CHIC restarts fair business with successful debut in Shenzhen

• Successful debut: More than 42,300 visitors at the first GREATER BAY AREA INTERNATIONAL TEXTILE & APPAREL EXPO including CHIC SHENZHEN
• China's economy: Recovery and a growth forecast of 3.2 percent in the second quarter
• Core topics of trade and industry: "Sustainable fashion", "Creative design", "Supply chain construction"
• Service provider CHIC: CHIC ONLINE applet parallel to CHIC's first offline trade fair this year

"Quiet Wave" is the signature color of the CHIC kick-off event in Shenzhen. The delicate green, one of the five key colors for S/S21 by WGSN and Coloro, stands for naturalness and freshness, but also for new beginnings and optimism. This mood was clearly noticeable at the CHIC Shenzhen that just ended.

A total of 42.374 visitors took the opportunity to see the collections of the more than 2.000 companies at the “Greater Bay Area International Textile and Apparel Expo”, which took place from July 15 to 17, 2020 in Asia's most modern exhibition center, Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center. The fair was organized in compliance with all necessary safety and hygiene measures to prevent any infection. For example, visitors had to register with their ID number, were only allowed to enter with their "green code" app and a travel record and visitors from risky areas had to show evidence of a negative RNA test.

Greater Bay Area International Textile and Apparel Expo took place on over 80,000 square meters of exhibition space for CHIC Shenzhen, Intertextile, Yarn Expo and PH Value. A total of more than 2,000 exhibitors presented the entire supply chain and comprehensively showed the most modern innovations in the textile and fashion industry.

Economic activity in China is normalizing again, China's foreign trade grew by 1.5% in June, experts believe growth of more than three percent is possible in the second quarter of the year. Consumer demand is increasing, industrial production and the service sector are gaining momentum again.

"CHIC Shenzhen exceeded our expectations, especially under the difficult conditions for the preparation and implementation of the fair. We are very happy that we were able to welcome twice as many visitors as expected at CHIC. Our buyers even came from Switzerland, USA, Germany, Italy, UK and Russia. Sending their representatives who are already located in China they managed to keep up their business despite current travel restrictions. The market participants unanimously confirmed how extremely important the meeting on this platform was for the resumption of their business. The need for personal meetings is great, the match making events were used intensively and the workshops and summits were heavily frequented. The market development is positive, consumer demand is increasing, things are going up again. We are confident about the upcoming CHIC events and the market development." Chen Dapeng, President of CHIC and China National Garment Association.

Exhibitors

The collections at CHIC Shenzhen were presented in 13 trade fair segments, including URBAN VIEW (menswear), DENIM WORLD, NEW LOOK (womenswear), HERITAGE (leather & fur), CHIC TAILORING (bespoke), IMPULSES (designer collections), BAGS & SHOES, SECRET STARS (accessories), YOUNG BLOOD (young streetwear labels), CHIC KIDZ, FUTURE LINK (new technologies), etc.

In the IMPULSES area, the booth of Chinese luxury lingerie brand MERRIGE, which caused a sensation last year with the eLSi Fashion bridal collection at Milan Fashion Week, was just as much a visitor magnet as the charming collection by designer Cherry Zhuang, who skilfully innovates Western and Eastern aesthetics, connecting these two directions with each other, and who has developed a unique style.

Internationally, at HERITAGE Kopenhagen Fur and Saga Fur were represented and reported successful order activities at CHIC. In the SECRET STARS area, Asiya International Trade presented Indian cashmere scarves and shawls. iGarment, HongKong Fur Factory, Win Seng/VICACCI from Hong Kong were present with their Chinese branches.

Well-known Chinese brands showed in URBAN VIEW like Zhuangchen, Paishi or Nuohua; bespoke companies such as Fashion Dream Works, Oriental International Group or Weidu Textile presented their craftsmanship in the area of ​​CHIC TAILORING; NEW LOOK welcomed companies like Meirenji and Lyn Fong. SIIJII used YOUNG BLOOD again as a platform. In the FUTURE LINK area, i.a. the latest technology for recycled denim fibers has been presented: REPREVE, which can collect whole body data within 20 seconds.

The designer brand RICOCAO exhibited at CHIC for the first time in the IMPULSES area. RICOCAO is a young brand which was founded by the former head of design of the well known Chinese ladies wear brand Ochirly. “Our aim was to promote the brand, expand our business channel, and to see if our product is welcomed by the market. CHIC is the platform to meet some front-line franchising buyer's shops and we have met some promising potential clients. We received a very positive market response and we gained important info for our product development through our talks at CHIC.” (Mrs. Cao Aixia, founder).

