As MICAM continues to cement its position as the world’s premier footwear trade event, the vast majority of Italian and international companies consistently confirm through surveys, declared through survey that the trade fair is a key to relaunch the suffering shoes’ industry and showed an even higher interest to take part of the event.
The footwear market is one of the essential markets for the Italian economy, but MICAM is since more than 75 years, a solid reference for the shoes business worldwide.
For sure, with shifting consumer priorities and evolving retail landscapes, footwear purchasing habits have transformed considerably over recent years. But the footwear reality is bigger than that, and as communities slowly start back with their everyday life, sellers need to be prepared and well stocked.
As Assocalzaturifici and MICAM Chairman Siro Badon underlined, while alternative opportunities for maintaining the business relations have developed over the past few months, the meetings at the fair still remain a most important opportunity for growth on the market and a privileged way of negotiating orders.
Of course the event will still be adapted to the health and safety protocols to prevent the spread of contagion, but we who attended in February, while Coronavirus was storming and hitting badly on Lombardy, we can confirm that we were never exposed to any risk, and as press, in our personal case, there were no Coronavirus-related consequences after visiting the fair. We made it through the toughest time, there are logic reasons to believe September 2020 will be just as safe or more, with all the growing awarenesses about COVID-19.
Since the footwear market is unfortunately facing a dark time, with economic repercussions that threaten its at times troubled horizon, confirming MICAM is literally answering with a credible response to the current situation, offering new and tangible hope.
According to Tommaso Cancellara, MICAM CEO and Assocalzaturifici General Manager, each edition of MICAM remains particularly important for drawing new awareness and fresh inspiration through Italian and international perspectives as a direct answer to the companies’ vocalised needs.
MICAM is negotiating and defining a commercial agreement with one te world’s key players in digital services to offer a new b2b digital sales channel to all exhibitors.
The state of the footwear market faces right now worryingly high numbers in reduced orders and paralysed production and impossibilities to show the new collection to potential buyers. The percentages are rocketing the 80 to 90% of reductions.
Nonetheless, Italian footwear manufacturers thanks to creativity and experience, are ready to win back the market and 52% of them expect sales to recover already within the year, thanks to their ability to find drivers of change using digital tools to boost sales.
This is how the distribution goes for the footwear sellers worldwide:
60% is ready to send pictures of the collection by mail
39% has digital tools as internet sites at disposal
31% reaches customers through social networks
15% is using new platforms
(source: MICAM)
MICAM is working in the direction of offering a new distribution channel in September and as mentioned, 75% of the companies interviewed through survey has reported they will certainly participate to the event.
The second chapter of the #micamtales series, dedicated to MICAM in Wonderland becomes an intentional bridge, meaning that nothing really stops, it turns pages to a new chapter. The creative idea in September is curated by MM Company and features photos by Daniele Scarpa. Over the upcoming weeks, the organisation will confirm the assets of events and initiatives aimed to sustain the sector to meet the new challenges, growing together.
In 2026, MICAM has further expanded its focus on sustainable footwear innovation, dedicating dedicated exhibition spaces to brands pioneering bio-based materials, circular production models, and carbon-neutral manufacturing practices that now represent a core expectation among global buyers.
