THE 2020 THEONEMILANO CLOSES WITH THE LINGERING FEAR OF CORONAVIRUS

But the AlwaysOn platform means the exhibition stays "open" around the world
 

TheOneMilano is an exhibition that has kept up with the times, starting with its image, by getting Italo Rota and Margherita Palli involved, who redesigned the exhibition space with modular structures and reusable materials, making it glamorous, distinctive and most of all original.
The exhibition is a showcase for 349 brands, including 177 from abroad, and featured a workshop held by sector professionals that intrigued and excited the increasingly high-profile buyers, helped by a close partnership with Ice, who were shown how to appeal to to increasingly demanding consumers.
“A meticulous exhibition, with carefully planned details, created in synergy with the business world and associations," said Norberto Albertalli, the exhibition president, "that paid the price for the current situation caused by this health emergency. For years our exhibition has highlighted the Asian area as a market for consolidation and growth: obviously buyers from China, Japan, Korea and Russia have had their difficulties. The news of infected people in Lombardy and close to Milan led to a sudden drop in visitors right at the weekend, which is when there is usually an increase."
TheOneMilano saw a sharp fall in visitors, not only as expected from China, but also Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The fall in the number of buyers from Korea weighed particularly heavily; in recent years they had been constantly on the up, and at the last exhibition they had increased by 22%.
Albertalli continued: "This situation unfortunately also led to falls in numbers from European countries like Germany, France, Greece and Spain. The closing numbers were down by 35% on the previous edition: a result that is undoubtedly no reward for the hard work put into an exhibition that had great expectations."
A positive note came from the foresight of TheOneMilano, which several exhibitions ago began bolstering and promoting its exhibitors by allowing them to do business via the www.alwaysonshow.com platform, online all year round.
To help the 80 Chinese exhibitors who found themselves forced not to take part in this exhibition at the last minute, the digital exhibition set up a dedicated area called "Supporting China". The Chinese companies used it to upload photos of their collections, giving the international buyers at the exhibition in Milan the chance to view them.
The next TheOneMilano, affiliated to Confindustria Moda, is scheduled to take place at Fiera Milano Rho from 20 to 23 September 2020 together with the most important international trade fairs - Micam, Mipel and Homi Fashion&Jewels.
PRESS OFFICE THEONEMILANO