Momad postpones next show to February 2021

Madrid-based fashion tradeshow Momad has postponed its next edition to February 2021, with Ifema and the organising committee aiming to hold the event in a “strengthened economic environment” that’s more likely to mean a successful show for those taking part.

It was originally planned for September 18-20, but like so many events that had either been pushed back to later in the year or had originally been intended for autumn dates, the organisers have realised that such dates are impractical given the ongoing Covid-19 issues.

The new dates (February 4-6) mean the show will coincide with the Intergift, Bisutex and MadridJoya salons, also at Ifema, and should create an environment that will be appealing to potential visitors.

Julia González, director of Momad, explained to Efe that it was a tough decision but a necessary one and that suggestions of a hybrid physical-digital format had been considered but rejected. González said online buying has its place but is focused on brands that people already know and isn’t about discovering newness. 

The decision makes sense given that the chance to find new brands is a major reason for many tradeshow visits and if this chance is reduced, the appeal of any event is lessened too. 

The organisers also decided against a hybrid approach due to recent rises in coronavirus infection rates.

While digital has become a bigger part of both catwalk and tradeshow events due to the pandemic, it’s likely that physical shows will be back in force once the virus has abated as it’s hard to truly replicate the show experience online.

But the virus situation will have to have improved a lot for Momad repeat its earlier success. It ended its previous edition with 15,000 visitors, of which the foreign presence accounted for a total of 32%. It saw 64 participating countries, according to data published on its official page. With global travel at a historically low level for now, it could take some time for international tradeshow visits to get back to anywhere near normal.

Additional reporting by Sandra Halliday