Czech Footwear and Leather Association as professional sponsor of KABO

The central theme at the beginning was to organize the footwear market in such a way that it would adapt to the habits in Western Europe. It was necessary to organise one presentation event for each season to showcase new collections of footwear and leather goods. Following the presentation fair, the aim was to organise only one joint contracting event for footwear retailers within a month or so. In 1994, there was in fact one contracting event almost every day in different places of the Czech Republic. The International Footwear and Leatherware Fair – KABO in Brno became the event where manufacturers and wholesalers of footwear and leather goods started to present themselves in a unified way for the whole Czech Republic. The Association has always supported only this single presentation fair in the whole country and became the professional sponsor of the KABO fair, which it has remained to this day.

As the government policy, whether the government was "right-wing" or "left-wing", did not ensure the protection of domestic producers, they had to adapt to the new market conditions due to excessive and undervalued shoe imports from Asian countries and switch to the production of products with higher added value, which, however, they could produce in much smaller quantities. Large companies have downsized, reduced their production programme and some have even disappeared. New companies have emerged, but they are smaller or family-owned companies, which are now mostly members of the Czech Footwear and Leather Association. It is gratifying that recently to see that there has been a revival of this trade and the interest of the younger generation in shoe production.

From the very beginning, the Association started to work on setting requirements for voluntary certification of children's footwear based on the request of its members. It found inspiration in the German WMS system and the Polish Healthy Footprint system. The Giraffe certification mark was then registered in 1997. Since then, education on healthy footwear, especially for children but also for adults, has been permanently carried out and the brand has gained great popularity among consumers. A similar brand was then developed for footwear for the adult population. If the footwear meets the required criteria, it can be awarded the Comfortable Footwear label. It has become an unwritten tradition for the Association to organise expert seminars on healthy footwear for children and adults, as well as on other current topics such as footwear for diabetics, barefoot, etc. on the occasion of the STYL and KABO fairs in Brno.

As the Association has always been, as mentioned at the beginning, a meeting point for retailers, it started to work immediately after its foundation towards the retail sector, in particular by organising regular trainings on the principles of sales, on specialist product knowledge, on the anatomy and physiology of the foot, on the psychology of sales, but especially on the legal obligations of sellers and on the complaints procedure. In more than thirty years of activity, the Association has become a recognised authority for retailers in this sector.

The Association has gradually gained contacts and established cooperation with similar Associations throughout Europe, and has become a member of the Brussels-based European Confederation of the Footwear Industry (CEC) and the
International Union of Shoe Industry Technicians (UITIC).  We therefore have the opportunity to obtain the necessary information on the regulations within the EU concerning footwear production and the new requirements for extended producer responsibility, general product safety or environmental requirements.

During its existence, the Association has also dealt with a number of projects in cooperation with international partners, with vocational schools and especially with the Faculty of Technology of Tomas Bata University, (UTB) specifically with doc. Ing. Petr Hlaváček, CSc. We also gained a lot of valuable advice and experience from him. At present we are able to carry out highly professional work and help companies, for example, in the evaluation of hoof designing, shoe designing, advise on complaints procedures, etc.

Members of the Association have the opportunity to work and participate in research and development in the work footwear, orthopaedic footwear and children's footwear sections. Cooperation with the Centre for Footwear Research at UTB in Zlín has expanded. In cooperation with the Secondary Vocational Polytechnic School – Centre for Vocational Training and member companies, a new study programme is now being prepared for the Technical Lyceum focusing on footwear and plastics production. This field of study will already be modernly designed according to the new trends in footwear production.

Traditionally, the Association also supports and promotes designers of young shoe and leather goods in the Jan Pivečka Foundation Award competition. In addition to the Foundation and the Association, the competition is also partnered by the BVV Trade Fairs Brno. The award ceremony for the winners of the designer competition is always held during the KABO fair in August.  We can therefore look forward to seeing the prize-winning student entries during the KABO fair this year as well, as well as the students who will receive their prizes on the catwalk in Hall P on Sunday 25 August 2024.

Thanks to its long-standing activities and fairness in negotiations, the Association has become a recognised partner for central authorities such as the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Environment, but it is also the guarantor of vocational education for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

Author of the article:
PhDr. Vlasta Mayerová
Director of the Association