Placed alongside Asia’s most well known industry trade fair – Interstoff Asia Essential – the 26th IAF World Apparel Convention kicked off in high spirits with strong industry support on Wednesday, 6 October 2010. More than 200 international delegates gathered in Hong Kong to discuss “How retailer brands, internet and green manufacturing are transforming fashion business.”

Ms Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan, JP, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, HKSAR opened the two-day convention reinforcing the fact that Hong Kong is still a major player in the textile industry. “Apart from being a fashion design centre, Hong Kong also serves as a hub for sourcing in the global supply chain of apparel products. Our companies are experienced in fabrics procurement, sales and marketing, quality control, logistics arrangements, and these wide-ranging quality services offered by our Hong Kong companies are not easily matched elsewhere.”

The collaboration between the International Apparel Federation and Messe Frankfurt to host the event in Hong Kong was a success as was further reflected by Mr Detlef Braun, Member of the Board of Management for Messe Frankfurt GmbH. “I can see many interesting parallels between Messe Frankfurt and IAF. Take the way we both reveal the latest trends, for example. At this year’s IAF Convention, the focus is on subjects such as ‘Fashion in the digital age’ and ‘Fashion and green manufacturing’.”

Mr Wang Shenyang, Chairman of China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles, Mr Willy Lin, Chairman for the Textile Council Hong Kong and Mr Leung Wai Ping, Executive Director for Li & Fung (Trading) Ltd were also in attendance.

Praise for the convention continued to echo throughout the event.

“Hong Kong is right on China’s doorstep, making this a great location to host the IAF convention. There is such a buzz here and an excellent feeling overall. It’s certainly one of my top conventions that I have attended – the speakers were high quality,” observed Mr Robin Anson, Managing Director for Textiles Intelligence and seminar speaker for the second session “Is fast fashion killing fashion”.

Attending delegates were just as happy as the speakers: “I am so pleased that this convention was organised by International Apparel Federation and Messe Frankfurt Hong Kong. From the opening ceremony right down to the speakers – everything was done professionally and rather impressively,” said Mr Geoff Burfurd, Director for Argus Clothing Pty Ltd, Australia.

Major players from the Asian textile and garment manufacturing industry shared their insight including Mr John Cheh, Vice Chairman and CEO for Esquel Group Limited who gave the keynote address after the opening ceremony. “Holding the IAF convention in Hong Kong is particularly significant, as it marks the formal joining of China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles as its official member, truly making this federation international.”

A special IAF International Designer Award catwalk show that took place on day 1 of the convention, 6 October 2010, was won by Pankaj & Nidhi from India. The collections submitted by nominees this year focused on ladies wear for summer 2011.

2010 winners are: Pankaj & Nidhi (India) for the most creative design, Daphne iliaki (Greece) for the most commercial design and Chai-Wei Kang (Taiwan) for the best way of working with fabrics. All these winners will be invited to present their work at the 27th IAF World Apparel Convention and receive their Awards.

In addition to the fashion focus, the proceeding two days, presented a range of seminars that were divided into four major sessions including “Fashion in the digital age”, Is fast fashion killing fashion”, “Fashion and digital supply”, plus “Fashion and green manufacturing” that were hosted by professionals who came from a variety of industry backgrounds.

Among some of the speakers were: Mr Bogo Vatovec, CEO for Bovacon; Mr Anthony Keung, President and CEO for Fenix Group; Mr Michael Tien, Chairman for G2000; Dr. Marc Schumacher, Director Retail, Franchise and International Marketing for Tom Tailor; Dr. Kai-Chiu Ho, Research and Development Director of HKRITA; Mr Ed Gribbin, President for Alva Inside division Alvanon; Mr Steve Jesseph, President and CEO for WRAP; Mr Thomas Nelson, Vice President Global Sourcing for VF Corp; Mr Geoff Collins, Regional Marketing & Sales Director for Lenzing plus many others.

Delegates representing top industry companies attended the convention to keep ahead of their competition. “So far, the sessions have been very informative and interesting. It is really important that the IAF convention was held in Hong Kong where many of well-known manufacturers as well as international fashion brands and companies are located,” commented Ms Allisa Lau, Regional Manager, China Supply Chain and Consumer Marketing for Cotton Council International, Hong Kong office.

source:Messe Frankfurt