Leading Spanish Fashion and Accessory Brands at EXPO 2020 Dubai to enter UAE and GCC markets

Leading premium brands of Spain on sale at the Spanish Pavilion scout distribution partners

Dubai. March 2022. Some of Spain’s top brands in jewelry, fashion, footwear, and beauty, on display at the Spanish Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai ─many new to the region─ are in talks with distributors, influencers and media to market their products in the UAE and wider GCC. ‘Leading Brands of Spain’ in collaboration with –ICEX Spain Trade and Investment hosted the region’s leading retailers at the Dubai EXPO 2020 Spain Pavilion last Wednesday to meet designers and marketers from Spain who traveled in for the event. Welcoming the guests, Mr. Andrés Salinero, Economic & Trade Counsellor of the Embassy of Spain in the UAE, said, “Many Spanish brands are well known here as they are all over the world but there are several others big and small that are missing in this region. Most of them are international, generating 70% of their revenue from foreign markets.”

Spanish brands in discussion with distribution partners are leaders in Jewelry such as TOUS, UNOde50, Aristocrazy, and Lladró, fashion firms Tendam (Pedro del Hierro, Springfield and Women Secret), El Ganso, Lola Casademunt, Roberto Verino, Alma en Pena and Starlite as well as skincare industry leader Natura Bissé and footwear brand Alma en Pena.

“EXPO 2020 Dubai has provided a gateway for these products to be introduced in the UAE and GCC” said Mr. Pedro Vargas, International Project Manager, Leading Brands of Spain Forum. ‘We represent Spain, the country and its leading brands. The brands we present today have competed successfully in difficult markets like Europe and the Americas. Now that Dubai has become the fashion capital of the region, leading Spanish brands will steer themselves to the forefront and that is our mission here. We are excited about the potential of our products and the interest they have generated.”

Guests at the event relished tapas and other elements of Spanish hospitality while interacting with brand representatives from Spain, toured the pavilion and were regaled by a mesmerizing dance performance from an artist trained in Madrid.

“We are happy to invite all the visitors at Expo 2020 specially UAE residents to visit the Spain Pavilion and view our premium brands on sale in the shop here ahead of their entry into the market shortly. Spain and UAE have a relationship in many sectors; adding fashion to the mix will increase Spanish presence here. Strengthening economic ties with UAE has been on our agenda and this is one of the ways we seek to achieve our bilateral trade objectives,” Pedro Vargas added.

This initiative from Leading Brands of Spain and ICEX Spain Trade and Investment will add a significant impact to improving commercial ties with the UAE. Spain is already a main supplier of fashion (#4), beauty (#7) and leather footwear (#8) to the UAE as per 2019 exports in value. The arrival of new Spanish brands to the UAE market will help increase these numbers and tap the incredible potential of the UAE national market and its important role as a regional hub.