Fashion-conscious office workers in Central, Hong Kong, have long turned to IL Sarto Tailor – a local specialty tailor focussing on Italian-style, custom-made suits – for such sartorial needs. Yet, the fallout from the pandemic meant many face-to-face meetings were shelved and working from home became routine. Office workers no longer needed to dress to the nines in order to meet customers, which abruptly halved IL Sarto’s business. The brand adapted immediately: in addition to focusing on wedding suits, and launching casual and women's clothing lines, the tailor also plans to open a store in the United Kingdom to capitalise on demand there for tailor-made clothing, particularly in London.
The trade show, established in 1991, was revamped as bi-annual event and moved from Beijing to Shanghai in 2015. In order to strengthen business connections between Hong Kong and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), and to identify more business opportunities for Hong Kong garment businesses in the GBA, the HKTDC will launch the first Hong Kong Pavilion at the China International Fashion Fair’s “CHIC Shenzhen/GBA” event – the GBA edition of the well-established CHIC Shanghai.
Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and sponsored by Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, CENTRESTAGE returns to the spotlight from 9 to 11 September. The three-day event will open to fashion buyers and also the general public, featuring a number of in-person as well as virtual exhibitions, with visitors able to immerse themselves in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) interactive experiences.
The rise of so-called “fast fashion” over the past two decades enabled consumers to buy a wider range of clothes at low prices, rapidly boosting the fashion industry worldwide – but the fast fashion trend has led to a string of environmental and sustainability concerns.
Hong Kong-born designer Winnie Tang (main picture, right) and her friend Kitty Chan (main picture, left) started their first business at the age of 14. They bought fashion items from Korea and sold them on a Hong Kong online platform, then brought them to the Australian market.
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