Beachwear:An eyecatcher in Florence

By+Zhao+Zihan

From Saturday July 18th up to Monday July 20th the beachwear world met in Florence for the eighth edition of Mare DAmare. Once again， the very special partner for the 2015 edition is INVISTA， a leading company in the innovation at the service of fashion textiles and owner of the LYCRA？ brand which， together with the LYCRA？XTRA LIFE fiber， has always been a valuable ally for the most cutting-edge beachwear collections.

The Trade Fair presented its visitors a series of events， fashion shows， workshops and， above all， the beachwear collections from around 250 brands （out of which more than 80 will be new here） coming from all over the world to represent the broadest supply in the sector. A very unique opportunity for field experts and insiders to get the most comprehensive overview of 2016 summer trends： from the big designers up to the young talents. The events were virtually lived on the internet too， thanks to the innovative digital platform Mare DAmare Digital， the very first trade platform in Italy which this year was expanded and better structured to allow brands to interact through their qualified showcase at“mouse-hand”. A great opportunity for those who were not going to see the fair and who， nevertheless， would be granted the chance to enjoy it “live” by simply using either their personal computer or their tablet： a great commitment for several people， technicians and qualified staff involved either before， during and after the fair.

“Our real strength lies in our strong will of improving and doing really better every year – pointed out Alessandro Legnaioli， President of the Fair – since we have always been trying to offer a full and cutting-edge service to our visitors in order to make the full range of our supply available and easy to be accessed. It is no coincidence that our advertising campaign is referring to this different and lively approach. A happy guest is a very mindful guest and a mindful guest is better aware of their choices. Never forget that the beachwear universe is a lively and colorful universe itself， featured by light-heartedness and a quite peculiar and unique life style. This is what our project means”.

“Offering a useful and effective 100% service， capable of being perceived by trade operators and field experts as a pure added value， is the main objective of INVISTA and its LYCRA？ XTRA LIFE brand” – said Edy Figini， Marketing Head at INVISTA Italia for underwear， beachwear and hosiery – the partnership between INVISTA and its LYCRA？ XTRA LIFE brand and Immagine Italia& Co. by Mare dAmare is the evidence of our continued interest towards the entire textile industry chain： an ongoing and mindful commitment that drives us to constantly support the market”.

Among the new initiatives taken is also the first edition of Fashion Trailer， a quite unusual contest dedicated to videoclips and preparatory to the presentation of fair collections. Amateurs and professionals were requested to shoot a short movie dealing with either beachwear or underwear； the only essential requirement consisted in using garments from the collections of the exhibiting companies. Up for grabs were prizes and ensured visibility； but this was only one of the new initiatives introduced by Mare DAmare 2015.

For the three-day fair INVISTA， the LYCRA？ XTRA LIFE brand， also organized new communication initiatives with the purpose of promoting the collections of its partner brands. Among them a quite unique initiative had been exclusively addressed to retailers and would consist in the presentation of the new 2016 Underwear and Beachwear trends as conceived by INVISTA. After some seasons and along with product innovation the worldwide leading company in textiles had taken the decision to offer design advisory services： “making our own supply different becomes crucial in such a crowded market featured by strong competition – explains Edy Figini – offering an additional service can help retailers make their choices by being better aware of new suggestions and innovative solutions in fibers”.

Besides being the quality ambassador in Beachwear， the LYCRA？ XTRA LIFE brand were the privileged partner of the fair during the catwalks of the MARE DAMARE FASHION SHOW， the retailer-oriented workshops and the two exclusive night events making the fair experience in Florence even more appealing and exciting for its visitors.

The Workshops

This year underwear， beachwear and hosiery retailers were offered new and modern tools such as the workshops which were held both on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday July 18th， Massimo Giordani， vice president of the Italian Marketing Association， spoke about Web Marketing： “Social Media Marketing and Fashion， altogether， to conquer the Market”； this was the theme of the workshop dealing not only with the volume figures of the beachwear and underwear on-line business but also focusing on the helpful connection between the digital world and the conventional retail world， especially where fashion， design and trend are involved. Giordani also provided the needed tools to successfully interact with the social network users and to be able to implement a campaign of web marketing and social engagement.

The second workshop was on Saturday and Sunday. On that occasion， Massimiliano Pivetta， President of Assovisual， focused on shop-windows as tools of visual marketing.

2016 beachwear trends

The 2016 beachwear color trends outlined by the Anglo-Indian guru David Shah for the partner trade fair Maredimoda Cannes （November 3-5， 2015） were summarized into four main themes： Jungle Fever is featured by a highspirited sound of drums as a tribute to the African frenzy and excitement， full of colors， contrasting designs and bravely mixed patterns； Rave Couture instead， embraces the “red-carpet” elegance vivified by an audacious modern touch and marked by illusionistic fancy patterns inspired by pop art； Memphis Sport is a tribute to performance： sports and leisure swimwear with daring colors and a design emphasized by the combination of sculpture and geometry； Brutal Glam， the last theme， tells us about futuristic dresses， designed for a strong， impressive and majestic woman.

Furthermore， the four themes identified by Mare DAmare perfectly integrated and became complementary with the work performed and introduced by INVISTA where three macro-categories summarizeed the suggestions and hinted for next season： Modernism Meets Sport with ambitious geometries， mix & match and contrasting colors that fit one and only dimension； Afro Future with multi-cultural flashes of inspiration for a theme that blends together ethnical and contemporary allusions； Illusion Wear for optical illusions and balance of proportions.

“In collaboration with one of the worldwide leading offices， INVISTA has developed a real collection of beachwear and underwear proposals in accordance with main 2016 trends； a project which has evolved alongside David Shahs work and which， more than ever， has aimed at pointing out how aesthetics by itself does not account for the aesthetical impact of a garment” said Edy Figini， who ended up in stating： “the use of innovative materials， such as fabrics made of the LYCRA？ XTRA LIFE fiber is what makes the very difference”.