Europe’s largest ready-to-wear event, Istanbul Ready-to-Wear and Fashion Fair (Istanbul Fashion Connection-IFCO) has started.
The fifth fair, organized by the Istanbul Ready-made Clothing and Apparel Exporters’ Association (IHKIB), in cooperation with the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) and with the support of the Ministry of Commerce, opened its doors at the Istanbul Expo Center.
The opening of the fair, which is Europe’s largest ready-made clothing fair, brings together global ready-made clothing purchasing groups and thousands of buyers, and is expected to host 30 thousand buyers from 5 continents, was held with the participation of the Minister of Trade Omer Bolat and the Governor of Istanbul Davut Gul.
Speaking at the opening of the fair, Mustafa Gultepe, President of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) and IHKIB, stated that the demand for ready-made clothing in global markets has been slow for 1.5 years, and that the horizontal course of the exchange rate, despite the high cost increases in the same period, has damaged the competitiveness of the sector.
Stating that things have not been going as desired in ready-made clothing exports for a while, Gultepe said:
“We predict that global markets will revive after the second half of the year. We perceive the interest shown in our fair from abroad as the first signals of this movement. The fashion industry is one of the sectors that first react to the developments in the markets. We will enter a period of recovery as of the second half of the year. We build our game plans and strategies according to long-term goals. In the long term, we want to take our country higher in the champions league of the fashion industry with exports of $40 billion. We are developing projects that will increase our designed, innovative and branded production capacity. We are developing projects that will raise awareness in the sector in order to turn green transformation into an opportunity.”
“We are planning a recruitment delegation of 400-500 people in Istanbul in May or June.”
Mustafa Gultepe reminded that Turkiye closed January with $20 billion of exports and stated that they showed the highest January performance of all time.
Stating that starting the year with a record is a morale boost for exporters, Gultepe said, “We have a target of $267 billion of goods and $110 billion of service exports for this year. We predict that we will easily reach our target despite the continuing stagnation in global markets. Of course, as TIM, we will evaluate all opportunities to achieve the highest performance and continue to bring our exporters together with buyers.”
Stating that they will give special importance to trade and purchasing delegations this year, Gultepe said, “This year, we are planning an intensive trade delegation for major markets, especially the USA. We are planning a purchasing delegation of 400-500 people in Istanbul in May or June. With this delegation, we will bring together our exporters with buyers and introduce Istanbul to the world.”
ITO President Sekib Avdagic also said that he believes that IFCO will make significant contributions to the goal of making Istanbul a fashion center.
Emphasizing that the ready-made clothing industry should also take steps to meet the expectations of the new era, such as branding and green transformation, Avdagic pointed out that if this is not achieved, there will be a risk of losing existing markets.
“Nearly 600 distinguished companies are taking part in our fair”
IHKIB Vice President Mustafa Pasahan stated that they made Istanbul the meeting point of the global fashion industry with IFCO and that they hosted more than 100 thousand visitors from nearly 170 countries in the first four IFCOs.
Stating that they are preparing very ambitiously for the 5th IFCO, as in the previous ones, Pasahan continued as follows:
“We brought all our product groups together under one roof in a total area of 100 thousand square meters. We will have special sections again this season. In the Core Istanbul area, our country’s leading fashion designers will hold meetings with buyer companies from abroad. Our evening dress and groom suit companies will exhibit their assertive collections in the Fashionist special section, and our underwear and socks companies will exhibit their assertive collections in the Linexpo special section. Nearly 600 distinguished companies are present at our fair. We will host purchasing delegations from target and distant countries, especially the USA, Germany and England. Our participating companies and visitors will hold bilateral business meetings and sign new collaborations.”
IFCO fair, which opened in eight halls on a total area of 100 thousand square meters, will host visitors until the evening of February 10.
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz