First Hong Kong Fashion Fest aims to put city on haute couture design map Is Hong Kong’s fashion design industry having a moment? Hot on the heels of this month’s Chanel Cruise 2024/25 show at the Hong Kong Design Institute – attended by the likes of French model Caroline de Maigret and Spanish actress Penélope Cruz – the city is to host the first “Hong Kong Fashion Fest” from November 20 to December 4. Sponsored by the city’s Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency, part of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the new event, intended to be held annually is focused on haute couture, or high-end fashion. It sets out to consolidate existing fashion and textile design events to reaffirm “Hong Kong’s position as a prime destination for hosting major cultural and creative events”, says Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, the secretary for culture, sports and tourism and the chairman of the Hong Kong Fashion Designers Association. Catwalk shows, exhibitions, seminars and masterclasses will be held across the city. Some industry insiders, however, believe Hong Kong needs to be much more competitive in attracting international attention to establish itself as a fashion hub in the region. Other Asian cities have hosted fashion weeks for years. Tokyo Fashion Week, for example, has long been a major player on the world stage alongside “the Big Four” – New York, London, Milan and Paris. Recent years have also seen the emergence of Seoul Fashion Week in South Korea, while Shanghai Fashion Week has been showcasing home-grown brands for China’s domestic market. Harrison Wong, a Hong Kong fashion designer, says the city’s market is tiny in comparison. His ready-to-wear menswear brand has a client base of 70 per cent Hongkongers, with the rest coming from overseas. Wong adds he and his fellow designers have to attend bigger fashion weeks to connect with international buyers. “I go to Paris every season,” he says. “They have more buyers. If I am there, I have a better chance for business.” Hong Kong was once a manufacturing powerhouse, with a booming textile and garment industry in the 1960s and 70s, before it shifted to mainland China as a result of soaring rent and labour costs. Still, thanks to its geographical advantages – the city sits on the border of mainland China and has connections to many other countries in the region – as well as low taxes and tariffs, and solid financial and legal systems, Hong Kong can still be a player on the international fashion scene. The city has plenty of talent, too – such as fashion designer Robert Wun, the first Hong Kong designer to show on schedule at Paris Haute Couture Week, in January 2023. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s school of design ranked 19th in arts and design in the 2024 QS World University Rankings by Subject, compiled by higher education analytics firm Quacquarelli Symonds. The Hong Kong Design Institute agrees that Hong Kong fashion design students can compete with designers around the world, as many have won competitions. Yeung says Hong Kong’s fashion design sector has been short on sartorial techniques ever since production was moved out of the city, which is why masterclasses will be hosted during the coming event – to help improve the craftsmanship of Hong Kong designers. Hong Kong financial secretary Paul Chan announced HK$2.9 billion (US$370 million) will be injected into the CreateSmart Initiative – set up in 2009 to develop the city’s creative industries – in the 2024/25 financial year, which will benefit the fashion design industry. Fashion Farm Foundation, a government-funded initiative set up in 2012, takes emerging Hong Kong-based designers to Paris Fashion Week for exposure, experience and opportunities. Wong says there should be more funding and support for fashion designers in the city to run and display their collections, instead of just focusing on one spectacle. “Unfortunately, not every designer can afford a runway show,” says Wong. “This is why it is important to put in more resources here, allowing more designers to showcase their collection. “A fashion week is necessary so that others can know about Hong Kong fashion designers. Hong Kong fashion exists.” https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3286740/first-hong-kong-fashion-fest-aims-put-city-haute-couture-design-map (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post