SEAGULLVVO, a fashion casual brand, used CHIC to promote their online shop and ODM at the same time. They also already have offline shops in Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Wuhan and other first tier cities. “At CHIC we were able to meet buyers from Northern China.” (Mr. Luo Zheng, General Manager).

Backpack brand Doughnut: “We were surprised about the high number of visitors just after the epidemic which shows the importance of CHIC in the market. The influence of CHIC is so strong, that attracts many professional visitors. We benefit from the professional match making at the fair. The organizer can introduce clients specifically to us in a very precise way.“ (Ms. Tobey Lin, Sales Manager Mainland China).

Visitors

More than 42,300 visitors came to GREATER BAY AREA INTERNATIONAL TEXTILE & APPAREL EXPO in Shenzhen. For trade and industry, CHIC Shenzhen was one of the first opportunities in China for a face-to-face meeting on a common platform after the lockdown earlier this year.

All trade channels were represented at the fair, from large shopping mall and department store groups such as Wanda Plaza from Beijing with nationwide more than 300 points of sale (additional 45 new plazas will be opened in 2020), Liqun from Qingdao (Shandong province), R&F Global Merchandise City from Guangzhou (Guangdong province) with more than 100 sales points, and multi-brand boutiques such as Sanfu, Westlink, the Fashion Door, or 1 Wor to all relevant online platforms such as JD.com, amazon.cn, Wangyi.com, youzan.com, Ali Express etc.

"We are very happy that CHIC Shenzhen is taking place, here we have the opportunity to get a condensed overview of the offer and to network directly with our customers and exchange information. The personal level plays an important role in our business and we also need to have the products physically in front of us in order to make the right decisions for our target group. We will also go to CHIC in Shanghai at the end of September, where we will have an even bigger offer." (Ms. Huang Zhaohui, General Manager, World Link (Tianjin) Trade Co. Ltd).

"Consumption in China is slowly recovering, consumers are looking for new, fresh products and collections. We are pleased that with CHIC Shenzhen we have the opportunity to refresh and complement our portfolio. We have found new brands at the fair with which we have concluded specific business deals." (Mr. Jiang Shixiang, Owner, HanaTebako Boutique).

CHIC Events

CHIC MATCHING

Networking opportunities with key accounts from the Greater Bay Area were offered by the numerous match making events, which were very well received by exhibitors and visitors alike. On the first and second day of the fair, this indispensable sales tool was offered to the fashion brands and used by more than 240 exhibitors to network with new customers. More than 23 meetings took place at the fair. Participants such as Exceptional, Gelisi, EACHWAY, MO & CO, Wanda Plaza, the boutique of ENJOY, etc. who wanted to refresh and complement their portfolio with new styles and products, took part. From abroad, Swatch from Switzerland was there with the Chinese branch. International buyers from Italy and Pakistan joined the match making through Tencent Meeting online.

CHIC ONLINE

The CHIC online applet enabled visitors who were unable to travel to the fair due to travel restrictions to network online with the exhibitors and view their collections. This tool was used intensively, more than 180,000 clicks and over 14,000 contact requests were recorded. Heavily used during CHIC Shenzhen, the CHIC online applet continued the success of the first CHIC online fair in April this year and was able to draw from that experience and build on its technology. An instrument that continues to be offered in parallel to the offline shows.

WORKSHOPS and LECTURE SERIES

FUTURE was also the topic of the "Create Tomorrow" summit, which took place as part of the Greater Bay Area Summit. Together with WWD and China Fashion, the business magazine of the industry under the umbrella of the China National Garment Association, CHIC invited experts from the relevant areas, retail, industry and design, to discuss future-oriented topics for the fashion industry. All lectures and discussions were broadcast live.

The core topics of the workshop series were urgent content for the fashion industry: "Sustainable fashion" on the first day of the fair, "Creative design" on the second and "Supply chain construction" on the third day.

The summit location, designed by CHIC x COLORO X WGSN, was at the same time trend area and inspired participants with current color trends of the season.

All lectures and discussions were heavily frequented. The need for information and exchange is immense. The Chinese fashion industry is at a new stage of development, and the current global situation has given it a major boost. During this time, the companies have pushed ahead with the development of new technologies so that they can remain on the market and position themselves in a future-oriented manner.

Next dates CHIC, China International Fashion Fair:

CHIC Shanghai, September 25-27, 2020, National Exhibition & Convention Center
CHIC Shanghai, March 10-12, 2021, National Exhibition & Convention Center