Moda's refreshed look produces "a real buzz"

“It was clear from day one of the show, that brands and buyers are feeling a lot more optimistic about the industry’s prospects for 2015,” said Nick Cook, portfolio and commercial director for Moda to FashionUnited. “It’s been a tough few years for fashion retail, but after a good summer

this year, our visitors were in the right frame of mind to buy, producing a real buzz across the halls.”

The 26th edition of Moda, which ran from August 10 to 12, saw a positive outlook from both exhibitors, visitors and buyers alike who browsed through the nearly 1500 collections on display at the show whilst commenting on its refreshed look and layout. “Everything is really clean and fresh and it’s great to see a show looking so good, it’s a really welcoming environment,” noted Gabrielle MacMahon, owner of Crème De La Crème of special occasions.

Moda's 26th edition hailed as the "best show ever" for a number of retailers

“We are delighted with the response we have had this season, I'd go as far as to say it’s been our best show ever,” commented Michael Black, joint owner of Latte who showcased their contemporary women's wear line in Moda White. “Things have really picked up for us this season and buyers are ready to do business and it makes us really excited for next season.”

“We had a huge amount of positive feedback on the show this season, both in terms of the level of business done and Moda’s new layout and features,” continued Cook. “As an organiser it’s not always easy to gauge how much of a difference a change to the floor plan or the look of the show makes, but the changes we made for this season’s Moda have clearly improved visitor experience and changed perceptions of the show.”

Some of the new changes introduced to Moda this season include the addition of Mini Moda in the shows footwear division, which aimed to bring together the group of children’s footwear experts in one area and the E-Zone line, a hub for seminars and workshops revolving around e-commerce and new developments in retail technologies which featured some of the industry’s leading experts.

“As well as being complementary about the shows redesign, we had very positive feedback from retailers on our seminar programme which was extended this season to include the E-Zone Live,” said Katherine James, senior marketing manager at Moda to FashionUnited. “This is knowledge and learning hub joins our catwalks and other retail orientated business seminars in provided added value at the show.”

Amanda Joynt, head of sales and marketing at Silhouette Lingerie, felt that the latest additions to the trade show helped make a difference during the three day event. “We have been coming to the show since year dot and this season has definitely felt like something of a turning point,” she noted. “We have had so many good quality buyers to the stand that it is probably our most successful show to date.”

Moda attracts higher quality buyers and exhibitors

Overall there was an increase witnessed in the quality of brands attending and exhibiting at Moda, as well as the quality of buyers visiting the show. There was also a larger amount of visitors and buyers who chose to visit the show for two or three days, another positive indication that the retailers and buyers were pleased with the show and interested in exploring the host of new international brands showing at Moda.

“There are quite a few new international brands, which is good as everyone’s looking for something that other people haven't got,” pointed out MacMahon. “We're impressed with what we've seen this season...brands have really started listening to what we want.” First time exhibitor at Moda Footwear, Project Jelly's Natalie Collier received “some interest from UAE distributors,” and believes that being a made in the UK label is helping the label break into international markets.

Newcomer to the show, Drew Brady, owner of Workforce and Heatholders, was “very impressed with the execution of the show.” Harish Varsani, sales manager for the group told FashionUnited, that the group was “pleased overall with Moda, it was organised professionally and to a high standard,” with attendance being “strong across the whole 3 days of exhibition.” However, he noted that group would have liked to see more multiple retailers, “but maybe this is something for next year.”

“It seems that everyone is growing ever more confident each season,” added James. “The reports we have been hearing from exhibitors are that the buyers attending this season were good quality buyers and ready to write orders rather than just look around. Compared to this time last year, we had brands who said they were about 20 percent up on business.”

“We have had a good summer in England so far this year and so retailers have been able to sell a lot of summer stock to make way for new collections and this seems to have translated well to business written at the show.”

Moda's fall/winter edition is set to return to the NEC in Birmingham and will run from February 15 to 17, 2015.

Images: Moda at the NEC in Birmingham