Interfilière Hong Kong closed its doors for the 7th time on a positive note at the end of March, with a 5% increase in overseas visitors. For the 2013 show, the organiser, Eurovet, focused on bringing innovation and creativity to the show to inspire Asian and international designers and buyers. Eurovet says the show had a very high international attendance on day one which reaffirmed the importance of Hong Kong as a centre for intimates and swimwear.

“The overall feeling at Interfilière Hong Kong was unanimous, exhibitors are reassured and finished the show with confidence while the visitors met qualitative exhibitors and participated in value-adding seminars and conferences,” Eurovet said.

170 international exhibitors took part at Interfilière Hong Kong showcasing their latest collections, patterns and techniques spread over the 5000 square metres exhibition hall of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. The exhibitors’ products covered the full spectrum of the intimates and swimwear sector from fabrics, accessories, lace, embroidery, textile design to OEM/ODM and technology.

But despite a 4% decrease in overall attendance over the two days, the trade show maintained its quality in both exhibitors and visitors - 60% of visitors were major buyers including CEOs, managing directors, heads of purchasing or buying departments as well as designers.

Eurovet says a business atmosphere “was highly present” during both days as near to closing on day two, visitors were still actively negotiating. This year, 3200 industry visitors from 45 countries visited the show.

TOP 10 visiting countries

1. China 2. Taiwan 3. Thailand 4. South Korea 5. US  6. France 7. Japan 8. Russia 9. India 10. UK

Interfilière Hong Kong has differentiated itself over the last 7 years through the quality of exhibitors and industry visitors it’s attracting, Eurovet states. “South America has become an important partner of Interfiliere Hong Kong, especially Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Puerto Rico.”

Following the trend of last year, Central European and Eastern European countries have turned into loyal visitors of the show - some of the countries that stood out are Czech Republic, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia and Russia.

When focusing on Asia, Southeast Asian countries were well represented with returning visiting countries - Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and Malaysia while attracting new visitors from Vietnam. Additionally, India and Bangladesh were more prominent, Eurovet adds. Some other regions and countries in the world gained visibility this edition and the organiser also saw growing interest from Canada and the United Arab Emirates.

Cosmetic textiles

Besides the innovation brought by exhibitors, several exclusive events and seminars took place during the show. Interfilière Hong Kong pioneered the first cosmetic textile project in Asia - together with the French Knitting and Lingerie Federation, they brought the Poly-Sensorial Zone and educated many Asian and international industry professionals further on the specifications, applications and technology involved when using these advanced materials.

Students from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, BA programme (Hons) in Fashion and Textiles with specialism in Intimate Apparel also collaborated on the project and created six inspirational prototypes with functional and cosmetic fabrics. In addition, the French Knitting and Lingerie Federation supplemented the interactive zone with a ‘Cosmetic Textiles symposium’, in which several industry players took part.

Some of the companies involved in the symposium were - Robert Blondel Cosmetiques, which provides the technology to create cosmetic textiles, Cosmetic Wear which brought more information from an end-users perspective and fabric suppliers including Brugnoli Giovanni, Cosmetic wear, Penn Textile Solutions and Textile Prestige.

“The event was a great insight into the world of state-of-the-art technology and Interfiliere Hong Kong looks forward to bringing the next generation of poly-sensorial fabrics to the 8th edition of the show on April 1-2, 2014,” Eurovet said.

The Trend Forum, titled ‘Enlightened for the future’ based in the centre was the heart of the show and this year the four core themes were So SHAPE, So SEXY, So GORGEOUS and So BEACH. Exhibitors and visitors commented on the trend forum saying it was illustrative and instructive giving a good synopsis of the latest trends in the lingerie and swimwear sectors.

The Denim Couture Project created by Concepts Paris, together with some of the most creative exhibitors was very popular. The project explored the creative influence of the denim industry and how a basic fabric can become a delicate and refined piece of lingerie or swimwear.

According to Eurovet, all seminars were highly spoken about by attendees and ‘10 Trends Not To Miss’ by Jennifer Kell from Concepts Paris made the conference room overflow. Interfilière Hong Kong also welcomed Peter Bartsch, head of marketing apparel at Lenzing Fibers, who introduced their latest innovation Tencel C, a sustainable manmade cellulosic recognised for its smoothness and softness.

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