Sustainability continues to be the main focus of this year's edition of the Interstoff Asia Essential-Spring fair. 'The trend of mixing fashion and functional textiles with sustainability is growing fast,' says Wendy Wen, director of trade fairs at Messe Frankfurt.
The fair will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from tomorrow to Friday, with the number of exhibitors more than doubling from last year's 163. This will be the highest tally in the past four years.
Three out of four country pavilions, Japan, Taiwan and the mainland, will boast significant increases in exhibitors, with a 30 per cent rise in eco-suppliers.
New exhibitors include global conservation body WWF, BKS Textiles from India and the mainland's Skytex.
Wen says the increase in exhibitors is unexpected, especially during an uncertain period for the industry.
'We understand that it is important for companies to promote themselves and obtain the latest trends and industry information at the fair, but times have been tough, so we are pleasantly surprised by the increase in the number of exhibitors.'
To emphasise the importance of sustainability in fashion, 'Planet Textile', a conference co-organised by Ecotextile News, Messe Frankfurt and the Society of Dyers and Colourists (SDC), will be set up on the second day for innovative textile companies to share their latest eco-textile initiatives and for suppliers to showcase their newest products.