The trade fair will be complemented by a series of fringe events of topical interest to the professional visitors and exhibitors thus making APLF a truly integrated event combining marketing, commercial, intelligence and educational activities. Two annual trade conferences – Global Footwear Retail Conference 2017 and Sustainability in the Leather Supply Chain Conference will both take place again on the 2nd day of the fair.

APLF covers the whole supply chain from raw materials to manufacturing to fashion trends in two trade fairs that make up the complete event. These are:

• APLF Leather & Materials+
• Fashion Access

APLF was rebranded APLF Leather & Materials+ in mid 2016 so as to move with the changing trends in manufacturing. The leather exhibits and their supply chain will be unaffected by the relocation of the materials and components sector to Halls 3F – 3G but there will still be synergy between the two sectors as leather and synthetics come together to manufacture much top range sports footwear. Moreover, many potential customers will be exhibiting at the Fashion Access concurrent event held on Level 3 of the venue.

The relaunch of the materials and components sector as Material+ is in response to the growing trend of athleisure / streetchic and active wear taking a larger share of the fashion sector especially for millenials and now, gradually, Generation Z. There will be more demand for performance and advanced materials as used in athleisure footwear and clothing. The phenomenal growth of this sector continues on all major continents and has to be satisfied by increased supplies of suitable materials and components.

The APLF Leather fair is sold out two months before the event takes place and so far 21 group pavilions have confirmed their participation at what is more than ever the Meeting Place for the Global Leather Industry.

The Organisers expect more than 1,100 exhibitors from 42 countries and regions, including Uganda as one of the new exhibiting country at APLF. At least 16,000 professional buyers and technicians from the international tanning and manufacturing sectors will visit APLF Leather & Materials+.

In March 2017, Fashion Access will bring into focus athleisure or sports fashion, a trend that continues to gain strength, particularly amongst Asian youth.

The athleisure trend has been and is still be driven by millenials (consumers born in the early 1980’s and also labelled Generation Y). In the case of China, its active wear / athleisure market isbooming driven by a cultural shift towards fitness. From 2014 to 2015, China's sportswear market grew from US$23.9 billion to US$26.6 billion, according to Euromonitor Mintel. In 2015, the market grew at 18 percent. “It is reasonable to forecast the market growing to about US$32.81 billion by 2020,” says Matthew Crabbe, Mintel’s director of research for Asia Pacific.

In recognition of the importance of the designer fraternity Fashion Access will feature a new section at the fair called Designer Street that is made up of new and up-and-coming fashion brands primarily from Asia.

The 3rd Global Footwear Retail Conference 2017 (GFRC) will be hosted once again at Fashion Access after the success of its first two editions.

Footwear retail is changing year-on-year and is now a multichannel business and not just limited to tradition brick and mortar outlets. More consumers are buying online as e-commerce continues to expand worldwide.

This year’s conference will have as its main segments the following topics:

• Political choices reshaping the world: what impact on the footwear retail industry?
• The evolution of footwear distribution in China: offline / online
• Disruptive technologies in footwear retail: Virtual Reality, Live streaming, 3D printing. Will they bring customers back to the stores or keep them home?
• Footwear consumer’s preferences: Athletics, Activewear, Smart footwear, unisex style……

Previous speakers from renowned companies include Alibaba, Belle, KPMG, Footwear Distribution Retailer Association and more. Click here for the full programme and register now for complimentary media entry.

Design-a-Bag online competition

This is the opportunity for young and up-and-coming designers to participate at international level by submitting their own online bag designs that will also be judged online by a panel of experts.

This year there are 160 design entries from 26 countries including Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, Estonia, France, Greece, Hong Kong (SAR), India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States & Vietnam.

The Facebook favourite design polling is now open until 10 February, designs are available on the Design-a-Bag Facebook page so that a wider audience can participate. Three finalists will present their design prototype at Fashion Access for overall winner judging. For more details, please visit: www.designaccess-fa.com.

Media registration now open

Media registration for the fair is now open, register for a complimentary press badge to access the 2 shows. By mid-February there will be a further detailed on APLF and Fashion Access’ programme of activities to keep the international media up to speed.

APLF, Hong Kong
(17/02/2017)