Friday, June 14, 2019 - 20:24English

Expo Riva Schuh and Gardabags open the international trade fair calendar for the next season, and will present a wide integrated offer of volume footwear and leather goods from 15th to 18th June 2019.

The 92nd edition of Expo Riva Schuh will be attended by 1462 exhibitors, of which 266 are Italian and 1196 are foreign, representing the most important producing countries at a global level, on an exhibition area of over 32,000 square metres.

China is a major player, with a strong bond consolidated over the years thanks to the collaboration with the country's main agencies, with which the organisers have worked to further improve the quality of the offer by qualifying its presence. The main Chinese distribution chains take part in Expo Riva Schuh and choose the event for its well-known ability to attract the most important buyers from the European area.

"The new edition of Expo Riva Schuh opens with the great novelty of the new and even closer synergy with Gardabags, which now enters the Exhibition Centre - explains the director of Riva del Garda Fierecongressi Roberto Pellegrini. This is a coherent path that we have taken to further strengthen the positioning of these events as an international marketplace for footwear and leather goods".

Expo Riva Schuh and Gardabags open Saturday 15th June with a focus on sustainability. The opening talk "The sustainability of the fashion system supply chain" is scheduled at 11. After the institutional greetings, Lars Doemer, Director and co-founder of GoBlu, an international service company and accelerator of sustainability for companies in the fashion system, will intervene in the first part of the event to outline the scenario at European level in all its complexity, giving interesting ideas to read this commitment to the environment as a real competitive lever in the international scenario. The second part of the debate, moderated by Cinzia Malvini, lifestyle and fashion journalist at La7 and Book Moda, will continue with Tiziano Guardini, fashion designer who won the Franca Sozzani GCC Award for Best Emerging Designer in 2017, and who is particularly attentive to the ethical and sustainable aspect of fashion.

"Riva del Garda Fierecongressi's green commitment stems from its love for its territory, where it successfully brings together various local associations, and opens up to a responsibility towards the planet and a true "culture of sustainability" - says Giovanni Laezza, general manager of Riva del Garda Fierecongressi. As we already do for our network of suppliers and customers, also at Expo Riva Schuh we wanted to be ambassadors of this commitment, which has always been part of our DNA. We thus wanted to dedicate the opening moment of the event to this theme and to how it is interpreted in the fashion industry. The company Riva del Garda Fierecongressi is the only Italian trade body with ISO 20121 certification for Sustainable Event Management Systems for a 360-degree green vision, which is at the same time environmental, social and economic. The objective is to involve suppliers within a real "sustainability pact" that leads to take on various commitments: from the correct disposal of waste to attention to wasting, from the rationalisation of the use of water to the progressive elimination of disposable plastics, with the overall objective of having the least possible impact on the environment".

Gardabags presents itself for its third edition in a renewed form and in a new location: Pavilion D of the Exhibition Centre. With a selection of 83 exhibitors from 9 countries, Gardabags boasts a significant representation of Italian companies, which is a clear indication that local manufacturing is growing considerably compared to previous editions.

"The new location of Gardabags marks an important step for this event, which with Expo Riva Schuh offers a complete exhibition experience for buyers, with a truly 360-degree overview of the entire range of accessories - says Carla Costa, head of the Riva del Garda Fiere Fierecongressi Area. We want to give the event a precise identity, making it a real full immersion in the trends of the future for the bags and accessories sector, as well as a laboratory of creativity and inspiration for professionals and operators in the sector".

The very heart of Gardabags will be the HangarD area, a multifunctional space for events, interviews and dedicated B2B meetings. In the afternoon of Saturday, June 15, a special tour of the stands is scheduled to identify the previews of the next PE 2020 with a special guest of honor: the style coach and television icon Carla Gozzi, who will be presenting the new trends at 5:30 pm during the talk show "Bags Fashion Trends".

The network of hotels and the Conference Centre of the city will complete the Expo Riva Schuh widespread exhibition route, offering an additional resource for companies interested in choosing a suitable context for targeted one-to-one meetings. The network of urban and suburban services and connections and the Rivatour travel agency will also operate for the entire duration of the event. Rivatour offers a wide selection of facilities and, thanks to its in-depth knowledge of the territory, provides assistance with everything that revolves around the event: from hotel reservations to airport transfers and the possibility of organising collective transfers.

Press release

Expo Riva Schuh and Gardabags

Riva del Garda, 14 June 2019