The Role of Trade Fairs in the Global Fashion Business

Abstract

This article analyses the role played by trade fairs in fashion production today. It uses Goffman's concept of frames to analyse the way in which trade fairs constitute a kind of ‘neutral ground’ onto which exhibitors inscribe their relative position vis-a-vis other exhibitors. The article includes both a macro-analysis of the changing function of fairs as buyer–supplier relations have become routinized throughout the year, and a micro-analysis that zooms in on different encounters that take place during fairs. These include encounters for trade, networks and knowledge. The term ‘intermediary fairs’ is introduced to capture the recent development from export fairs, designed to represent regionally based industries, to a highly globalized condition. As the regional base of industries is eroding, fairs increasingly redefine themselves as global sourcing hubs with a number of added functions and services.