2024 Articles
Celebrating Innovation and Diversity at the Global Sourcing Expo and Footwear & Accessories Show Australia 2024
From 19-21 November 2024, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre will transform into a hub of creativity and industry insights, bringing together over 800 world-class exhibitors globally.
2023 Articles
DAZZLING RETURN BY SOUTH AFRICA
In November 2022, South Africa fielded its biggest ever exhibitor group at Australia’s premier trade fair for footwear and leather wares.
Now a year on, the South Africans are back with an even larger presence – 14 labels bound to impress with their blend of quality craftsmanship, exoticism and individuality at the Footwear and Accessories Show Australia, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, November 21-23.
STRASSBERGERS:
AN ENDURING ICON
In 1830 German Rhenish missionaries, Theobold von Wurmb and Johann Gottlieb Leipoldt, founded the settlement of Wupperthal in the Cederberg Mountains, north of Cape Town in South Africa’s Western Cape.
A shoemaker by trade, Leipoldt quickly realised the terrain demanded suitable footwear. In 1834 he established a tannery and a nearby factory that was soon producing velskoene (traditional rugged leather shoes).
THE INDIA PAVILION: RICH IN CHOICE AND EXPERTISE
If points were being given for arresting visuals, KD Orient would be well ahead of the pack. Dominating the homepage of the Mumbai company’s website is a sultry young beauty and her Bollywood beau wearing black leather jackets and demin jeans – and seemingly, little else.
The sexy teaser translates into solid offerings that will be presented at the Footwear and Accessories Show Australia, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, November 21-23.
TÜRKIYE: GATEWAY TO EUROPE AND ASIA – AND QUALITY FASHION
Türkiye’s Barhion and Peker Shoes had similar beginnings. Both started as modest workshops whose handcrafted footwear attracted a highly appreciative, if limited clientele.
Today, they are large, dynamic companies with international clout and their reputation for fine workmanship remains intact – not surprising in the country famed as the gateway to Europe and Asia, and a fashion design powerhouse that has produced superstars including Hussein Chalayan, Hakan Yildirim and Arzu Kaprol.
PAKISTAN’S VIBRANT, FASHION-FORWARD ECO WARRIORS
Artistic Milliners’ statistics are dizzying: an annual production capacity of 108 million meters of fabric and 30 million garments.
The Karachi-based denim and garment manufacturing giant which has R&D offshoots in Dubai, New York and Los Angeles, is also one of the industrial world’s most effective champions of renewable energy, is adored by feminists – women fill key positions and work facilities include free, quality infant day care – and has an enviable leader in its personable CEO, Omer Ahmed.
The denim powerhouse that grew from a retail store established in 1949 and started producing for Levi’s in 2003, will be a star attraction at the Footwear and Accessories Show Australia, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, November 21-23.
2022 Articles
Tradition and innovation from India the leather superpower
In 1992 Vijay Sharma started his company BN Enterprises in a small shed. Today it occupies three state of the art manufacturing plants covering some 50,000 sq ft and its wares, ranging from sleek separates for men and women to bags large and small, are supplied to leading fashion brands in Scandinavia, central Europe and South America.
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Star power from South Africa at the Footwear & Leather Show Australia
Almost 100 exhibitors from countries as diverse as India, Turkey, China and Colombia will feature in the Footwear and Leather Show at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, November 15-17, 2022.