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The participation of Portuguese companies in Neonyt from the 28th to the 30th of January was fruitful. In Düsseldorf, Germany, the fair dedicated to sustainable fashion had Maxigrau, Marita Moreno, Sensify, and Chulé, including the Green Circle sustainability showcase presented by CITEVE.
With 18 coordinates selected from the exhibition at MODTISSIMO in September, Green Circle highlighted the sustainable aspect of textiles made in Portugal in Düsseldorf, displaying products from more than a dozen companies.
On the closing day morning, Portuguese brands and manufacturers received a visit from the Consul General of Portugal in Düsseldorf, Lídia Nabais, accompanied by representatives of AICEP. As we walked through the stands, we understood that weekends might not be the friendliest for the B2B format of Neonyt.
“In the first hours of the third day, we received more people than during the whole of Sunday”, confides Orlando Dias, representative of Maxigrau, who presented himself in Dusseldorf in the double aspect of the manufacturer, aimed at the private label and with his own brand Maxileaf. “However, despite the few people during the weekend, there are always customers who stay, and we even ended up registering two contacts that seem very promising”, said the representative of the company who left for Germany to meet agents and points of sale with a view to its internationalization process.
In the premiere, Chulé invested in the distinctive design of its sustainable manufacturing socks to establish contacts with brands and distributors. “After the morning of opening day, people came back on Monday. There were more people, and we already made contacts with local stores and distributors”, says Miguel Alemão, one of the brand founders.
As for the Marita Moreno brand, which has participated in previous editions of Neonyt in Berlin, Pedro Marinho recalls that the fair took place during the week and was the return after the Covid restrictions. “Frankly, I didn’t know if it was just the weekend. There wasn’t much time to work on this new concept, the organization is remarkable, but maybe there wasn’t time to work on marketing”, Pedro Marinho describes.
A reflection was also shared by the CITEVE representative, Cristina Castro, noting that the fair was visited mainly by consumers during the weekend, who are not exactly the target audience. “Monday was much better. Professional buyers arrived”, he assures.
The participation of Portuguese SME companies in Neonyt in Dusseldorf takes place within the scope of the From Portugal project, an initiative by Selectiva Moda and ATP – Associação Têxtil e Vestuário de Portugal, which aims to promote the internationalization of Portuguese fashion and textile companies, within the scope of application submitted to the joint projects for the Internationalization of Portugal 2030.