Spanish footwear arrives at MICAM with 109 exhibiting brands

Madrid – As one of the main events in the calendar for the second half of the year, this Sunday sees the opening of a new, 102nd edition of Micam. The international footwear trade fair in Milan will run from September 13 to 15. Leading footwear firms will present their latest innovations and collections for the upcoming spring/summer 2027 season. Spain will be the second most represented country, only behind Italy.

Held in conjunction with the Mipel trade show, which specialises in handbags, accessories and leather goods, and alongside the Milano Fashion&Jewels trade show, specialising in jewellery (from September 12 to 14); The One Milano, for fashion garments and accessories (from September 12 to 14); and Lineapelle/SIMAC, for leather and machinery for footwear and leather goods (from September 15 to 17), the trade fair will open its doors this Sunday, the 13th, at the Milano-Rho exhibition centre, welcoming some 758 exhibiting brands. These firms are split 50/50 between national Italian and international brands from 29 countries. Italy is the main country represented by the number of exhibitors, followed by Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Germany and Portugal.

As with every new edition of a trade show, the organisation aims to surpass the figures of previous editions. The September 2025 edition saw Micam and Mipel register some 20,362 visitors from 126 countries. The attendance was split between 43 percent Italian visitors and 57 percent international visitors, highlighting the marked international character of this event. This is undoubtedly one of the most important factors for Spanish brands to continue to rely on Micam in their internationalisation strategies. These strategies, with the support of the Federación de Industrias del Calzado Español (Fice), the footwear association responsible for coordinating the sector's participation in the trade fair, and the backing of Icex, are being maintained in a particularly challenging environment for the sector, as highlighted this week by the latest data on the evolution of industrial footwear production in Spain during July.

“Spanish footwear faces a complex international scenario, but it does so from a position of strength,” argues Vicente Pastor, president of Fice. “The growth of our exports and the significant Spanish presence at Micam reflect our companies' ability to adapt, innovate and compete in the most demanding markets.” He adds that “our challenge” now is “to continue advancing in internationalisation and to consolidate the positioning of ‘Shoes from Spain’ as a benchmark for design, quality, innovation and value-added manufacturing.”

Growth in exports, in value and volume, during the first half of the year

According to data from foreign trade reports published by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, based on data from the Customs Department of the Tax Agency, Fice states that during the first half of 2026, Spanish footwear exports reached 1,706 million euros, with 90 million pairs of shoes exported. These figures represent a growth in both value (plus 1.5 percent) and volume (plus 1.8 percent) compared to the same period last year. The main purchasing countries were France, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Poland. The United States is the sixth largest importer of Spanish footwear and the first outside the European Union.

However, the Ministry of Economy had already announced in August that footwear exports at the end of the first half had grown very slightly to 1,799.7 million euros (plus 0.3 percent). This is a higher total but a more moderate growth compared to the figures now provided by Fice. The association highlights that “these data show the weight that internationalisation continues to have in the strategy of the Spanish footwear industry.” They also emphasise “the importance of professional trade fairs like Micam for generating new business opportunities and consolidating the presence of Spanish brands in foreign markets.”

With 109 brands and 88 Spanish exhibiting companies

With this ambition, Fice, which started “the season” by debuting at the Première Vision Paris sourcing trade fair, is coordinating the Spanish participation in this upcoming edition of Micam. Spanish footwear will arrive with proposals for the spring/summer 2027 season from 109 brands, represented by 88 exhibiting companies. These are considerable figures, allowing Spain to continue to present itself as the second country with the largest presence by number of exhibitors at the trade fair, only behind Italy. However, they are slightly down on the September 2025 edition. That event saw the participation of 135 Spanish brands from 106 exhibiting companies; 26 more brands and 18 more exhibiting companies than in this September 2026 edition.

This national “pavilion” includes well-known and respected brands such as Hispanitas, Unisa, El Naturalista, Victoria, XTI, Pretty Ballerinas and Castellano. Fice will be giving it an extra boost of visibility from its own stand, operated under the “Shoes from Spain” brand, and through various initiatives launched during the trade fair. By region, the brands are led by those from the Valencian Community (origin of 50 percent of the total exhibitors), followed by La Rioja (17 percent); the Region of Murcia (9 percent); Catalonia (8 percent); the Balearic Islands (6 percent); Castilla-La Mancha (5 percent); the Community of Madrid (2 percent); and Aragon, Galicia and the Principality of Asturias (1 percent each).