STYL and KABO set fashion trends

The subheading of this year's expo? WEDDING

The wedding theme dominated our February fair; you could admire wedding dresses, jewelry, flowers, wine, desserts or perhaps a beautifully decorated white limousine at the catwalk. This year's partners of the expo – Carmen Flora florists, TommyKofi, Kněží hora Winery and Silver Star Limousines presented themselves here. The designer Radka prepared the wedding show Pruknerová in cooperation with the Angel Style wedding salon, while Květiny Romana took care of the floral decoration. Wedding photographer Lenka Střílková was present, as well as Irena Doležalová's with her wedding macarons or Petra Mertová with her desserts. The entire show  was then lit up by Luminous Letters, which are also inherent to weddings.   

The catwalk lived with beautiful and unconventional models

Fashion shows were held every day on the catwalk presenting lingerie, party dresses and other interesting outfits supplied by the exhibiting companies. The main topic here was weddings, too, and this topic was also taken up by students of textile schools. They presented a collection named "Wedding in 2050"! A lot of interesting and unconventional models by our future fashion designers were available for viewing.

The popular route of VIPs all along Hall P was also featured

What do Gábina Lašková, Tereza Fajksová, Iveta Vítová, Kate Mátl, Eva Decastelo and Markéta Hrubešová have in common? Apart from being beautiful and familiar faces from catwalks, music and theatre stages or the world of film – they all love fashion. That is why they met at our fashion fair, where they saw the hottest news and trends. Although each of them has her own distinctive taste, they were in complete agreement on some of the pieces. However, they weren't just there to roam around and look for inspiration – at the gala evening, most of them dressed up in gorgeous models and hit the catwalk. Ladislav Špaček, an expert in etiquette, also spent two days at the fair: "I enjoyed the expo. It's good that people can get inspiration on how to dress for different occasions, because we've somehow forgotten that."

Friday's gala evening kicked off with a fashion show of companies, students and famous fashion designers

The gala evening in Hall P was a digest of the best of this year's expo. Special wedding collections were prepared by renowned fashion designers Miroslav Michael Knot, Luděk Kellner, Iveta Řádková, as well as Angel Style and Ateliér Donát. Top selections from the collections of the exhibiting companies were also presented and a separate block was Fashion Puppies - creative models of students of vocational schools. The atmosphere of the evening was highlighted by the beautiful voice of pop vocalist Kate Matl, who has been performing with DJ Bob for many years. She not only sang, but also brought out some beautiful models, together with her colleagues from the industry – models Andrea Verešová, Tereza Fajksová, Gábina Lašková, Nikola Buranská, Hana Abrahamová (previously Vagnerová) and actress Eva Decastelo. The show was hosted by Iveta Vítová, one of the faces of STYL KABO.

Leading representatives of the city were also present

The gala evening was opened by Jan Kubata, CEO of BVV Trade Fairs Brno, who welcomed distinguished guests – Markéta Vaňková, Mayor of the City of Brno, Kateřina Jarošová, Member of the Brno City Assembly, Jiří Ides, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BVV Trade Fairs Brno, and Igor Fučík, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of BVV Trade Fairs Brno.

Expert symposium and personality awards

Professional sponsors of the expo are the Czech Footwear and Leather Association and the Association of Textile Clothing and Leather Industry. The expo featured an international podiatric symposium on "Barefoot yes, or no? And under what conditions?" as well as a lecture on sustainable fashion "From Sheep to Coat". The fair traditionally included the awarding of the Personality of the Year in the textile and footwear industry for 2023, which was handed to textile innovator René Němeček (CityZen) and footwear educator Václav Talaš (44 Centrum řemesel s.r.o. / Dílna 44). The 16th annual competition for the Jan Pivečka Foundation Award was also announced.

What people said about the expo

Minimus Shoes, Iveta Straume
We came from Latvia; we are here for the first time. We really like it here because everything is well organized and easy for us exhibitors. We have quite a lot of experience with different fairs even in foreign countries, and all is very well arranged here.

P.P. mode, Pavlína and František Pavlíček
You know how to listen, you know how to fulfil what the exhibitors need, from day one. Whatever was wrong was fixed right away. We are very satisfied with the number of visitors, we wanted to appeal mainly to the Moravian and Slovak markets, and we succeeded. The interest is great, and the collection is liked. It's always nice to meet in person. The STYL and KABO fair is the biggest fashion event in this country and it is an established brand.

Cristina Baross, Sylva Henriquez
I am happy to be able to meet my customers here, nothing can replace personal contact. Our women's fashion is quite fresh and our customers like it. We also got the opportunity to present models at fashion shows, which is a big plus.

LEDER PELLICCE, Petr Černý
We like that this year the event took place in the Friday to Sunday format. Saturday was very interesting for us, we never stopped; we were surprised by the turnout also on Friday.

SEBASTIAN STURM, Milan Kovář
We are at the STYL and KABO fair for the first time, but certainly not the last. You can see that there is a lot of interest in our products because it's something you don't normally see.

PM-styl, Pavel Mlčák
We are satisfied with this year's expo, I actually expected worse. Saturday in particular was exceptionally strong. We have new customers; our existing customers have also come. And considering how difficult the times are in our industry right now, enough people came in.

Geneze, Vítězslav Ryšavý
A lot of people came in this year, and even though we were worried that there would be fewer contracts after 2023, when the shoe market was not at its best, it didn't come true. We have news that are really sought after, and we are satisfied.

Epica, Zuzana Solanesová
I am very satisfied. It's not about the overall  turnout; if a hundred people come and everyone comes to our stand and buys stuff, then it's a great fair, if a thousand people come and none of them comes to us, then it's bad, even here it's true that if two people do the same thing , it is never the same. And we can do it quite well, even with great marketing this year. In addition, our shoes are so beautiful that they are actually works of art.