NEW YORK—In what they said was a move to “cater to shifting market needs,” executives of Mido announced today, in a press conference at Vision Expo East, that they would be changing the dates of its exhibition at Milan’s Rho-Pero Fieramilano center from the show’s traditional timing in May to new dates, March 6 to 9 in 2009.

In addition, they said that Mido would also inaugurate a new Mido “Business Forum” to be held Sept. 4 to 6, 2009 in Rome.

Described as the Mido “revolution,” the new earlier March show dates in Milan will become part of what is being described as a “world’s fashion accessory week,” since over several days, the Milan exhibition complex will host four events in a variety of accessories categories. In addition to Mido, these will include the Micam exhibition for footwear, the Mipel show for leather goods and the Mifo show for fur.

Said Dan Emanuel Levi, vice president of Mido, who spoke in New York about the changes, “There was a strong request from the members of ANFAO, the Italian manufacturers association, for the timing of the Mido to better reflect today’s fashion cycles. The earlier March timing will accomplish this.” Mido, he said, paid attention to the needs of its exhibitors and visitors and conducted a study with a leading consulting company on the positioning of industry exhibitions, involving a representative panel of Mido exhibitors and visitors.

The survey, Mido said, confirmed eyewear’s growing importance as a fashion accessory which has made show timing issues more fundamental. The latest exhibitor surveys conducted by Mido showed a growing need among frame and sunglass producers to time the international presentations of their collections to complement the real needs of customers, which meant timing in March and September.

The presence of the four shows, with slightly overlapping dates in March 2009, will mean that Mido’s exhibition will be housed in different pavilions of the Rho-Pero center than where they’ve traditionally been held, likely closer to the center’s west entrance.
For the Rome event, the Business Forum, is a “different kind of approach,” Levi said, which would welcome international exhibitors in a slightly different show format in a smaller amount of space, “more like a workshop,” he said, with smaller booths.

The exhibition complex in Rome, opened in 2006, is located near the Fiumicino “Leonardo da Vince” airport, connected by train, to Rome he pointed out.

“The goal of the Mido Business Forum is not to add another exhibition to an international calendar that is already very busy, but to follow the real needs of companies in terms of format, costs and timing.”