Trend Selection is a team of experts started in 1995 within LINEAPELLE. It is staffed by fashion designers and makers who shape the trends for the international leather industry twice a year. Forums are organised to present their fashion trends to the exhibitors of Anteprima and LINEAPELLE, who draw inspiration from them to develop their own sample collections. A trend area with the samplers of the season is also organised at the "Quadrilatero", at the heart of Bologna exhibition, in April and October. 27,000 professionals visit this area at each event. The team also organises fashion trend areas and forums for Anteprima international exhibitions in Milan, Trend Selection in New York, Tokyo Leather Fair and Shoes & Leather in Canton. The team present the outcome of their research in LINEAPELLE publications: LINEAPELLE Magazine, the trend book, colour cards.
INFO: Trend Selection, Via Brisa 3, 20123 Milano Tel. 02 8807711 - Fax 02 860032 www.trendselection.com

Are you tired of running around in vain searching for the right shop with the right shoes ? Then you should check out www.zappos.com, in all probability the biggest on-line specialised shoe shop. All brands, models, colours, and sizes are available here. The website construction has been recently re-designed to allow for better navigation and easier choice-making. Thanks to its "directory-style" structure, it takes you no more than a few seconds to spot the shoe category you're interested in, and then you start examining the various models and colours. The images are also extremely flexible and allow you to examine different angles of the shoes. Zappos.com was created in 1999 and as of today, we have delivered footwear to more than 20,000 towns and cities all over the States.

www.design-italia.it is organised into four sections: the Archive, the Magazine, the Showroom - Design Shop and Services. The Archive of Italian Design 1945-2003 represents the most important investment into research and documentation online so far carried out in the field of the history of Italian design. The Magazine is managed by a staff of editors and contributors: it produces daily news bulletins, including an up-to-date diary and a large database containing links to other sites dealing with design. The Showroom - Design Shop is an online showroom for the best design companies in Italy. It is a full-on virtual window display where it is also possible to buy a range of products. The Services page is made up of 3 specific areas: the first contains a number of services aimed at companies and professionals; the second has new materials for use in design in partnership with Material Connexion; the third area contains an archive of historic products.
www.design-italia.it

Shoes-up.com is an online magazine, packed full of information, news and images from the world of footwear. The site has very well-designed graphics and is divided into three main sections: Shoes, Actus and Club. In the Shoes Section, by way of a search engine, it is possible to access detailed specifications on some of the best footwear currently on the market and on the points of sale which sell them. Particularly interesting is the subsection Technologies, which has in-depth information about shoe technical specifications, components and materials. The Actus section offers interesting information from the world of footwear: trends, news, and advertising campaigns. Finally, the Club section enables visitors to access community services (newsletters, markets, photo gallery) and to subscribe to the magazine. www.shoes-up.com

To present the new collection 2004/2005, the brand with the crocodile trademark has updated its website. The site Lascoste.com is now multi-lingual and has an easy-to-navigate format. The site offers all the latest news regarding the brand, from clothing to glasses, accessories and footwear as well as household fabrics. The corporate pages are also very informative, offering information on the story of the brand, a collection of the most successful publicity campaigns and an interesting section dedicated to Lacoste-sponsored sports stars.

The fruit of a partnership between Club dei Distretti and Unioncamere, this site has been set up to act as a complete and fully up-to-date information tool on Italy's main industrial areas and sectors. The website is an on-line version of the first Guide to the Industrial Districts of Italy - 2004, launched in Rome last December and which sold out almost immediately, a testament to the evident need for such a guide.
The site lists 100 of the most nationally significant industrial regions in the various sectors: from textile to footwear, fromengineering to farming to eyewear, to ceramics, household products and furniture, representing a total of around 89,000 companies and almost one million employees.
The site's main aim is to be easy-to-consult, with a broad range of search criteria both in Italian and English, including images, data, company profiles, trade organisations in the various regions as well as numerous links. The records on the differing districts will be updated in real time, registering socio-economic changes, and during the course of the year new districts will be added which will ultimately make up the new Guide, planned for publication at the end of this year.
Italian version: www.distretti.org
English version: www.distretti.org