FASHION ACCESS trade fair attracted 11,800 international visitors to its 30th Anniversary edition.

Hong Kong trade fair FASHION ACCESS celebrated its 30^th Anniversary by playing host to more than 11,800 international trade visitors (including 8,697 buyers)  from 83 countries at its latest edition. The fair was held 31 March to 2nd April at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, and organised by APLF.

The focus of this edition of FASHION ACCESS (staged concurrently with the Materials, Manufacturing & Technology (MM&T) Fair) was on Fall-Winter 2014/2015 collections for leather and fashion accessories, footwear, bags and apparel presented by 482 exhibitors from 25 countries and regions. Among this year’s exhibitors were 104 first-time exhibitors from Bangladesh, China, Chile, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Madagascar, Netherlands, the Philippines, Taiwan and USA.  The Philippines and Turkey also set up special product display platforms to highlight their respective specialties and crafts.

The country that saw the largest increase in visitor numbers was China, as the country's transformation from a manufacturing to consumer-led economy continues.  Buyers  from China increased significantly by 7.78% this year in comparison to last year’s event, and many of them were representing established European and US retail brands with operations in China.

In its efforts to create business and trading opportunities between buyers and exhibitors, the organisers set up “Buyers Meet Sellers” breakfast meetings, and continued with its sponsored Hosted Buyer Programme that was participated by 23 buyers from 11 countries which included buyers from department stores Lotte form Korea and Franck Et Fils from France.

"If I could rate 1- 5 stars I will give Fashion Access a 10."

Buyers were impressed with the event as a resourceful fair for their business. From the US, Shiela Mae Rivera of Hardy Pink said “If I could rate 1- 5 stars I will give Fashion Access a 10. This is the best fashion fair I have attended in Asia so far. I was able to connect with high quality suppliers that could support my unique designs. Also, I am amazed with the organisers’ arrangement on networking events and information on the mobile app, which saved me a lot of time.”

According to Natalie Lacroix from Franck Et Fils of France, one of the companies that took part in the Hosted Buyer Programme, the fair has been useful for sourcing: “This is my first time to Fashion Access and I am impressed with the product designs which are suitable for our private labels.”

Vladimir Kvantaliani from Ketroy LLS of Russia concurred: “We are a Fashion brand in Russia with retail stores in London, Moscow and Ukraine. Fashion Access is full of opportunity and the scale is perfect. I attended the business matching and breakfast meetings. The exhibitors are all good quality. So far I have already found 7 contacts that I will further develop partnership with.”

A glamorous display of quality designs from Turkey. 

Fair exhibitors were equally pleased with the fair.

Nina Widaryatun from PT. Dowa Hanandy Utama in Indonesia, said: “I have been visiting APLF for more than 10 years and this is our first time to exhibit at Fashion Access. We believe this is the best place for us to promote our product to the global market and we have received orders from Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore on the first day of show! We definitely will come back for the next edition.”

Hong Kong's Irene Lai from A-Leader Luggage Manufacturing Co. Ltd. added: “We are very happy with Fashion Access this year. There are many new visitors who are interested in our men’s leather bags. I think business-matching meetings organised by Fashion Access are very helpful too.”

At the Fashion Trends Space at FASHION ACCESS - a platform provided the season's trends for shoes, bags and fashion products, featuring the best picks from exhibitors’ collections. "Cosmic" influences were projected as the key Spirit of the Season for innovative and fantastical themes, bold colours and materials.

Click HERE to take a look at the Fashion Trends Space photo gallery.

The next edition of FASHION ACCESS will take place from 25 – 27 September this year at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. Click HERE  to find out more.  

Interested exhibitors and trade visitors in the UK, please contact myfashionconnect@gmail.com for more details.