Asian designers shine at fashion trade show

For two days last week Lai Chi Kok was the unlikely location for the hip and happening in fashion. Designers, buyers, and retailers descended on the warehouse district in Kowloon for the third edition of The Hub, one of Hong Kong's most-watched fashion fairs and trade shows.

Started last year by Richard Hobbs and Peter Caplowe, The Hub was meant to be a non-traditional trade show for niche, mostly Western, fashion brands hoping to gain a presence in Asia. At the same time, they saw that multi-label stores were taking off in China and hoped The Hub would provide a forum for Asian retailers to meet international brands without having to travel to Europe or the US.

This year, however, things were different. Aside from relocating from the stultifying AsiaWorld-Expo halls to a trendier industry space in Lai Chi Kok, the biggest change was in the range of designers. The usual better-known European and American labels were there, but there was also a group of young designers from Asia.

"When we started, the vision was to bring international fashion brands to Asia," says Hobbs. "The difference that we've seen [this year] is a lot of interest from both local and regional designers who needed a place to showcase themselves."

On Wednesday, the first two floors where most of the American and European brands were located were fairly quiet. The real action was happening upstairs on the 10th floor at The Greenhouse, an area set aside for up-and-coming local designers along with bigger Asian names like Chinese designer Vega Zaishi Wang and Hong Kong designer Six Lee.