PRE-GDS held concurrently with cpd woman_man_kidz builds another bridge to intensify the dialogue with footwear retailers. Arranged in a concise and competent manner, a first overview of the new 2005/06 Autumn/Winter shoe fashions is presented alongside footwear innovations available for short-term delivery for the 2005 Spring/Summer season already starting now.

PRE-GDS is a response to the demand voiced by the sector for permanent, in-depth exchange and communication to offer style guidance and assured ordering. These early dates assure retailers – the fashion multipliers on the market – of a pole position and hence the competitive informative edge for placing orders. PRE-GDS is the “enabler” in a new value chain of processes that substantially contribute to minimising risks, mark-downs and turnaround times.

Furthermore, it constitutes the perfect symbiosis of footwear + fashion. Thanks to the concurrently held cpd woman_man_kidz retailers are “armed” with a power-pack of information on apparel trends enabling them to order matching shoe fashions in an even more selective way. 

The big new themes in retailing also move shoes higher up on the fashion agenda like Concept Stores which have long since been offering more than just fashion, thereby creating new attractions to arouse consumers’ favour and “fire up” their lust for shopping. As a result, the shoe manufacturers represented at PRE-GDS are benefited by new potential buyers who regard shoes and accessories as complementary to their ranges.

The new platform for shoe fashion, PRE-GDS, will be held in Hall 7.1 and is there-fore ideally integrated into the visitor “circuit” of cpd woman_man_kidz. The diversity of shoe lines ranges from young and trendy to high-end collections representing an international line-up of 100 women’s, men’s and kids’ shoe manufacturers. The exhibitors registered include Donna Carolina, Franco Ballin, Maripé and the Wortmann Group not forgetting such brands as Mustang, Dr. Martens, Unisa, Venice and Lisa Tucci to name but a few.

Thomas Stein of Unisa comments on the new platform: “To us this marketplace for a
shoe premiere in Düsseldorf offers an ideal date to present our first 2005/6 Autumn/Winter collection alongside new items we have created for our customers in line with the latest trend research.” Andreas Oehme, member of the board of shoe retailer F.W. Boehmer KG, Düsseldorf and member of the board of the German Shoe Retailers’ Association (BDSE) also welcomes this early information-gathering opportunity: “Here we can analyse initial developments for Autumn/Winter 2005/06 and not only place orders for delivery dates early in the year but also complement our ranges with new styles for the current season.”

The early dates of PRE-GDS GDS – THE PREMIER SHOE EVENT provide collection driven incentives whetting consumers’ appetite for fashion with new shop-window displays time and again. PRE-GDS makes it easier for the sector to stagger order/delivery dates and generate fresh demand several times a year. 

All activities for GDS can be found in the Internet at: www.gds-online.com