The buyer arrives today at the fair with increasingly defined objectives, more structured information, and more precise selection criteria. The visit is no longer just a moment of discovery: it is a stage of a journey that begins long before entering the fair and continues in the relationship with companies, brands, suppliers, and partners. It is from this evolution that The Buyer Journey is born, the observatory promoted by Fashion Link Milano and hosted on September 8, 2026 at the ADI Design Museum in Milan. An event that compares five representative events of complementary segments of the fashion system: MICAM Milano, MIPEL, TheOneMilano, Milano Fashion & Jewels, and SIMAC Tanning Tech. The goal is to open a reflection on the new role of the fair in the purchasing processes. How does the way in which the buyer researches, selects, and evaluates the offer change? What tools and services can make the visit more effective? And how is a commercial relationship built today that is intended to continue beyond the days of the event?
From the visit to the journey
The perspective is that of a trade fair system in which different experiences and skills can dialogue and contribute to reading together the evolution of demand. The five events, although addressing different sectors and audiences, share a function: connecting companies, products, skills, and markets, accompanying operators and buyers within increasingly articulated decision-making processes. In retail, the preparation of the visit takes on increasing importance. Assortment, search for new brands, product availability, timing, and characteristics of reference markets enter the decision-making process even before the trade fair appointment. In B2B, on the other hand, the selection often starts from technical and productive needs, performance requirements, innovation, sustainability, and suppliers’ responsiveness. They are different paths, but with the same underlying need: to make the meeting between supply and demand more qualified and efficient.
The buyer changes, and with him, the fair changes
The discussion will be moderated by Orietta Pelizzari, global trend researcher, creative concept, and moderator, and will see the participation of Chiara Allegra Moretti, independent buyer, and Federico Galli, storyteller. The conversation will focus on the transformation of the buyer figure, the relationship between selection and product construction, the value of direct relationships, and the role of the fair in an increasingly international and digital market. The reflection will also start from a broader consideration: buyers, brands, and exhibitors are all entrepreneurs called to make decisions in a context where product, identity, market knowledge, and relationship-building skills assume increasing importance. The fair thus becomes a space where not only supply and demand meet, but visions, skills, and strategies are compared.
Five perspectives, one unique buyer journey
The five events will bring their own experience and point of view to the discussion, contributing to building a transversal reading of the buyer journey.
MICAM Milano — From market listening to selection
MICAM Milano starts from continuous market listening and the evolution of international retail. For the September edition, it strengthens activities dedicated to foreign buyers and introduces tools such as the new digital matchmaking platform, designed to facilitate meeting planning, proposal selection, and visit optimization. This is accompanied by the Trends Buyer Guide, which allows you to preview the must-haves of the season and arrive at the fair with a more precise view of trends and opportunities.
Milano Fashion & Jewels — When the product is seen, touched, and evaluated
Milano Fashion & Jewels confirms itself as a B2B hub dedicated to fashion, accessories, and jewelry, where scouting, networking, and business opportunities intertwine with the possibility of getting to know collections up close. The physical dimension of the product remains central: quality, materials, details, and workmanship can be evaluated directly, along with the possibility of establishing an immediate comparison with the brands. An important role is also given to the fashion shows organized during the event. Seeing garments and accessories in motion and in their context of use allows buyers to evaluate their fit, wearability, styling, and commercial potential. The Digital Platform completes the journey, allowing you to prepare and organize the visit, plan meetings, and deepen knowledge of exhibitors and collections even beyond the days of the event.
MIPEL — Product, distribution, and new retail logics
MIPEL will bring to the discussion the perspective of leather goods, deepening the relationship between product, distribution, and new retail logics. For the September edition, the focus will be on the increasing synergy with other events, aiming to offer buyers a more complete and transversal visiting experience. A logic that looks at a market increasingly oriented towards lifestyle and the coherence of the offer and that can open up new business opportunities along complementary segments.
TheOneMilano — The fair as a place of knowledge
TheOneMilano will address the theme of outerwear and the transformation of the fair into a place of knowledge. The focus will be on changes in the sector, Italian manufacturing capacity, and dynamics of international sourcing. A reading that also focuses on the ability to create a system to respond to the needs of international private labels. In this scenario, the fair represents not only a place to meet potential partners but becomes a space to better understand markets, production skills, and supply chain transformations.
SIMAC Tanning Tech — When the buyer decides on investment
With SIMAC Tanning Tech, the buyer journey enters the dimension of industrial decision-making. The journey starts from defining a production need and continues through technical evaluation, meeting with suppliers, and choosing technologies and solutions. It is a process in which innovation, automation, data, sustainability, and production capacity become concrete elements of the investment decision. A perspective that broadens the concept of the buyer journey itself: not just choosing a product but evaluating technologies, skills, and solutions capable of impacting the future of production.
A supply chain, many skills
It is precisely in the complementarity of these perspectives that the value of collaboration between the five events is found. From the finished product to the technologies that make its realization possible, from international markets to retail, the supply chain is seen as an ecosystem of skills and relationships. In this scenario, Fashion Link Milano positions itself as a platform for connection and observation, with the aim of promoting dialogue between events, companies, buyers, and supply chains and contributing to a shared understanding of market evolution. During the event, Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano, will also intervene, emphasizing the importance of creating synergies between fashion events. Not only to strengthen the trade fair system but also to enhance Milan’s role as the capital of fashion and its events. An integrated system can generate new opportunities and offer buyers an increasingly effective, qualified, and attractive experience.
Milan, part of the buyer journey
The connection between the fair and the city completes a vision in which the event is not an isolated space but part of a broader ecosystem. Companies, services, territory, and the trade fair system together contribute to the creation of value and international attractiveness. This is, after all, the new dimension of the buyer journey: a path that goes beyond the boundaries of the fair and connects product, market, technology, people, and the city.
