• 70.000 visitors experienced the different spaces of these two tradeshows that took place simultaneously with the purpose of making visible the end-to-end value chain of the Fashion System.
• Colombia’s Fashion Week finished with an economic impact of USD$14.4 million for Medellin, representing a USD$2.4 million increase compared with the previous year.
• The location of the Tradeshow was also historic: Colombiamoda + Colombiatex 2023 ends up with 5,074 square meters. 18% more than the previous records.

Medellín, 27 July 2023 – Colombiamoda + Colombiatex 2023 makes history with the presence of more than 70,000 visitors. 16% more than in 2022.

Effective networking

The tradeshow, on its thirty-fourth edition became a networking platform gathering a total of 524 exhibitors and figures of fashion from countries like Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, Turkey and Italy, who established connections with the visitors and international buyers thanks to the attractive and disruptive value proposals present in the commercial sample, generating sales for over USD$ 12 million, according to ProColombia, evidencing the great potential of the Colombian fashion in international markets like Ecuador, USA, Costa Rica, Mexico and Venezuela.

“Colombiamoda + Colombiatex 2023 becomes the main stage for the fashion, business, and talent of the region and makes history with important participation numbers. There was an increase regarding international buyers compared with the previous years with the participation of 1,546 buyers. This is very positive as it reflects an interest from the international markets towards Colombia, and we can evidence here an important rebound of Countries like Panama, Chile, and Spain”, states Sebastián Diez, CEO of Inexmoda.

Colombia’s Fashion Week went far beyond the walls of Plaza Mayor with an agenda filled with fashion moments taking different spaces of the city around fashion, culture, and entertainment, thanks to an alliance with actors such as the Metro de Medellin, Comfama, Hotel San Fernando Plaza, El Cielo, among others. This produced economic results of USD$14.4 million for Medellin, representing an increase of USD$2.4 compared with the previous year.

Colombiamoda + Colombiatex 2023: a platform for internationalization, female empowerment, entrepreneurship, and work with communities

Colombia’s Fashion Week was a booster for entrepreneurship, internationalization, sustainability, and women’s empowerment. All these were under the spotlight. More than 35 different brands from Transformation Projects had the opportunity to show their proposals on the most important business, trends, and knowledge platform of Latin America.

In alliance with FedEx Express, Inexmoda provided different tools so 25 companies could access new markets with its Project Sonnar.  With trainings with high level experts, they could get new supplies to transform their business model. This brought to life the importance of the purpose aimed by the tradeshow: expand the visibility of the Colombian fashion to other places of the world.

Aligned with this, Mujeres Cambiando la Moda (Women Changing Fashion), made visible 5 fashion entrepreneurships by women on the runways in alliance with Banco de Bogotá. For the eighth consecutive year the runway of Proyecto Épica (Epica Project) was presented aiming to boost the Fashion System entrepreneurships and connect them with the market so they become more profitable and sustainable, working with the Alcaldía de Medellín. The runway Horizontes de Antioquia es Mágica by Alado & Co., in collab with entrepreneurs from the program Proyecta Nuevos Mercados was a bet to make visible the best of Antioquia. Finally, from the Gobernación de Risaralda in alliance with Inexmoda, the dream of the brand ‘Thilo, moda de origen’ became a reality. A proposal by 350 native women from the countryside from the program “Desarrollo con Sentimiento de Mujer”.

Fashion expressions betting on sustainability, innovation, and social transformation

Big designers, national and international brands showed their most recent collections on 27 runways filled with color, magic, and emotion, making vibrate each of the visitors on different categories such as circular fashion, collaborations, signature, academy, design, and emerging entrepreneurships. The opening runway was in charge of Maria Elena Villamil with “Límites Indefinidos”. Disney celebrated its 100 years working with local brands like Arturo Calle, Koaj, Studio F, Totto, and Primavera at the Tradeshow.

This year also took place the first runway made with 100% remanufactured processes by the designer Alejandro Crocker con Loco Afán/ Re-Manufactura Sostenible. (Crazy Ruch/Sustainable Re-Manufacture)

The academy was one of the protagonists on the program, on one side, with the Institución Universitaria Salazar y Herrera with Interconexión (Interconnection), La Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana with Diseño + Talento (Design + Talent), Colegiatura Colombiana with Jóvenes Creadores (Young Designers), and the Universidad de Medellín with Protopía.

The closing runway of Colombia’s Fashion Week was in charge of the designer Andrés Otálora and the closure by Undergold by Johnnie Walker, completing the quote of urban proposals.

On this Tradeshow Edition, the Brand MUBA cosmetics created by the Colombian designer Andrés Felipe Cabrera brought to life a vision of make-up and style on the 27 runways that took place during the Tradeshow. This brand was present on Expresiones de Moda to keep positioning itself within the local market by the hand of Inexmoda and its transcending Tradeshow proposal.

Inspiration and knowledge. All in one place

Seeking to promote a Fashion System that transcends and inspires, the Knowledge Pavilion in alliance with Sapiencia and the Alcaldía de Medellín, had the visit of more than 3,500 people in the 25 conferences that took place. Talks about different topics such as sustainable fashion, challenges for the different industries and digital transformation took place for the 2023 edition, which also had the participation of 9 international lecturers.

“From Sapiencia we keep strongly betting on training new talents in Medellin. Therefore, on this edition of Colombiamoda we officially sponsored the Knowledge Pavilion. Those were three days full of an academic agenda about the fashion system and the digital industry, with thousands of visitors taking all this knowledge. Also, we joined higher education institutions to take the local talent of our young students to the runways. It was a great opportunity for them and a way to keep promoting the education in the district”, stated Carlos Chaparro, director of Sapiencia.

This year, the Trends Forum was placed at the heart of the Tradeshow, presenting aesthetics and trends for the Fall-Winter 23/24 season. Thanks to the different alliances, with Fashion Snoops, to mention one, the trends for this season focused on mysticism, poetry, untamed and paradox, creating a guide for the exhibitors and visitors of the tradeshow. In addition to the traditional trends, the forum also included talks about relevant topics like gender, Colombian sensuality, and urban gender as a creativity tool.

For the 34th edition of the Tradeshow, Inter Rapidísimo, the company leader in logistics and parcel delivery, made its part supporting the Colombian fashion as an official sponsor. This company also allied with Colombiamoda + Colombiatex 2023 under the premise of ratifying its commitment with sustainability, transcending with an environmental message, and working to reach a new vision of the future, a more friendly vision for all of us.