HONG KONG, March 16 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- If one word can be used to define leather these days, that word would be "fashion." The demand is for more colours, and an ever-widening range of uses: "breathable" and waterproof, harder-wearing, greater comfort and lighter in weight. Leather is the material of choice for footwear, bags, upholstery, garments, belts, and hats. The industry continues to change to meet the range of uses of this premium material.
(Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/2010/03/16/20100316962620.jpg )
To view those changes, and prepare for those soon to come, the APLF - Materials, Manufacturing & Technology (MM&T) (http://www.mmt.aplf.com ) exhibition is a "must attend" event.
APLF - MM&T is held annually in Hong Kong; the 2010 event runs March 29 - 31. With 26 years experience under its belt, the show is generally recognised as the premiere international leather & materials and components event in Asia.
In 2009, despite industry-wide concern about the global economy, the positive mood at the Hong Kong exhibition laid many of those concerns to rest. Leather remained in high demand, especially for the high-end and luxury markets.
Leather can be used to great effect when combined with other materials. This ensures its continued popularity with fashion designers and high street shoppers. Increasingly, the market is combining leather with the fast growing high-performance fabric sector. Longchamp and Gucci are just two examples where this wedding of leather and other top-end fabrics is proving popular.
Visitors to APLF - MM&T will be able to view and evaluate these high-performance fabrics alongside leather.
All this and more, much more, can be seen at APLF - MM&T. The event covers the entire spectrum of leather making: raw-, semi- and finished hides and skins, dyes and chemicals, tannery machinery, CAD/CAM, and support services.
The fair also allows for invaluable face-to-face discussion, keeping abreast of new innovation, developments and market intelligence, networking, adding contacts and discovering new potential customers and suppliers.
Building on the upbeat mood, extra exhibition space has been made available to accommodate many previous exhibitors demanding more space this year and 100+ first-time exhibitors, almost doubling 2009. More space has been booked in several national pavilions: with that of Turkey increased by over 20%, and larger pavilions for Korea, Pakistan, Portugal (and China, located in the Synthetic Material Section).
To date, the Raw Materials and Finished Leather sections remain the largest groups, with 61% of the total fair space which includes an 8.4% increase. Tanning Machinery is up over 20% with 44 Tanning Machine suppliers from China, France, Germany, Italy, Korea and Turkey.
Many exhibitors have booked larger booths than before. The move to increased stand size made it necessary for an expansion into Hall 3F (shared with concurrent finished products fair, Fashion Access).
Visitor numbers are looking good with promising visitor pre-registration numbers including buyers from companies such as Coach, Bally, Ecco, K-Swiss, Li & Fung, Hugo Boss, Adidas, Bauhaus, Debenhams, Diesel, Lane Crawford, LVMH, Marks & Spencer, Calvin Klein, Armani, Celine, Kwanpen, H&M, Clarks, Lacoste, Cole Haan, New Balance, Li-Ning, Aokang, Levi Strauss, and Next.
These are just a few of the well-known brands. Hidden away in the lists are the companies poised to be the Coach or Bally of tomorrow.
If you don't attend, you won't find out.
As usual APLF - MM&T is held alongside Fashion Access, the finished products fair offering head-to-toe fashion, and, again visitors registered at one can gain entry to the other.
Prime Source Form: it too runs concurrently. The event brings together top executives from leading companies - this year including LVMH, Li & Fung and Hugo Boss - where they can meet in a neutral environment to discuss problems and opportunities.
About APLF Limited
APLF Limited is a joint venture between UBM Asia Limited and SIC SA, Paris and is managed in Asia by UBM Asia Limited.
For fair details, please contact:
Ms Perrine Ardouin, Senior Event Manager
Email: Perrine.Ardouin@ubm.com
For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms Emily Chan, Marketing Communications Executive
Email: Emily.Chan@ubm.com
APLF Limited
17/F China Resources Building
26 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tel: +852-2827-6211
Fax: +852-2827-7831
Website: http://www.aplf.com
