By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS

The 86th edition of Sapica, Mexico’s largest footwear and leather goods expo, is set to open at the Poliforum in the central city of León, Guanajuato, on March 8, with more than 2,000 shoe brands participating.

León is Mexico’s shoe-making capital, producing about 80 percent of all footwear made in the country.

The three-day event, which is sponsored by the Guanajuato Footwear Chamber (CICEG), will be attended by an estimated 2,100 national and international wholesale buyers and will include conferences, symposiums and fashion catwalks.

Mexico is the ninth-largest footwear producer worldwide, and the fourth-largest supplier of footwear for the United States, its biggest international market, representing about 80 percent of all foreign sales. (The remaining 20 percent of Mexican shoe exports go almost exclusively to Central America).

Last year, Mexico produced about 203 million pairs of shoes, bringing in more than $633 million, representing a significant increase over 2020, but still not at the levels of 2019.