Running Fashion Exposed Revived alongside the Home & Giving Fair has proven to be a recipe for success, with the number of visitors to Home & Giving increasing by 10.5 per cent – with 10,064 total unique buyers attending compared to 9,111 in 2014 – and almost doubling for Fashion Exposed Revived.
From 20 to 24 February more than 14,000 retail buyers attended the trade fairs, which also included the increasingly popular Design Life located in the Dome. The fairs comprised over 500 exhibitors showcasing thousands of brands covering a space of 32,000 square metres.
The Australian Gift & Homewares Association (AGHA) invested heavily in marketing, styling, complementary transport, free parking solutions and a range of extra activities including a fashion runway, buyer bubbly hour and educational seminars to promote the three events, which AGHA chief executive officer Omer Soker says has definitely been effective.
“We made the decision to invest heavily and it has paid off,” he explains. “As the industry association we feel it is our role to help our members to tackle tough market conditions and we will continue to do so.”
This was the first year for Fashion Exposed Revived under the AGHA banner after the association acquired the event last August from Informa Exhibitions. Total unique visitation almost doubled with 3,942 unique buyers attending compared to 2,000 in 2014 (Sydney August).
“We’re delighted with the strong first event, but still looking to further improve and better integrate it into Home & Giving to drive even more cross-sector buying,” Soker adds.
Home & Giving Fair will run again in Melbourne from 1 to 5 August at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and Melbourne Showgrounds.
