Hong Kong Fashion Week – January, 2010

I am writing to report on the HKTDC Fashion week this past January 18-21, 2010 in Hong Kong.  I attended the show from on the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th.

Fashion Week in Hong Kong, is one of the largest apparel shows in Asia at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center…  You need to plan your day in advance and choose your areas and halls as there is plenty to see…  Also there are a few elevators that can take you to the top or you can get on the non-stop escalator that runs from the ground to the 5th floor.

One thing that still sticks with me today is how on earth can one person cover this show?  It seems as I was always making new discoveries.  Way too many halls, I think there is an average of 3 halls to a floor times five floors that’s fifteen halls… I decided it would be best to focus on OEM and Fashion Accessories.

On the main floors were the brands were I noticed that it was busy, but on the top two floors where the OEM was there was less traffic… On the fifth floor there were brands in one hall and OEM in the other two halls.   Below is a picture of the registration area on the first day from the fifth floor.

5th Floor Registration

Not so many people at the 5th floor registration… also the OEM halls were not so busy, below is a picture of the isle from the 5th floor on the first day at 3:30pm:

Tradeshow Floor – 5th Floor

I was curious about the traffic and decided it would be beneficial to check out the OEM suppliers on the 3rd floor as well, below is a picture from the third floor at 4:00pm on the first day:

Tradeshow Floor – 3rd Floor

The halls looked deserted, I talked to some of the vendors and they agreed.  I think the challenge is the growth is in brands from Asia seeking international exposure, looking to expand their business into foreign markets… I have noticed this transition and focus at most shows over the past few years.

On the way out of the venue, I was inspired by the metal rivets on the street which marked the start of the stairs… i like the order and consistancy:

Inspiration – metal rivets

On the second day I attended the WGSN Spring/Summer 2011 presentation which was well worth the visit… the speaker was Juliet Warkentin who is the Content Editor at WGSN.  The room was over capacity and I counted atleast 500 attendees…  Juliet gave a great presentation about the benefits of WGSN and the coming trends for the S11 season.  Below is a photo from the presentation before the start:

WGSN Trend Presentation

Photos were not allowed during the presentation so this is the only photo I took.

As mentioned the show itself is large and that’s probably the greatest benefit… but I found the size overwhelming and the actual quality not up to par…  way too many halls and vendors and everyone’s booth looked the same.  The show was missing the highlight vendors in each hall or area…  a theme or something for excitement, something to amuse the attendees and exhibitors.  This was my third time attending this show and I hope that I can see some changes in the near future.

A benefit of the show is that HKTDC offers new foreign attendees a voucher for a discount at pre-selected and booked hotels prior to the show… 1000 HKD the first day, 400 HKD the second day, and 400 HKD the third day, up to a total of 1800 HKD.  Also I was priveldged and I was invited into the Dragon VIP area which offered me a place to sit, have a beverage, snack, use the internet and print documents as needed.

If you have any additional questions please leave a comment or shoot me an email at jeffrey@sourcetheglobe.com.  Happy Sourcing 🙂