Press release No. 9 / Cologne, 1 February 2014 Children's Fashion Cologne establishes itself as a business and order platform for the European market Strong growth in exhibitors, exhibition space and trade visitors as well as increased internationality Over 260 brands from 17 countries on 13,000 square metres Positive mood, good business and inspiration Excellent quality of visitors Boasting over 260 brands, an over 30 percent increase in visitors and significantly expanded exhibition space, the Children's Fashion Cologne (CFC) successfully came to a close on Saturday (1 February 2014). The second edition of the trade fair clearly outreached the good result achieved at the premiere and has thus advanced into become the biggest and most important business and order platform of the children's fashion industry in the Germany-speaking zone. The 151 exhibitors from 17 countries included market leaders such as Esprit Maternity, the Kid's Fashion Group, Levi's Kidswear, Pepe Jeans London and Sanetta. More than 1,300 trade visitors from 38 countries (Europe, Asia and South America) used the trade fair for children's, baby and maternity fashion for their order business and to establish new business contacts. As such, the second edition of the CFC met the high expectations of the industry that feels that the event still offers huge potential. "The Children's Fashion Cologne offers the children's fashion world a forum twice a year, which enables efficient business and targeted ordering at international level," summed up Katharina C. Hamma, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH. "We have been able to establish Children's Fashion Cologne as the central and high-quality platform for children's fashion. Such a platform had been missing in Central Europe until now," Hamma added. Luna Media GmbH is the cooperation partner of the Children's Fashion Cologne. The CEO and publisher, Uwe Schröder, was also very satisfied with the second edition. "We are delighted about the totally successful event, which Children s Fashion Cologne inspired by Luna 30 January to 1 February 2014 www.cfc-cologne.com Contact: Stephanie Josst Phone + 49 221 821-2915 Fax + 49 221 821-3977 E- mail s.josst@koelnmesse.de Koelnmesse GmbH Messeplatz 1 50679 Köln P.O. Box 21 07 60 50532 Köln Germany Phone +49 221 821-0 Fax +49 221 821-2574 info@koelnmesse.de www.koelnmesse.com Executive Board: Gerald Böse (President and Chief Executive Officer) Katharina C. Hamma Herbert Marner Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Mayor of the City of Cologne Jürgen Roters Headquarters and place of jurisdiction: Cologne District Court Cologne, HRB 952
has surpassed the results of the premiere by far. The positive atmosphere and the good discussions at the stands speak for themselves and for the event. Many renowned, international brands have already confirmed that they will participate at the summer edition of the Children's Fashion Cologne in July 2014." 2/2 The feedback from the exhibitors substantiates the organisers' appraisal: "Clients from Russia, the Ukraine, Libya, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates as well as from all over Europe visited our stand and a lot of orders were placed. Furthermore, a team of producers from Turkey came to the stand," said Cathrin Robertson, Key Account Manager Germany of Levis's Kidswear and Absorba. "All of the big names from Germany, such as Peek & Cloppenburg Nord, Lengermann + Trieschmann and Baby Walz were represented, but also medium-sized retailers and even smaller boutiques. The Children's Fashion Cologne went really well for us." Uwe Marmulla, Divisional Sales Manager Youth, Mexx Holding GmbH, was equally satisfied. "The second edition of the CFC was a success. The trade fair is a professional information and order platform with a wide range of brands and a relaxed atmosphere. We received numerous enquiries from German and international business partners." Andreas Schulz, Sales Manager Junior of Pepe Jeans London also confirmed the high level of internationality. "The customers placed lots of orders with us during the Children's Fashion Cologne and we were able to use the fair to win over new, national and international customers. Our good result underlines once again the fact that the trade fair certainly has a future. Germany needs a central business and order platform for children's fashion and Cologne is exactly the right location." Thomas Wetzler, from the Sales Department of Naturino, also confirmed that the quality of visitors at the CFC was very high. "We had good customers at our stand, among others from the companies Breuninger and Engelhorn and orders were placed. We believe in CFC and will also be on board at the next edition in July 2014." The offerings and the good mood at the exhibition stands also convinced the trade visitors: Torsten Schulz, owner and Managing Director of Werner und Werner, Hanover commented, "The Children s Fashion Cologne is already an essential inspiration and buying platform for me and the atmosphere here is fantastic. Thanks to its central location, Cologne is easily reachable for us retailers from Northern Germany, so the CFC has a geographical advantage over other events in Germany.
