CENTRESTAGEâ€â€which took place from 4-7 September at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) â€â€became the talk of the town attracting exceptional fashion brands, designers, buyers, media and fashionistas. The event showcased about 240 local and overseas brands. Key brands from Hong Kong included Artistic Palace, 112 mountainyam, ARTO, DEMO, DORISKATH, FAKE FAN, HARRISON WONG, KENAXLEUNG, METHODOLOGY, TAK L and YDMH. Overseas brands include AXOXYXOXS (Macau), Banana Orange (Mainland China), Brian Chen Bridal (Taiwan), CHENG PAI CHENG (Taiwan), Daily Mirror (Korea), DANBOKUN NO NIKKI (Japan), MIESU (India), NATURINO (Italy), SINA NOORI (France) and more.
About 20 fashion shows were held during CENTRESTAGE. On September 4, the large-scale opening gala fashion show, CENTRESTAGE ELITES, spotlighted two top fashion designers for the first time to present their pre-spring 2020 collections on global runway, including Anais Mak from Hong Kong’s brand ANAÃÂS JOURDEN and Joseph Altuzarra from American brand ALTUZARRA. The renowned Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest (YDC) 2019 was held on September 7 as the finale of CENTRESTAGE. Japanese fashion designer, Mihara Yasuhiro, is the VIP judge who shared his insights and ideas with the finalists.
A series of insightful seminars and panels such as the Meet the Visionaries Series and Trend Talk Series were hosted by fashion design masters and industry experts, with a focus on upcoming fashion trends. Fashion Summit (HK) 2019, a large-scale summit in Asia on fashion sustainability, was held concurrently. Under the theme “Achieving the Goalsâ€Â, the two-day conference gathered industry experts to discuss hot industry topics.
The final day of CENTRESTAGE, titled “OPENSTAGEâ€Â, opened to public visitors aged 12 and above free of charge. To spread the fashion buzz to the wider community, the Hong Kong in Fashion citywide campaign was held from August to September in collaboration with over 90 partners, including fashion boutiques, fashion design institutes, restaurants and hotels. More than 90 events were held across the city for public participation, including workshops, competitions, fashion parades and exhibitions.
Hong Kong and India have enjoyed robust bilateral trade relations on a range of products and services over the years. Adding to the Hong Kong’s business advantages, HKTDC gathers the latest market intelligence and form partnerships to develop business for corporations. HKTDC organises more than 30 exhibitions in Hong Kong every year.
During the press conference in Delhi, Rampat Gupta, HKTDC, Delhi Consultant, announced that nine international fairs, which cover watches and clocks, fashion, electronic products, lighting products, green products, optical products as well as wine and spirits, will be held in Hong Kong from September to November. These fairs serve as ideal platforms for traders and suppliers from India to expand their businesses into new markets. The fairs are as below:
• HKTDC Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair (3-7 September 2019)
• CENTRESTAGE (4-7 September 2019)
• HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition) (13-16 October 2019)
• electronicAsia (13-16 October 2019)
• HKTDC Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition) (27-30 October 2019)
• HKTDC Hong Kong International Outdoor and Tech Light Expo (29 October – 1 November 2019)
• Eco Expo Asia – International Trade Fair on Environmental Protection (30 Oct- 2November 2019)
• HKTDC Hong Kong International Optical Fair (6-8 November 2019)
• HKTDC Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair (7-9 November 2019)
“The HKTDC’s some 30 fairs attracted over 39,000 exhibitors and over 770,000 visitors from all over the world in 2018-19.†Gupta said. He looked forward to welcoming more corporations in Delhi to explore business opportunities and tap into global markets through HKTDC exhibitions. He also highly encouraged all buyers, distributors and retailers from India to come to Hong Kong for sourcing.
India is Hong Kong’s eighth largest trading partner. Until May 2019, the total trade value between the two places reached $9.77 billion. In which, India was Hong Kong’s fourth major export market with a total export value of $5.6 billion and ninth largest import source with an import value of $4.17 billion.