More than 8,500 buyers from 82 countries and regions flocked to this year’s CENTRESTAGE, a hallmark event in Asia’s fashion calendar, with a significant uplift in buyers from Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, among other markets.
Notable buyers this year included major multi-brand stores and department stores from Europe and North America as well as Asia.
“This solidifies the event’s status as an essential platform for fashion trade and brand promotion in Asia,” said Sophia Chong, Deputy Executive Director of the Hong Kong Development Council (HKTDC).
CENTRESTAGE was organised by the HKTDC and sponsored by Hong Kong’s Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency.
International buyers at this year’s event, which was held in the first week of September, valued the connection opportunities and diverse product range that the annual fashion spotlight offered.
Keisuke Fujita, CEO of Japanese clothing store THE FOUR-EYED Ltd, said that he was expecting order amounts between US$8,000 to US$16,000 after attending 11 business matching meetings with exhibitors.
Korean buyer Jonghun Park, from Samsung C&T Fashion Group, said that the fair’s range of contemporary and avant-garde brands helped diversify the company’s portfolio and was considering a US$15,000 order with Italian label, La Haine Inside Us.
Other international labels showcasing their creations and talent this year included Robert Wun and ROKSANDA from Britain and Blvck Paris from France.
In total, more than 250 brands from 18 countries and regions took part this year, a CENTRESTAGE record.
Iris Ramos, Founder of Singapore brand Duxton, said that the fair had significantly increased Duxton’s brand exposure. Five international stores have confirmed their intention to carry Duxton products.
Becky Kam, a Brand Manager representing international golf brand Ashworth, said that interest had exceeded expectations, especially from Singapore and Thailand. New athleisure and circular fashion zones added to this year’s fair aligned with market trends and helped attract relevant buyers, she noted.
Ashworth debuted a new clothing line at CENTRESTAGE this year, in a collaboration with Hong Kong designer Mountain Yam.
Creative talent from Hong Kong was prominent this year.
FASHIONALLY, an online platform run by HKTDC, unveiled the latest collections from five young Hong Kong designers – Charlotte Ng Studio, From Clothing Of, IP Axis Studio, Lapeewee and WHY – during the show.
The Fashion Hong Kong Runway Show also featured four renowned Hong Kong labels: AGNGUS TSUI, röyksopp gakkai, selfFab. and Z I D I.
Both this show and the opening CENTRESTAGE ELITES runway show – which featured the Home Coming collection from Hong Kong-born designer Robert Wun – can be viewed on HKTDC’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
In total, 40 fashion shows and events were held over the four days of the exhibition.
For the first time, this year’s CENTRESTAGE was free to industry buyers and the public for all four days of the show.
The fashion fair ran concurrently with the Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair and Salon de TIME. Between them, the three events received more than 15,000 visits from the public.
