Steady number of visitors enjoy perks of Hong Kong Fashion Week

Nearly 38,000 buyers visited this year's Hong Kong Fashion Week, which every year brings together exhibitors from the event's sourcing trade show and brand owners from the World Boutique section. Last year's edition surpassed the 38,000 buyers' threshold, an increase of 14%.

According to Benjamin Chau, deputy executive director of event organizer HKTDC, strong increases in buyers attendance came from emerging markets such as Turkey, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. "I especially found the Small-Order Zone useful (fair area for small quantity orders), since my e-commerce company is still young and developing," said Indonesian buyer Detty Wulandari.

Most of the buyers came from Mainland China. Indeed, many participants consider the show a means to target the Chinese market. For Hong Kong designers Dorian Ho and Henry Lau, nothing in the region compares to Hong Kong Fashion Week as an entrée into greater China.

"The Hong Kong fair is a must for the Chinese market, just like the show in Las Vegas for Latin American markets," said Marta Falcon, export manager for Spanish bag manufacturer Factormoda. She has exhibited in Hong Kong for several years and is "impressed by the support provided by the organizers, very effective in networking exhibitors and buyers."

HKTDC did not skimp on resources for keeping exhibitors and visitors enthusiastic, energizing the atmosphere of the fair and striving to make it stand out from other events in the region. Fashion shows, information seminars on fashion and the market, etc. — sixty events took place, two times more than during the January 2011 session.

Runway shows featured both local designers as well as from China, Japan and Europe, with the closing ceremony officiated by London designer Vivienne Westwood. Young talent was on display in the Hong Kong Young Designers' Contest but also in the runway show of German designer Karen Jessen, first prize winner of the 2013 EcoChic Design Award.

The number of exhibitors remained stable for this session, many of whom touted Made in China as part of their fashion offering. Swedish designer Olsson Josefine, part of a delegation of Scandinavian brands, presented her own label Greta, which included silk dresses made in her studio in Beijing.