Visitor numbers up at CPD Düsseldorf

CPD Düsseldorf has clearly maintained its position as a decisive event for the fashion industry and an indispensable fashion platform despite the continued difficult economic climate within the clothing sector. With a rise to 46,000 trade visitors (February 2005: 44,000), CPD Düsseldorf from February 5-7 proved the fashion sector still gives its firm vote to the fashion fair city of Düsseldorf, both nationally and internationally. The fashion metropolis of Düsseldorf with its trade fair and showrooms posted over 60,000 trade visitors from home and abroad. Visitors were given a concentrated market overview through a unique and broad spectrum of national and international collections at CPD Düsseldorf and its closely integrated showrooms. With an approximately 5% rise in visitors at the exhibition centre itself (a good third of whom came from abroad with particular increases from regions outside Europe), CPD Düsseldorf is sending out clear, positive signals. And in so doing CPD proves the course set last year is heading in the right direction. Separating the ranges and the altered hall layout, the increasing number of open stands and the appealing and creatively designed Communication Areas were rated positively and indeed felt especially promising for the future. 90% of visitors used CPD Düsseldorf for assured planning and almost one in two now plan to adapt and thereby also alter range design after their visit to the fair. For many buyers the search for suppliers and especially individual fashion - as for instance presented in the new segments Styles & Signatures or New Discovery as well as in the established Fashion Gallery - ranked very highly in their reasons for attending CPD Düsseldorf. The new segmentation and, in particular, the new areas such as Style & Signatures attracted not just new buyers to the exhibition centre but also exhibitors. For instance, the major German fashion agency Norbert Klauser decided last minutes after attending fairs in Berlin to also exhibit at CPD Düsseldorf in Hall 13 with around 80 collections. A total of 1,670 exhibitors participated in CPD at the exhibition centre itself and at Düsseldorf Fashion Houses 1 and 2, 10% more than last year's figure Business better than anticipated Despite a mood of uncertainty and guarded expectations in the run up to CPD Düsseldorf, reports show business at the fair developed significantly better than previously expected. Busy, well-attended stands and full houses at the fashion shows demonstrated the trade's great interest in information and communication especially in such times at these. Market research commissioned by the IGEDO Company, organisers of CPD Düsseldorf showed that advance orders of 20.5% last year have now risen to almost 30% and that orders were placed worth a total estimated €3 billion. Order activity focused on the 2006/2007 Autumn/Winter season. The proportion of menswear buyers rose again at this CPD. With a 56% increase in exhibition space and accounting for 12% of exhibitors, menswear also attracted more national and international retailers to CPD Düsseldorf. The IGEDO Company therefore have plans to offer this segment its own independent platform in the July edition of the fair. An increased demand in exhibition space plus the decision of agency Norbert Klauser to exhibit at CPD have led the organisers to create HMD Nerrenmode Düsseldorf, an independent menswear segment for July 2006. This segment will group together already exhibiting firms plus new menswear suppliers with stand location arranged according to the firms' different product ranges and categories. Events to meet friends The CPD Düsseldorf was once again not just an international business platform. More than this, with its comprehensive event calendar it also offered many opportunities for the sector to come together and be inspired. Amongst the special highlights this spring, alongside the fashion shows in the Hall of Design and in the Catwalk Café in the Fashion Gallery, was the dazzling opening of the Vivienne Westwood Exhibition - A Retrospective. Held on the first day of the fair at the NRW-Forum, it was attended by the British designer and fashion pioneer herself as well as renowned figures from the art, culture, fashion and political spheres. The fashion sector met to chat and celebrate together on the Monday of CPD at the award ceremony of the 2nd German Fashion Media Prize for exceptional coverage of German fashion. Winners were chosen in three categories: the fashion magazine Freundin for its successful fashion spread on German designers, the business newspaper Handelsblatt for its excellent reporting on German fashion and the television station 3Sat for a programme on the design duo Unrath & Strano. The fashion show 'Catwalk with Ball', an event organised by the cultural foundation of the German Football Association (DFB), also featured in the line-up of special events accompanying this CPD Düsseldorf. Up-and-coming designers in the fashion sector - consistently promoted by the commitment of the IGEDO Company for decades now - were able to show that as the 2006 World Cup in Germany approaches, football is more than just a goal-scoring game with 22 players and a ball. Next dates 23 - 25 July 2006 04 - 06 February 2007 22 - 24 July 2007