Cpd International Trade Fair for Womenswear &Accessories is perfectly geared up to its international audience. From 7 to 9February 2010 cpd at the Dusseldorf Exhibition Centre will be presenting 1,010collections including a variety of new brands with the latest looks for the2010/11 Autumn/Winter season. This means that despite difficult economicconditions cpd is on a par with last year's event and is slightly up on theJuly event.


Sensual concepts determine the design making thecooler season of the year even more exciting than summer. Trends hover betweenglobal and regional, on a time line between the past and the future, caught inthe balance between reality and imagination, in a calculation between therational and the emotional and in the polarisation between the standard and theavantgarde.Very much true to the motto "opposites attract" theAutumn/Winter 2010 fashion trends look to extremes. And that's exactly wherecpd comes in.

Attention centres on continuing the relaunchstarted in July 2009 with enhanced concepts in the individual segments. Allareas of the fair were reworked for the forthcoming event. This means cpd willbe presenting itself in entirely evolved, contemporary new design. Newlycreated style universes like Luxury Women's Wear, Maternity and Big is BeautifuI,as well as Concept 11, Gallery and Decorate, that will form the fashiontendencies throughout Womensworld.


The cooperation area Italian Suite (with EnteModa Italia EMI and Honegger) was also further extended and has now more thandoubled in terms of exhibitor numbers. Further top fashion brands are to find anew home over the coming seasons. Furthermore, thanks to rapid links in thecity Dusseldorf offers national and European clothing retailers a concept thatis perfectly adapted to their needs and thus a real platform for effectivebusiness.


"cpd willshow its visitors that we now changed our look," explained Igedo ManagingDirector Philipp' Kronen at the kick-off press conference held at theDusseldorf InterContinental. "We re-arranged cpd last year and are verysatisfied that we have been able to maintain the range here despite thedifficult economic climate. Feedback from the market has been extremely positive and we are sure to see a cpd that we will be able to build uponfurther in July. Buyers not attending cpd for a long while should definitelycome and take a look at the changes here for themselves."

The new style universes at cpd at a glance:

Luxury Woman's Wear - is the new platform for quality day, evening and cocktail fashion at cpd. This stylish 'LUXURY WOMAN'S WEAR' exhibition universe is split into different sections and lounges offering buyers a special service with an intimate feel.


Maternity - presents a completely new cosmos for fashionable maternity wear: for the first time now the 'Maternity' segment features as a visually separate concept. Visitors to 'Maternity' enter a separate universe whose design focuses on the pregnancy and family themes. With an expected 30 brands in this segment cpd offers trade buyers one of the largest and highly concentrated ranges of maternity wear in Europe.


Big is Beautiful- the Igedo Company and glossy magazine BIG IS BEAUTIFUL wish to sweep aside all prejudice against women of stature and establish together at cpd in February 2010 a segment of the same name 'Big is Beautiful'. This will be a universe with fresh, modern and topical ideas presenting; womensworld in all its facets; clothing, accessories, lingerie, shoes and much more all centered around the plus size theme including adjoining sizes. Furthermore, style consultations and seminars will be held creating an information platform for interested retailers.


The established style universes at cpd at a glance:

Italian Suite. In cooperation with Ente Moda Italia (EMI) and the firm Honegger, 'Italian Suite' brings high quality Italian fashion to cpd in Dusseldorf. The area has doubled here since its premiere last July now showing almost 50 high-quality collections Made in Italy. The spectrum here ranges from clothing and accessories through to shoes. A real eye-catcher with fresh, exciting and handpicked collections.


Forming the creative core of the fair is the now even further enlarged Gallery in Ha119. Awaiting visitors at Gallery is an exclusive design mix from Germany and abroad with every label attaching great importance to individuality thereby lending a special note to every range.


Staged in Concept 11 are high-end, lifestyle-oriented collections. Concept 11 presents a rich blend of looks and labels collections for young, self-confident women who appreciate design and quality and like to put themselves in the limelight.

Decorate - The World of Accessories is the platform for all those things that give a good range that extra special something from fashion jewellery and high-quality bags to scarves and other top items that retailers particularly use to complement and round off their ranges. The area has doubled its exhibitor numbers since the July fair.


Boutique is the venue for individual womenswear collections in the middle to upper price segment.


Modern Essentials stands for strong selling collections.


New Influences


To offer progressive fashion a special platform a nice tradition initiated in 2006 is now also set to continue this winter: the "Design am Rhein" contest organised by the Igedo Company in cooperation with AMD Akademie Mode & Design in Dusseldorf will once again be putting talented designers into the limelight.

Up to ten design contest finalists will have the opportunity to present their creations in a runway show at cpd's Showcase Dusseldorf on Sunday, 7 February thereby enabling them to forge important contacts for an international design career. The winners are given a free exhibition stand at cpd for two seasons (July 2010 and February 2011) and their collections will be used as an opening tableau at one of the shows organised by the Igedo Company.


Services


cpd will be rounded off by a comprehensive range of communication, information and trends: the 20 shows held during the fair at Showcase Dusseldorf as well as the Order Info event organised by the German Fashion institute in collaboration with the magazine TextilWirtschaft and further seminars create a weaIth of communication opportunities for the entire sector from throughout Europe and the world. Furthermore, the pricing structure for admission tickets has also been revised and buying tickets will now be simpler for trade visitors with the opening of the Online Ticket Shop in December 2009. New visitors can acquire their tickets online at the Ticket Shop once they have completed online registration using the log-in data sent to them.


The CPD will be held at the Dusseldorf Exhibition Centre from 7 to 9 February 2010 and the July event will run from 25 to 27 July 2010.



Originally Published In the Stitch Times: February 2010