[W]hen I think of Milan I think of luxury leather goods. I knew visiting this fashion capital to attend the MICAM International Trade Show for shoes would be a learning experience thick in Italian culture. Much like the trade shows in the United States you wander from isle to isle to an endless stream of ideas, inspiration and innovation. It’s here where Italy’s top accessory designers showcase not only craftsmanship but how they are bringing new technologies into our footwear and will shape the way we walk, manufacture and desire shoes. It’s also here where buyers from major department stores to small boutiques come to see the shoes and place the orders that will arrive in store six months from now.

It’s an endless steam of beauty covering every design you could ever imagine.  Broken up into five adult categories: luxury such as Alberto Gozzi, urban like Franceschetti, contemporary such as Apepazza,  cosmopolitan like designer Andra Morelli, and international with brands like United Nude.

It’s impossible to imagine how these buyers ever narrow down the choices from the vast options of brands showing. Of course as I roamed the pavilions I started noticing trends in shoes. What it looks like to me is a future of highly designed fashion sneakers and an updated playful version of the Birkenstock. Neither of which are my style personally, but below are a few shoe moments from MICAM where I wish I could have bought the shoes right then and now from these new Italian designers welcomed into my world.

Speaking of Italy… see all our Italian travels HERE!