Tannery exhibitors that spoke with ILM on the first day said that it had been quite busy with a high level of professional visitors attending. The overall footprint of the show feels slightly smaller in exhibitior space compared with the corresponding event in 2022 and is perhaps a reflection of the subdued nature of the global market at present. Tanners are showcasing their 2024 Spring/Summer leather collections and with leather featuring extensively in recent catwalk fashion shows among the top fashion and luxury brands, there is hope that the largest leather fair in the world currently can kick-start a market recovery. Recent increases in raw materials prices for bovine hides would suggest that the situation is improving after a challenging second semester of 2022 and slow start to 2023.
There were certainly more visitors (and exhibitors) present from Asia at Lineapelle 101 and an increase in the number of visitors from China at the show was welcome after an absence of three years due to Covid travel restrictions. There is a degree of optimism that the reopening of the Chinese economy at the end of 2022 has provided greater degree of confidence in the global market.
Lineapelle 101 features 1,152 exhibitors from 42 countries with 61.5% being from Italy. Covering 42,000 sq m and including 541 tanneries at the Fiera Milano Rho exhibition grounds in Milan. The tanners covered three halls of the Rho fairgrounds.
