event.

"At the September 2019 autumn edition we noticed the positive momentum among Russian manufacturers as well as an increase in the number of professional visitors compared to autumn 2018. Our new 'Shop & Retail Solutions' sessions met with great interest. The event line-up was praised by business owners and top managers from the retail sector. As well as the quality improvements of ‘CPM Body & Beach’, I would also like to point out its growing numbers of participants and visitors and the extended event line-up. Both are typical of the September edition, which is the most important ordering period for the sector," said Nikolay Yarzew, CPM project director, Russia/CIS.

One of last season's highlights which took up twice the space, was CPM Body & Beach for lingerie, beachwear, home and sportswear as well as CPM Body & Beach Fabrics showcasing the fabrics, accessories, haberdashery, etc, used to produce underwear and beachwear. Exhibiting in September 2019 were around 150 lingerie brands from 25 countries who along with specific buying seminars, lectures and workshops by global and local market experts and trend forecasts by the Fashion Consulting Group, FashionSnoops, Carlin Trend Creative Bureau and Promostyl, attracted over 4,000 professional visitors from the lingerie retail sector to Moscow.

CPM's special projects made it possible to present talented and promising designers from Russia and its neighbouring countries at an international fashion fair. As part of the CPM Designer Pool, brands such as Brier (Moscow), Ugly (Nani Koberidze, Tbilisi, Georgia) and Ivanova (Sochi) presented their collections for spring/summer 2020 at tradeshow booths and on the catwalk. At the collective booth in hall 72, the CPM My Country participants included Buts8, DA Atelier and Tmdress from Krasnoyarsk. And, to underline its importance, the joint Made in Moscow project with 24 Moscow fashion designers was visited by Alexey Fursin, head of the entrepreneurship and innovation development department of Moscow’s city government. This was the second year in a row that the Moscow Export Center organised the specially themed area. Last season's participants included young brands like Akhmadullina Dreams, Laroom, Cephea, Maslow, Vassa & Co, Victoria Andreyanova, Radical Chic and Anna Slavutina.

VIPs from the worlds of theatre, film, music and TV regularly attend CPM and are regarded as a direct link between fashion from Western Europe and the Russian market. The list includes names like Olesya Sudzilovskaya, Irina Pegova, Ekaterina Strizhenova, Daria Poverennova, Svetlana Zaynalova and Irina Muromtseva, who visited CPM for an overview of the collections as well as to discover the latest cosmetic and make-up trends. The ‘CPM Body & Beach VIP Cocktail’ event is also a major attraction. On September 4, the ‘CPM Gold Club’ enjoyed a show by the World Fashion Channel. And Anastasiya Kotova, a leading expert from the Carlin Creative Bureau, held a presentation on the underwear trends of the coming season, which was attended by celebrities such as Archi, Olga Kabo, Yana Poplavskaya, Ekaterina Odintsova and Alisa Tolkacheva.

The next CPM for the autumn/winter 2020/21 season is taking place from February 24-27, 2020 at the Expocentre exhibition grounds in Moscow. (PC)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India