hkskyline
January 19th, 2005, 11:53 PM
Behind fashion's glitz, Hong Kong does the dirty work
Wed Jan 19,12:13 AM ET
HONG KONG (AFP) - As fashion events go, Hong Kong's Fashion Week lacks the glamour and the celebrities of its star-studded counterparts in Europe.
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Models display evening gowns and headdresses by Hong Kong Fashion designer Ika, during a Fall Winter 2005 Fashion Week show, in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2005. (AP Photo/Anat Givon)
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r4016081177.jpg
Models present creations by Hong Kong designer William Tang titled 'Dim Sum,' during the Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2005, in Hong Kong January 19, 2005. Fashion Week will be held from January 18-21. REUTERS/Kin Cheung
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r1000230887.jpg
A model presents a creation, featuring Mao Zedong, former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, by Hong Kong designer William Tang with the title 'Dim Sum,' during the Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2005, in Hong Kong January 19, 2005. Fashion Week will be held from January 18-21. REUTERS/Kin Cheung
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r2308615030.jpg
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r1023167318.jpg
Models present the creations of Hong Kong designer William Tang with title 'Dim Sum,' in front of the portrait of Queen Elizabeth, as Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997, during Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2005 in Hong Kong January 19, 2005. The Fashion Week will be held from January 18-21. REUTERS/Kin Cheung
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r1526683884.jpg
A model presents a creation by South Korean designer Seung Moo Lee during Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2005 in Hong Kong, January 19, 2005. Fashion Week will be held from January 18-21. REUTERS/Kin Cheung
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r2784007213.jpg
A model presents a creation by South Korean designer Jeong Woo Lee during Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2005, in Hong Kong January 19, 2005. Fashion Week will be held from January 18-21. REUTERS/Kin Cheung
But while couturiers gear up this week to showcase their latest designs at the European fashion season's opening event in Milan, the southern Chinese city is busy doing the behind-the-scene deals that keep the industry ticking.
The former British colony has become a major focus for the side of the fashion business rarely seen in glossy magazines: it is where designers find the factories that will make their collections.
Instead of the towering models strutting moodily down catwalks in skimpy clothes, Hong Kong's fashion expo -- which opened Tuesday -- is full of mostly Chinese businessmen promoting the factories and manufacturers that make the frocks that are sold on Fifth Avenue and the Champs Elysee.
"Absolutely everyone from the huge fashion houses to the small start-ups come here to source manufacturers," said Katie Young, the brains behind Forever Young, a new label about to be launched in London. "The models go to Milan, but the businesspeople come here."
Hong Kong's Fashion Week has prospered thanks largely to its proximity to southern China, the oft-quoted "factory of the world", where a the World Trade Organisation estimates that 27 percent of the world's textiles were made in 2003.
With the expiration on January 1 of a global textiles-production quota deal expected to benefit China's low-cost producers, Hong Kong's status as a vital cog in the fashion wheel is likely to grow.
"China is where the fashion world is centred now and that's why I and other designers come to Hong Kong," said Young.
"There are contacts for what seems like millions of factories in China here -- if not the factories then agents for the factories," said the British designer.
While Hong Kong Fashion Week is trying to establish itself as a showcase for Asian designers, it's on the trading floors where 1,087 manufacturers and their agents have this year set up shop that the big business is done.
Row upon row of trade booths promote factories and manufacturers that make anything from T-shirts to ball gowns and specialist sports wear to babies' clothes.
There are hundreds of specialist producers too: there are 13 exhibitors, for example, that make nothing but zips and 29 whose sole business is to make labels.
"There aren't really many other shows where you can meet people that can make every part of your collection," said Young, who is launching her first collection at next month's London fashion week.
"I come here at least twice a year, if not to do deals then at least to compare prices with other manufacturers."
The Chinese exhibitors are the biggest draw here, and they act like a vortex pulling in manufacturers from all over the world hoping to get a slice of the giant nation's mushroom economy.
"It makes sense to come here because this is where the world's manufacturers come and show off their expertise," said Rina Antara, product development manager for manufacturer Mama and Leon, based in Bali, Indonesia.
"Because it has so many manufacturers it attracts the designers and the agents who need collections made," she added.
According to Young, designers would once have gone to agents in their home countries who would hive out work to a roster of manufacturers in China. The system works well, says Young, but is costly.
"So you find that more and more people like me are coming to this show where we can meet direct with the factory owners and cut out the middle man."
