By David Brough
MILAN, Italy – HOMI Fashion & Jewels Exhibition, staging its first edition of 2023, is a celebration of state-of-the-art creativity and innovation in jewellery design.
Coming hot on the heels of the January edition of Vicenzaoro, which is a showcase for fine gold, silver and diamond jewellery, HOMI Fashion & Jewels presents a completely separate market segment – fashion jewellery and accessories, including watches, interspersed across the exhibition floor with the latest fashion designs.
The offering at HOMI Fashion & Jewels, held twice a year in February and September, has grown in recent years to some 600 brands across four halls in the Fieramilano (Rho) showgrounds in northwest Milan, with around 30 percent of exhibitors presently coming from outside Italy.
Amidst a buoyant mood across the current edition, buyers, largely from Europe, came from as far afield as Asia and the Gulf Middle East. Many bright and bold jewellery pieces featured for the upcoming Summer season. Lab-grown diamonds were not evident among the latest fashion jewellery designs at the show.
“The increase in exhibitors at this edition is expected to lead to an increase in the number of visitors,” Event Director Emanuele Guido told Jewellery Outlook in an interview on the second day of the show.
He spoke of an ongoing trend for more digital customisation of fashion jewellery designs to meet market requirements.
Emanuele Guido
Taking place at Fieramilano (Rho) from February 17-20, 2023, HOMI Fashion & Jewels is a hotbed of creative inspiration where some of Europe’s most experimental jewellery designers compete to test the boundaries of design.
It is much easier to stretch the boundaries of design in fashion jewellery, compared with fine jewellery, because the raw materials cost much less in fashion jewellery, Emanuele Guido says.
Reflecting the show’s interest in identifying future design trends, a seminar on the first day, whose presenters included respected jewellery historian Alba Cappellieri, focused on how the Metaverse and AI will impact on design in the coming years, fusing the body with jewellery in myriad combinations.
Panellists including designer Ayala Bar (speaking with microphone, second from left) and jewellery historian Alba Cappellieri (second from right), discussing the future of jewellery design.
The leading European hotbeds of fashion jewellery design inspiration include Italy, Spain and Greece, as seen in many of the pieces at the selling event.
HOMI Fashion&Jewels held regular runway events to show off the latest jewellery and fashion creations exhibiting at the show.
Fashion retailer multiples visit the February show to re-stock the newest fashion, fashion jewellery and accessories designs for the Summer.
While suppliers come from as far afield as Asia, UK exhibitors were in relatively short supply, possibly due in part to complications for UK export trade linked to Brexit rules.
Emanuele Guido said that UK exhibitors at HOMI Fashion & Jewels, looking to export into EU markets, would benefit from finding an experienced local distributor to help tackle red tape.
HOMI Fashion&Jewels Exhibition returns in September 2023.
