Fashionistas rejoice. Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) has its four days dedicated to fashion, as Global Sources will throw the largest fashion show in Asia from Oct 26, after the success in the electronics, mobile electronics, and gift and home exhibitions last fortnight.

Marking its 10th anniversary this autumn, the Global Sources Fashion show is home to 1,700 booths of hip and happening sartorial items from top to toe, including accessories and footwear, apparel and fabrics, bags and luggage, plus underwear and swimwear.

Top suppliers from Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland, South Korea, India and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries will descend on the Global Sources Fashion fair - Asia's largest one-stop sourcing event - from Oct 26 to 29. The show is also chockablock with over 500 exhibitors who accept small orders and 400 exhibitors showcasing their own designs and brands, along with buyers and investors on the prowl for the next big thing.

Global Sources trade shows always prides itself with excellently building all-dimensional visitors-exhibitor interaction. It has been proven by the trade fairs for the past decades, including the current Mobile Electronics and Gift & Home shows.

The fashion show boasts its largest collection of bags and luggage in Hong Kong, as Global Sources expanded its bags and luggage pavilion this autumn to include over 15,000 pieces; whilst the trade fair also showcases the biggest assortment of footwear in the city with 150 booths of lace-ups from casual sneakers to fashion brogues.

Attention is also paid to fashion technology, by introducing innovative wearables, such as smart bags and smart footwear, to the show, as smart, functional textiles are now the bandwagon.

Long gone the era when fashion and fitness are strange bedfellows. The rapid adoption of smart textile technology in the fashion industry is set to give a $130 billion boost to the flagging wearable market by 2025, a recent report from technology consultancy Cientifica showed. This trend is seen with huge potential in the sportswear market.

Visitors to Global Sources Fashion show can expect many smart apparels not only have more mature functions, but also come with a fashionable appearance.

Above: Visitors walk between lines of garments at 2016 spring Global Sources Fashion show at AsiaWorld-Expo in April. Below left: Models showcase the latest designs during a fashion parade at the 2016 spring Global Sources Fashion show. Below right: A woman takes a close look at a display board at the 2016 spring Global Sources Fashion show. Photos Provided to China Daily

Innovation asides, sportswear is something not to be overlooked in this fashion trade fair, after athletic apparel is lapping at the edge of a growing trend in athleisure where yoga pants and hoodies are elevated by luxury brands and fabrics.

The expo floor will unveil the largest collection of sports and activewear in town, with over 450 booths demonstrating sport wearables suitable for any sport activities from yoga to scuba diving.

Emerging local designers, meanwhile, are under the limelight throughout the fashion show. Young & Rising Designers Corner will be set up to unveil young talents from local fashion and design institutes and independent labels, connecting buyers with nascent sartorial entrepreneurs, and at the same time, helping shift attention from the city's consumerism to its creativity.

New creations by these Young & Rising designers, along with analysts' choice products from exhibitors, will be presented in the show's Fashion Parades.

Products from up-and-coming Asian fashion hubs, such as India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and the Philippines, will also be uncovered in the show's New Markets pavilion by Hinrich Foundation.

Although China remains the world's largest apparel and textile factory, with export value of 30 trillion yen ($290 billion), buyers are hunting for alternative destination in Southeast Asia for low labor cost and expected tariff cuts - brought by the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.

Vietnam, for example, is emerging as a potential new textile hub. The country's textile export will double in the decade from 2015 to $55 billion, according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association.

The New Market pavilion in the fashion shows aims to highlight this sartorial trend to buyers.

Among the thousands of pre-registered buyers are established labels, including Adidas, Cotton On, Gap, Kate Spade, Laura Ashley, Max Mara, Ralph Lauren, Ripley, Zalora and more.

Besides the expositions, the Global Sources Fashion show is underscored with the conferences on pressing topics, including "Smart China Sourcing", "Visionary Intelligence", and "eFashion Source2Sell" for Amazon as well as online sellers.

The Global Sources Fashion show is part of the Global Sources 2016 fall shows, which run from Oct 11 to 29 at AWE, and comprise two other shows - Global Sources Electronics, Global Sources Gifts & Home. The trade event unveils innovative products in the consumer electronics, mobile electronics, gifts and home, and fashion categories, offered by more than 8,500 booths from around the globe. And over 60,000 buyers from 150 countries and regions are expected to flock to the innovation incubation center.

Founded in 1970, Global Sources, a leading business-to-business media company, has been listed on the Nasdaq since 2000.

feliks@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 10/20/2016 page7)