Portugal adds dash of spice
Portugal plans to spice up the lives of those attending the leather fair.
Six times a day, a 10-minute fashion show will display funky and futuristic shoes and boots, including a selection by Over Cube, the label which provided footwear for the Spice Girls' Spice World Tour this year.
Joaquim Moreira, Portugal's Trade Commissioner, said the shows were part of the country's continuing strategy to grab as much attention as possible at the fair. Until two years ago, Portugal had a standard booth.
But putting on regular fashion shows with eye-catching products had helped the Portuguese grab the lion's share of attention at recent fairs.
'Hopefully, things will be the same this time around,' he said. 'There are a lot of exciting things happening in the footwear industry in Portugal and our fashion parades should reinforce that. You will certainly be seeing some of the more outrageous designs in our shows.' Mr Moreira said participation was down somewhat compared to the last show in April.
'Last time, we had 18 Portuguese companies; this time there are nine,' he said.
'But we still believe that, despite the economic crisis, Asia is a market we want to concentrate on. There is a big future for Portuguese shoes and other accessories in Asia, and Hong Kong is the focus of our efforts here.' Besides Over Cube, the home- grown brands which will be represented at the fair include Konflikt, Las Pampas, Distilo, MP Style, P &M (the label of Portuguese wunderkind designer Pedro Moraes), Camport, Clique, Equipage, Coxx, Fly London, MC Power and Virus Moda.
Asia is still only a small market for Portugal, with two-thirds of its shoes shipped to Germany, France and Britain.
But Mr Moreira is confident this will change.
