You'll have to choose - Lineapelle or Micam/Mipel - after organisers announce a 3-week gap
Published: 24th Jan 2022
Milan, Italy – On Wednesday last week, footwear fair Micam, leather goods fair Mipel, and haut-à-porter show The One Milano, announced they had changed dates from 20-22 February to 13-15 March 2022. They said the new dates would partially overlap with the fashion jewellery and accessories fair Homi Fashion & Jewels, on 11-14 March. All fairs will be at the Fiera Milano Rho exhibition centre.
The next day, the leather and components fair Lineapelle announced that it was NOT changing its dates, which remain 22-24 February, also at Fiera Milano Rho.
Both sets of organisers have given reasons for their decisions, but they don't address the effect for visitors, especially for those from outside Europe.
Said Declan Kelly of crocodile skin trader 4Seeable Trading, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA: "This is interesting. Going to interfere with travel plans. Which dates does one choose when the hope was to see all at one time?"
The Micam/Mipel/The One Milano organisers said "this new schedule, requested by the market and by industry operators, aims primarily at creating a platform that brings together the entire fashion system and offering the international audience of professional visitors a single, great business opportunity at a time of greater serenity".
Lineapelle explained its decision not to change dates: “Due to the peculiarity of their exhibits (leathers, materials, accessories, components), Lineapelle thinks that a postponement would not allow the production chain to respect the correct dynamics of creative development and production of collections and that the current schedule is the only one meeting this requirement”.
Lineapelle also referred to pandemic regulations: "Besides, the community of Lineapelle buyers and visitors is composed by the middle-high segment of the fashion industry, which has operational and commercial offices in Italy and in Europe, and whose participation in the event is not prevented by the current management of the pandemic. In addition, we are also asking with extreme urgency the authorities in charge to solve the problem of access of foreign operators who have been given vaccines not recognized by EMA (European Medicines Agency)."
