The diversified visitorship contributed to a dynamic business driven ambience. © Interfilière Hong Kong

Keeping up the momentum ever since its reformation two years ago, the 13th edition of Interfilière Hong Kong has successfully concluded at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal on 21 March, reinforcing its role as an innovation incubator in Asia Pacific for lingerie, swimwear and activewear supply chain.

“We are happy to gather the whole industry in Asia to create links among the worldwide body-fashion community. This year, more than ever, we will focus on a greener and more sustainable body-fashion industry, we will push innovation forward and highlight our young generation of designers, all the key elements for modernity and a better future,” commented Marie-Laure Bellon, CEO of Eurovet, during the show opening ceremony on 20 March.

Angie LAU, the chairlady of Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries' Association (HKIAIA) then emphasised the importance for the industry to connect closely together and expressed HKIAIA’s continued support to Eurovet.

Attendance

The edition was well received and proven by visitors’ positive feedbacks and its final figures. The show welcomed more than 1,600 visitors, which gained a year-on-year growth of 5%. The diversified visitorship contributed to a dynamic business driven ambience. Hong Kong continued to top the ranking in the first place. The number of Mainland Chinese visitors witnessed a slight drop though maintained in the second place.

The edition was well received and proven by visitors’ positive feedback. © Interfilière Hong Kong

More than 350 preselected samples were displayed in the Gallery which was powered by a Smart Badge Solution, allowing visitors to collect information of each exhibits. Noticeably, among the overall offerings, 45% of the exhibitors were committed to sustainable solutions and 16% of the exhibitors confirmed their acceptance of low MOQ.

“It’s our very first time exhibiting at Interfilière Hong Kong. We are grateful that the show has given us a unique international stage to connect with the industry and to be inspired. We hope our collaboration with Interfilière upcoming events will be successful again,” said Sharon LIU, Marketing Director, Qianyu Intellegent Technology (Chiiu).

Sustainable industry

Since November 2018, Eurovet has initiated a Public Private Partnership project with Indonesian lingerie industry, under the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, to promote sustainability and resource efficiency through more circular business processes, reduction of waste, training professionals, students and anchor knowhow.

With various actions being completed previously, this two-year project continued its journey to Interfilière Hong Kong 2019 and the mission has been successfully fulfilled, by working hand in hand with four major Indonesian lingerie manufacturers, namely PT Kewalram Indonesia, WSK Winner Sumbiri Knitting Factory, PT Busanaremaja Agracipta and PT Sinar Para Taruna.

More than 350 preselected samples were displayed in the Gallery powered by a Smart Badge Solution. © Interfilière Hong Kong

Marine Veillon, Managing Director of Eurovet Asia stressed during the project opening statement: “Eurovet has been committing, along with a wide number of exhibitors and visitors, to a greener and more sustainable body-fashion industry. Not only has it become a necessity to safeguard our planet and its resources, it has also become a major purpose of the new consumer generations. For trade fairs, it is important to be up to date. Indonesia is a very interesting and future-proof market with which Eurovet is hoping to strengthen its relation through this project.”

Dynamic conference programme

Four diversified conference tracks welcomed a full house of audiences, gathering a wide range of stakeholders and industry decision makers, to anticipate opportunities and strategies through navigating the emerging markets and consumer behaviours, decode trends and acquire inspirations, challenge the status quo and rethink the supply chain, as well as uncover the latest innovation.

Keynote speakers included Christin Zhang, Business Solution Director of Tmall - Alibaba Group; Matthieu David-Experton, CEO & Founder of Daxue; and Terence Senford, Head of Design - Athleisure of Hugo Boss, who provided exclusive market insights covering lingerie, swimwear and athleisure.

Fashion show

On 20 March, Interfilière Hong Kong hosted a fashion show dedicated to a group of up-and-coming creative minds in the belief that the new generation of designers will significantly contribute to the future of the body-fashion industry.

Interfilière Hong Kong hosted a fashion show dedicated to a group of up-and-coming creative minds. © Interfilière Hong Kong

Thirty-six original garments were featured in the fashion show, designed and brought to live by 12 selected final year students from the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree programme in Fashion and Textiles with Specialism in Intimate Apparel and Activewear at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). A competition among the 12 students’ collections simultaneously took place during the fashion show. In the end, six finalists were selected by the jury.

50th Trend Forum

Being an iconic signature of Interfiliere Shows in Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai and New York, the Creativ’Lab (Trend Forum) curated by Concepts Paris has welcomed its 50th edition in Hong Kong.

In its 50th edition, the Creativ’ Lab paid special tribute to the ingenuity of designers and R&D teams from the industry, by creating a wall named A Makers World with photographs of hands in the process of creation. Inside the lab, six storyboards, illustrated with sophisticated products from Interfilière exhibitors and the hottest shopping from around the world, demonstrated A/W 2020-21 seasonal trends.

www.interfiliere-hongkong.com