The 44th International Fur Fair of Kastoria in Greece hosted 121 Exhibitors/furriers this year. (2018 it hosted 120 exhibitors, 2017 it hosted 115 and 2016 it hosted 103).
This year like last year, all available floor space was covered – and 16 companies were left on waiting list, eventually not being able to get a booth. Important, well-known companies were present with big, impressive and beautifully decorated well-staffed stands. Also the smaller booths were nicely presented not only with garments but with various fur products: fur coats and jackets, fur accessories, plates, raw fur skins, bags, leather goods, etc.
Visitor numbers are growing
The fair was only for commercial visitors. The numbers were up by 11% in comparison to last year. This year there were 1.504 visitors from 42 countries. Last year there was 1339 visitors and the year before there was 766 visitors.
Number of Russian buyers increased the most (13.14%) compared to last year. The Turks were the second biggest group. There was also an increase in the number of fashion buyers from Ukraine, Italy, Romania, and South Korea.
Commercially the fair had improved
The fair was felt to be more productive commercially than last year’s event and according to participants, a satisfying number of orders were noted and verified.
Skin dealers continued to sell quite a lot of ready dyed skins in modern colors and prints to the manufacturers.
This year it a lot of the exhibitors had prepared collections especially for the fair. Garments with some fresh and new colors and prints were spotted as well as new combinations of fur pelts, mainly in mink and fox.
Saga was the Golden Sponsor and had a well-visited desk with informative brochures-leaflets and give always in Saga Furs bags.