A Spanish Fly on the Wall

by Harry Sheff Sep 30, 2006

So day two and I seem to have adjusted well to being on Madrid time. I swear – the key? Drink a lot of water. Of course staying up late for a dinner hosted by the Brazilian footwear contingent doesn’t hurt. And, again of course, staying up late for dinner in Madrid is an oxymoron. Muito obrigado to our hosts for a lovely dinner. It was a great chance to meet and mix with international fashion press.

John enjoys tapas

I think I most commiserated with an editor from China – we figured that she was six hours behind to my six hours ahead, and we were both EXHAUSTED! Now all day yesterday I only heard English being spoken with an American accent once, and it was at a moment when I was being squired around from booth to booth by our gracious guide, Noemi Beltran, of the Trade Commission of Spain, so I didn’t have an opportunity to stop and ask where those I overheard were from.

WHERE ARE THE REST OF YOU? Retailers, you need to get to this show. A beautiful combination of fashion and classic styles is here, and, especially for stores that are constantly seeking unique resources, this place is a goldmine. I’ll include more in my recap of the trip in MR’s November issue. There are also representatives, as I mentioned, from Brazil, as well as Portugal, here. We were given a tour of some Spanish footwear retailers, so I got my first taste of a walk in beautiful Madrid. We also stopped by a huge Zara – I haven’t checked to see if they are carrying these in the States, yet, but they had a full canvas construction, single breasted, side-vent suit, with flat-front pants for 200 euros! Also new (to me, at least) Zara Home and Habitat – a home store kind of like Ikea, but smaller and with a higher taste level.

We stopped for a quick bite at a tapas restaurant, and then headed back to the fair for the day.

Hasta luego!