Emerging Designers: The Project

MICAM is promoting the ninth edition of the Emerging Designers project: the event area dedicated to 12 young international footwear designers, selected through an innovative format, created in collaboration with Honegger, a company with over 50 years of experience in trade fair marketing.

Applications from international designers were evaluated by a jury of experts in fashion and communication, chaired by Ernesto Esposito who, for this year’s contest, chose to work alongside: America Cacciapuoti, Sabrina Donadel, Bojan Kastie, Ada Kokosar and Sergio Zambon, together with MICAM, represented on the jury by Giovanna Ceolini and Giorgio Possagno, respectively President and CEO of MICAM. The jurors were invited to make a significant contribution to the selection of the designers to be presented to the public at the fair, expressing their authoritative point of view, developed through their professional and personal journeys in fashion and communication, in constant evolution.

The selection of the Emerging Designers for the September 13-15, 2026 and February 21–23, 2027 editions offers an international overview in which tradition and innovation complement each other. Craftsmanship heritage engages with research, new technologies and a contemporary reinterpretation of classic models, reimagined through original details and constructions. No dominant trend emerges, but rather an attitude in which experimentation, creativity and design rigour find balance. The footwear combines expressiveness, functionality and comfort, defining a recognisable language capable of dialoguing with the contemporary wardrobe and with market needs. A laboratory of ideas where heritage, innovation and responsibility intertwine, offering a concrete look at fut ure trajectories in the footwear sector. Supporting designers means enhancing their creativity and accompanying their growth towards new entrepreneurial realities, as demonstrated by the paths initiated in previous editions.

Giorgio Possagno: “We have reached the 9th edition of Emerging Designers: tor me this is the moment when the world of creativity truly meets the opportunity to pass through the MICAM showcase. Here an idea finds a concrete accelerator, becomes a product and comes into contact with international buyers, within a global platform dedicated to footwear. We work with designers from all over the world, and the challenge is to accompany them along the complexity of the entire supply chain, supporting young talents and small manufacturers who bring winning ideas and truly interesting products to the market.”

MICAM Milano
Location: Rho Fiera Milano, Italy

12 Emerging Designers exhibiting at Pavilion 3E
ED 01 Stefano Mugnai, Italy
ED 02 EN TALONS, Evgenia Shiyanovskaya, Italy
ED 03 NALEBE, Amina Means, USA
ED 04 Joel Wijangco, Philippines
ED 05 ÉECLAT, Stephanie Espinosa & Lady Salazar, Spain
ED 06 MALIKO, Ebuka Omaliko, Nigeria
ED 07 RAPHIA, Saïd Belhadj, The Netherlands
ED 08 WUD, Andrea Torazzi, Italy
ED 09 PAIDAL, Pallavi Bhalla, United Kingdom
ED 10 TENCONI, Giacomo Tenconi, Italy
ED 11 MOON2GETHER, Zoe Chan, Hong Kong
ED 12 TE DREAMERS CLUB, Eszter Toth, Hungary

Dates
13 – 15 September 2026.

More info at MICAM Milano.