Asia's premier trade fairs for leather materials, technology, fashion and accessories, and a forum for the apparel and footwear industries' leading lights are set to generate synergy in the global fashion sector.
From today until Friday, prominent international players in the leather, fashion and footwear industries will converge in Hong Kong to present upcoming fashion trends at Materials, Manufacturing & Technology (MM&T), Fashion Access, and Prime Source Forum 2012 (PSF). The three events are being held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
MM&T and Fashion Access originate from the Asia-Pacific Leather Fair, which debuted in 1984. Anticipating the new sourcing trend, fairs organiser APLF split the leather fair into two, so that MM&T caters for manufacturers of leather products, while Fashion Access targets buyers of finished products, says Perrine Ardouin, the organiser's event director.
More than 400 key players use PSF as a platform to exchange ideas and solutions, and set the industry's future direction.
'This year, the forum's scope broadens to include the footwear industry and will leverage even more synergy of the leather sector. Footwear sector heavyweights, such as Ronald Fromm, chairman of the board of Brown Shoe Company in the United States, will be among the keynote speakers at the forum,' she says.
With more than 1,200 exhibitors from 50 countries and regions, showcasing products covering the entire spectrum of the industry - from raw and finished skins, dyes and chemicals, to equipment and processes - MM&T is the world's preeminent leather sourcing platform. All major leather production centres in Europe and North and South America have a presence. Among the new exhibitors are companies from Ecuador, Nicaragua and Paraguay, aiming to tap the soaring demand for luxury goods in Asia, Ardouin says.