Wed Jan 19,12:13 AM ET
HONG KONG (AFP) - As fashion events go, Hong Kong's Fashion Week lacks the glamour and the celebrities of its star-studded counterparts in Europe.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20050119/capt.hkg11901191611.hong_kong_fashion_hkg119.jpg
Models display evening gowns and headdresses by Hong Kong Fashion designer Ika, during a Fall Winter 2005 Fashion Week show, in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2005. (AP Photo/Anat Givon)
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r4016081177.jpg
Models present creations by Hong Kong designer William Tang titled 'Dim Sum,' during the Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2005, in Hong Kong January 19, 2005. Fashion Week will be held from January 18-21. REUTERS/Kin Cheung
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r1000230887.jpg
A model presents a creation, featuring Mao Zedong, former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, by Hong Kong designer William Tang with the title 'Dim Sum,' during the Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2005, in Hong Kong January 19, 2005. Fashion Week will be held from January 18-21. REUTERS/Kin Cheung
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r2308615030.jpg
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r1023167318.jpg
Models present the creations of Hong Kong designer William Tang with title 'Dim Sum,' in front of the portrait of Queen Elizabeth, as Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997, during Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2005 in Hong Kong January 19, 2005. The Fashion Week will be held from January 18-21. REUTERS/Kin Cheung
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r1526683884.jpg
A model presents a creation by South Korean designer Seung Moo Lee during Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2005 in Hong Kong, January 19, 2005. Fashion Week will be held from January 18-21. REUTERS/Kin Cheung
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050119/i/r2784007213.jpg
A model presents a creation by South Korean designer Jeong Woo Lee during Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2005, in Hong Kong January 19, 2005. Fashion Week will be held from January 18-21. REUTERS/Kin Cheung
But while couturiers gear up this week to showcase their latest designs at the European fashion season's opening event in Milan, the southern Chinese city is busy doing the behind-the-scene deals that keep the industry ticking.
The former British colony has become a major focus for the side of the fashion business rarely seen in glossy magazines: it is where designers find the factories that will make their collections.
Instead of the towering models strutting moodily down catwalks in skimpy clothes, Hong Kong's fashion expo -- which opened Tuesday -- is full of mostly Chinese businessmen promoting the factories and manufacturers that make the frocks that are sold on Fifth Avenue and the Champs Elysee.
"Absolutely everyone from the huge fashion houses to the small start-ups come here to source manufacturers," said Katie Young, the brains behind Forever Young, a new label about to be launched in London. "The models go to Milan, but the businesspeople come here."
Hong Kong's Fashion Week has prospered thanks largely to its proximity to southern China, the oft-quoted "factory of the world", where a the World Trade Organisation estimates that 27 percent of the world's textiles were made in 2003.
With the expiration on January 1 of a global textiles-production quota deal expected to benefit China's low-cost producers, Hong Kong's status as a vital cog in the fashion wheel is likely to grow.
"China is where the fashion world is centred now and that's why I and other designers come to Hong Kong," said Young.
"There are contacts for what seems like millions of factories in China here -- if not the factories then agents for the factories," said the British designer.
While Hong Kong Fashion Week is trying to establish itself as a showcase for Asian designers, it's on the trading floors where 1,087 manufacturers and their agents have this year set up shop that the big business is done.
Row upon row of trade booths promote factories and manufacturers that make anything from T-shirts to ball gowns and specialist sports wear to babies' clothes.
There are hundreds of specialist producers too: there are 13 exhibitors, for example, that make nothing but zips and 29 whose sole business is to make labels.
"There aren't really many other shows where you can meet people that can make every part of your collection," said Young, who is launching her first collection at next month's London fashion week.
"I come here at least twice a year, if not to do deals then at least to compare prices with other manufacturers."
The Chinese exhibitors are the biggest draw here, and they act like a vortex pulling in manufacturers from all over the world hoping to get a slice of the giant nation's mushroom economy.
"It makes sense to come here because this is where the world's manufacturers come and show off their expertise," said Rina Antara, product development manager for manufacturer Mama and Leon, based in Bali, Indonesia.
"Because it has so many manufacturers it attracts the designers and the agents who need collections made," she added.
According to Young, designers would once have gone to agents in their home countries who would hive out work to a roster of manufacturers in China. The system works well, says Young, but is costly.
"So you find that more and more people like me are coming to this show where we can meet direct with the factory owners and cut out the middle man."