IAF World Fashion Convention Medellin update

Under the premise of covering the main challenges of the fashion industry, the first day of the IAF World Fashion Convention

focused on the importance of adapting business models to the realities of each market and being conscious of the fact that the consumer is gaining more and more control over brand experiences. The supply chain and innovation were also discussed.

In his opening speech, Carlos Eduardo Botero Hoyos, President of Inexmoda, realized a call to action to the sector by harnessing its industrial potential, demonstrating through figures the impact of fashion in Colombia, a country with a globally recognized perspective, which led to the IAF (International Apparel Federation) choosing it as the seat of their convention. This convention is being attended by delegates from all over the world, including far-off countries such as Taiwan, Russia, Sri Lanka, India, Lithuania, Germany, Japan, Korea and Turkey.

“In 2013, Colombia was the third largest economy in Latin America, with a growth in GNP of 4.7%. It also attracted direct foreign investment of over USD 16 Billion, 20% more than in 2005. These figures confirm the opportunities presented by this sector to structure a business model which operates with a fast, integrated and flexible supply chain, implementing retail strategies and utilizing more channels to reach the customer, among other strategies whose objective is to surprise the consumer.”

Kicking off the convention’s academic day, Emiliano Duch, Leading Specialist, Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice of the World Bank, mentioned in his talk that “the fact that the textile and apparel sector contributes 7.5% to the GNP highlights the importance of this industry to the country and therefore reveals the imperative nature of transformation as the key to competing.”

In the second talk of the day, which was one of the most anticipated talks of the convention due to the fact that it offered experiences from sectors other than the world of fashion, was given by the Executive Vice President and Managing Director of The Walt Disney Company Latin America, Claudio Chiaromonte, who spoke about how the consumer is the centre of all operations within their company and how they therefore always think of the consumer when developing products and experiences.

The rest of the day was dedicated to important speakers such as Horacio Broggi, Director of Desigual Latin America; Adriano Goldschmied, the Co-Founder of Diesel and one of the most important specialists in the denim market in the world; Fernando Pimentel, the Director of ABIT, the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association, among other renowned industry experts.

Tomorrow, on the second academic day of the convention, speakers such as Stefan Siegel, Founder of “Not Just a Label”, the leading design platform which discovers and supports young talent in contemporary fashion and Leandro Furno, Director of VF Supply Chain Strategy, Customs & Compliance (North Face, Timberland, Vans), among other important speakers, will delimit the importance of exploring new markets and working according to models of cooperation.

Finally, the two training and networking days will end with a Retail Tour of El Tesoro Shopping Park, which will include visits to Arturo Calle, Offcorss, Cueros Vélez, Onda de Mar and Bésame stores aimed at bringing international participants closer to Colombian business and brands and thereby showing the nature of the country on the world fashion The IAF (International Apparel Federation), which organized the convention, chose Inexmoda as its local partner in order to help coordinate the 30th has brought together 329 national and international entrepreneurs and leaders to debate the challenges posed by this industry at an international level and to offer them the information and knowledge which will enable them to make better decisions within their companies.

The next meeting with industry leaders will be next year in the 4th Strategy Forum, which is organized every year by Inexmoda and which in 2014 became the academic component of the IAF World Fashion Convention.