The trade fair has shown excellent development since its premiere - both in terms of the offerings and its size - and I am already looking forward to the summer and an even bigger Children's Fashion Cologne." Teresa Husemann, Junior Buyer Children's Fashion, mytoys.de GmbH, Berlin: "The Children s Fashion Cologne offers us precisely the right spectrum of children's fashion and accessories in contrast to Florence or Amsterdam, namely they are more oriented on their domestic markets. With its wideranging offer and great ambiance, the CFC offers the necessary scope for inspiration for the placement of a subsequent order. A further advantage of the CFC: In addition to a wide range of well-known brands, also many small, individual labels are represented, which one would not find directly otherwise." Axel Klasen, Department Head Procurement/Sales, Lust for Life, Galeria Kaufhof GmbH, Aachen stated, "The Children's Fashion Cologne has shown very good development and the fair has great potential. In addition to an extremely wide range of products, there is a very good atmosphere at the exhibition stands. The supporting programme with the fashion shows was a further highlight. Germany and in particular the Rhine Ruhr metropolitan region urgently needs a central order and business platform for children's fashion again. The small order centres simply don't suffice." 3/2 Top-class fashion shows The fashion shows organised by Luna, which impressed the trade visitors on all days of the fair, were one of the highlights of the Children s Fashion Cologne. Over 60 young aspiring models presented the labels Cakewalk, Gaudì, Levi s Kidswear, Marc O'Polo, Mexx, Paglie, Sanetta, Silvian Heach, Tumble N'Dry and Vingino to a full house..
Specialised supporting programme With its supporting programme specifically tailor-made to meet the demands of the specialised trade, the Children s Fashion Cologne definitely did justice to its claim of being a professional information platform. The experts of the IFH Institute for Market Research provided an in-depth insight into the themes ecommerce and sustainability in the scope of well-attended lectures held on all exhibition days. Furthermore, the coaching programme Pimp my shop offered small and medium-sized specialised retailers the opportunity to have their own store concept checked out by professionals from the shop-building and sales promotion sectors. 4/2 About Children s Fashion Cologne Children's Fashion Cologne is the new central business platform for international children's fashion and covers all segments of the children's, baby and maternity fashion market as well as shoes, interior design and accessories. Children's Fashion Cologne is staged twice a year, once in the spring and once in the summer. Children's Fashion Cologne in figures: 151 companies from 17 countries participated in the Children's Fashion Cologne. 59 exhibitors came from Germany and 92 exhibitors from abroad. Over 260 brands were presented in total. The share of foreign exhibitors was over 60 percent. Including estimations for the last day of the fair, over 1,300 trade visitors from 38 countries visited the Children's Fashion Cologne.* *All figures are calculated in accordance with the guidelines of the Society for Voluntary Control of Trade Fair and Exhibition Statistics (FKM) and are checked by an auditor (www.fkm.de)
Note for editors: Photo material on the Children s Fashion Cologne can be found online in our image database at www.cfc-cologne.de under the rubric Press. 5/2 Children s Fashion Cologne: Facebook: facebook.com/cfc-cologne Twitter: twitter.com/cfc_cologne The next Children's Fashion Cologne will be staged in Cologne from 10 to 12 July 2014 Kind + Jugend 2014 11 to 14 September For 90 years, Koelnmesse has been bringing people and markets together. The success story of Cologne trade fairs began in 1924 with the opening of the first event on the exhibition grounds in Cologne-Deutz. During the "economic miracle" of the post-world War II era, the "Rheinische Messe" became a global trading center. Today Koelnmesse has the world's fifth-largest exhibition complex and organizes approximately 75 trade fairs in Cologne and all over the world. During its anniversary year of 2014, Koelnmesse is bringing its history to the public s attention through numerous activities, publications, and exhibitions.