740 brands at GDS and 180 exhibitors at tag it! presented the trends for
the coming Spring/Summer season in Düsseldorf. Both trade shows ran from 26
to 28 July and, hence, for the first time from Tuesday to Thursday. A highlight
was the opening catwalk show starring model and actress Alena Gerber.
For the first time all trends and innovations revolving around shoes were presented in
Düsseldorf from Tuesday to Thursday. This made it possible to avoid clashing with Friday
as one of the strongest retail-sales day allowing retailers to capitalise on the trade
shows as best as possible. Altogether approx. 12,500 retailers visited the two shoe
trade shows. This was also too few in the opinion of Werner Matthias Dornscheidt,
President and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf: "Neither the sector nor we can be satisfied
with this visitor attendance. Which is why we have decided jointly with the Advisory
Board to again intensely consult on the optimisation of GDS together with industry
and retail over the next few weeks."
GDS provides extensive trend platform
Fashion Shows, Trend Spots, Trend Codes and the Trend Talks - through its early dates
and the gradual extension of its Trend Services GDS has positioned itself as an essential
information platform that provides the sector with a perfect overview of international
collections with its three themed worlds STUDIO, HIGHSTREET and POP UP. However, strategic
themes such as sustainability, social media and future trends are also part and parcel of GDS,
explains Director Kirstin Deutelmoser: "Personal exchange and the new collections are, of course,
centre stage at GDS; but in challenging times new impulses are also key for the sector. This is
why we are offering our visitors a multitude of services in these fields and aspire to be up to date."
Visitors took an avid interest in the GDS catwalk shows in the separate Catwalk Area of
Hall 2, whose programme had been expanded even further for the 2017 S/S season. For the first
time, catwalk shows featured collection items from all three GDS worlds. Special highlight: the
GDS opening show, which presented the most attractive styles from the STUDIO world under the heading
"RE:LUXE". Special guest on the catwalk was model and actress Alena Gerber (26). Further trend services
included the GDS Trend Spots, which provided retailers with perfect blueprints for visual merchandising
with their displays, and the GDS Trend Codes, which answered one of the key questions for advising
shoppers at the PoS: "Which shoes go with what outfit?"
Social Media Consulting was received well
Enthusiastically received at the previous GDS in February, the free "Lounge & Learn"
session was developed further into a series of lectures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
Snapchat and blogger relations. Over the first two days of the trade show the social media
experts of styleranking answered the following questions in keynote presentations at the
FashionBloggerCafé premises in Hall 2: "How can social media strategies impact brand success?
How do fashion labels use Facebook & Co. for their own marketing in a targeted manner?"
Here the styleranking experts not only shared their longstanding blogging and social media
expertise with interested parties but also granted exclusive insights into the blogosphere
and its influence.
Green Shoes Workshop informs the sector
The last day of GDS saw interested shoe manufacturers and retailers learn details about
sustainability concepts in the footwear industry as part of a workshop. Under the heading
"Green Shoes for a Sustainable Life" visitors enjoyed a lecture on the results of the
"Step to Sustainability" project as well as two panel discussions with key industry
representatives, who presented and explained "Best Cases" for the footwear sector.
The workshop was organised by the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry
(CEC) and its European partners to the "Step to Sustainability" project.
The next editions of GDS and tag it! will take place from 7 to 9 February 2017 and 25 to 27 July 2017.
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