The Fashion Footwear Association of New York (FFANY) has decided to cancel its June 2020 Market Week in favor of allowing members to rebuild and recover for the next event in August.
FFANY executive director John Heron said the group’s board of directors made the decision to cancel the event, which was scheduled for June 1-5 in New York City, once they realized the considerable logistics issues facing brands regardless of whether or not social distancing rules were lifted by then.
“While there still may remain an optimistic outlook that travel bans and social distancing restrictions will be lifted by June, the prospect of having any type of collective industry gathering in New York City in June simply does not seem feasible or prudent,” Heron said in a statement emailed to Sourcing Journal.
FFANY brands are all dealing with this situation individually, he said, adding that he expects that June will be best used as a period of recovery and rebuilding.
“Officially canceling the June FFANY will allow for companies to plan for this recovery on their own accord with steps and protocols that make sense to them,” Heron said
FFANY has already moved away from hosting large market week events, handing over the reins to its long-running show to long-time FFANY employee, Phyllis Rein. That event will now be called the Footwear Show New York Expo (FSNYE) as FFANY focuses its efforts on coordinating a time for member brands to open up their individual showrooms throughout Midtown Manhattan separately.
According to FSNYE’s website, the June event has been canceled as well and is expected to reopen for August in concert with FFANY.
“This decision and action will allow all of us to focus our attention on our own critical business activities while planning to come together in a meaningful way for a robust FFANY market week in August,” Greg Connors, co-founder of White Mountain Footwear and FFANY chair, said.
FFANY’s August Market Week is currently scheduled to be held from Aug. 3-7.