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Fashion industry fair 2020 - Sint-Petersburg

The Fashion Industry exhibition is an important platform and a leading fashion event organized in Saint Petersburg twice a year. The exhibition is actively supported by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the government of Saint-Petersburg (Committee for Entrepreneurship).

The fashion industry plays an important role in the city economy. In Saint-Petersburg there are 328 textile and apparel companies, 98 leather, haberdashery and footwear companies. The fashion industry employs almost 13 000 people (3,8% of the active population). Saint Petersburg is a home to many fashion designers, and that is why the city is often called Russia’s fashion capital. The city hosts notable fashion events and is influential for Russian fashion.

The fashion exhibition was held in early March when the global pandemic had already been announced, the coronavirus infection had already spread to many European countries, but had not hit Russia yet. Many regular exhibitors canceled their participation in the event because countries started closing their borders. So the number of exhibitors substantially declined this year.  

The business program was fine and included conferences, workshops, presentations and fashion shows. The topics discussed included marketing strategy and tools, growing e-commerce, fashion trends, store management, sales strategy to support expansion. The buyers’ program included networking, fashion shows and a workshop on effective buying, loyalty programs, pricing and promotion.  

The exhibition itself was relatively small, but produced a good impression. There were a few big producers and nice fashion shows. Many regions supported and promoted local designers and producers at their collective stands: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Pskov, Arkhangelsk, Leningrad region, republic of Tatarstan, republic of Bashkortostan.

Many exhibitors noted that the exhibition was well-attended and organized irrespective of the coronavirus situation.

The exhibition organizer introduced a dedicated digital platform for buyers and producers – ModaGo (https://modago.ru/about-us/). It is a marketplace for participants of the trade fair, an additional online sales channel to find leads and generate online sales before and after the fair. It had a big success among the participants of the exhibition.

In general, the Russian fashion industry has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The national lockdown and restrictions have resulted in a sharp decline in offline sales, a 30-40% decrease compared to 2019. Retailers and producers implement digital strategies and go online to support sales. The major trend across all the retail sectors is that the pandemic has accelerated industry shifts that were already underway: changing consumer behavior, growing e-commerce, conscious consumption and sustainability. All these shifts are now critical for survival.

The global pandemic is driving a surge in online trade in Russia. Russian leading e-commerce platforms are generating more and more customer traffic and online sales.

26 december 2020