While the global economy is shaken by increasing the US tariffs, numerous players met from April 27th to 30th: inside of the Asian fashion industry in Hong Kong, to visit the Fashion Instyle trade fair and the first edition of the Next@Fashion Instyle area. Fashionunited was on site to feel the pulse of the label ‘Made in Asia’.
At the end of April there was a lot of hustle and bustle in the huge Convention and Exhibition Center on the edge of the sea arm, which Hong Kong divides into two parts. In parallel to the Fashion Instyle, six other large trade fairs took place: Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair, Home Instyle, Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair, Deluxe Printpack Hong Kong, Hong Kong International Licensing Show and Asian Licensing Conference. They attracted a total of 100,000 buyers from 131 countries and regions. Fashion Instyle attracted 11,000 of them. Despite the concern for increasing the US tariffs to imports from more than 60 countries, including China-Donald Trump’s main goal-the mood in the corridors was optimistic.
According to a survey carried out by HKTDC Research in March 2025, there were a number of strategies – diversification of the sources of supply, expansion to new markets and relocation of the production lines – the focus of the efforts of many export -oriented companies in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), which, among other things, is commissioned to promote the city as an investment center, is of the opinion that these precautions will help companies to reduce the negative effects of current or future protectionist measures.
“The image of ‘Made in China’ changes”
Among the 400 exhibitors of the Fashion Instyle produce some directly for large international brands and corporations such as Zara or H&M, while others work with Asian middlemen: inside. They come from China, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan and Hong Kong.
“The image of Made in China and the creation in China is changing,” notes a representative of the Chinese company Textile Library based in Hangzhou. His observation coincides with the aim of the Next@Fashion Instyle project, the area in which he exhibits and who wants to present an Asian production far from stereotypes. To achieve this, the new area integrated into the Fashion Instyle area is located in an appealingly staged area that is delimited by a graphically designed carpet. According to a presentation brochure, “a number of avant -garde fashion projects” will be exhibited, which reflect “culture and inheritance, innovations and sustainability”.
Textile library today occupies the biggest state of the fair, but began ten years ago like everyone else with a significantly smaller stand at other trade fairs. The innovations include a down jacket, the feed of which consists of a conductive textile. To demonstrate this, the employees keep: a light bulb on the inside of the garment, and it lights up as soon as it touches the material. A raincoat is also striking, the material of which makes a pattern visible when contacting water.
The Textile Library team explains that the company develops the materials, but also designs the clothes – each of the pieces presented at the fair bears the textile library label. The company works with foreign clothing stamps, but now wants to cooperate with China or local companies.
The Next@Fashion Instyle area presents around sixty companies, many of which come from Asia. Among them: Algafila, which produces an organic material from algae; Advance Denim, a company founded in 1987 that writes on its website to have taken several measures to reduce its environmental pollution; Or DD Nature Craft, which develops a hemp -based textile.
Each of these companies was invited to work with young local designers: to create several silhouettes that were presented at a fashion show as part of the fair. An attractive way to show the world that “Made in Asia” is not only equivalent to polyester, polyurethane and acrylic-materials that are used by the many Asian companies that are located at the stands around the Next@Fashion Instyle area.
The Asian market, an accelerator for “sustainable fashion”?
In the middle of the majority of Asian exhibitors: there are some stands inside that are occupied by a minority of Western exhibitors: inside, including from Great Britain, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. Including, for example, the British company Modern Synthesis, which is known for its cooperation with the fashion brand Ganni at a pocket collection made of nanocellulose.
According to Han Chong, the founder of the British brand Self-Portrait and Ambassador of Next@Fashion Instyle, the Asian areas play a key role in the spread of so-called sustainable materials on a large scale. At a press conference at the fair: “In order to be able to produce a sustainable fabric at a good price, you need a large volume, and China and Hong Kong order very large quantities. So you have to start from platforms like this in order to be able to reduce the prices for the rest of the world.”
This vision, which is based on Made in China as a platform for the development and distribution of materials with lower environmental impacts, contradicts the image of the environmental factory that is commonly connected to it.
However, the presence of modern synthesis at the fair seems to confirm the theory set up by Han Chong. The London company has developed a material from a bacterium that is obtained from Kombucha. The strength of this biotext style with low environmental pollution makes it a convincing replacement for polyurethane. According to pilot projects, Jean Keane, CEO and co -founder, wants to start production on a larger scale. “We are now thinking of a European and finally an Asian production,” she told fashionunited.
“It is the first time that we exhibit here, and it is great to meet local brands because they start to become much more aware of the challenge of sustainability. So we can get involved here on the market, but also with many different manufacturers: Interior, talk to those who manufacture accessories, as well as with textile factories with which we can work with to develop our process.”
The managing director explains that she produces modest size in London Panele, but she works on large -scale attempts to be ready for mass production. “At the moment we are concentrating on the attempts with the manufacturers: inside in the region [in Asien] in relation to the seams and the handling. This is a big challenge for biomaterials. That takes time. “
Flocus, another company with a focus on sustainability, which is also represented at the fair, finds favorable conditions for its growth in the Asian market. The Dutch company, the production facility of which is located in Indonesia, uses the fibers of the Kapokfrucht – which, before which, before the advent of petrochemical materials, was widely used in the upholstery industry. Today Flocus holds the patent of Kapok’s spinning and was able to introduce the fiber into the textile market.
Jeroen Muijsers, CEO and co -founder of the company, explains in conversation at the fair: “The tree needs nothing more than rain and groundwater. No pesticides, fertilizers or irrigation water are needed so that this tree grows.” The diverse properties of this very soft organic material enable its use in the clothing, construction or automotive industry as a replacement for synthetic materials.
The company was founded in 2016, the project started in 2018. Jeroen Muijsers told: “We started working on the machines to ensure the development of the supply chain because it is over 100 years old.” The launch finally took place in 2023. Since then, several large brands, including Zara and Patagonia, have expressed their interest and the capk fibers included in their collections.
Unfortunately there is a problem: “I think the difficulty is that the brands want to receive certain certifications, which is not easy at the moment, since we work with wild trees that cannot be recognized in most certification models,” explains the co -founder. “We cannot, even if they are biological, biological certified because the certifications are monoculture certificates, certificates for managed areas. This is a parallel culture, a marginal culture, and therefore there are no clear surface certificates.”
According to Jeroen, certification is actually a growth obstacle, at least in Europe. FLOCUS sells more to Japan and China: “You don’t need the certifications, but at least they develop and the demand is larger,” he says.
The Vietnamese company Bao Lan Textile, also exhibitor in the Next area, offers materials with pineapple fibers-up to 30 percent. According to the founder Toan Thuan Quach Bao, his country has very large production capacities, but its value as a development location is not known. “Vietnam has a lot of production and manufacturing options, it can do a lot, but it is not recognized. Many people do not know what the country is capable of, and Vietnam does not make good marketing. It just works, works. We have production capacity, innovation and the material, but we have to do more marketing.”
The managing director adds: “At this fair you can see a lot of China, Hong Kong or other countries. Thailand has 20 stands, Vietnam only four.” In his opinion, these figures reflect the lack of visibility of a country, the ability to innovate in the textile sector he wants to make known to the world.
Fashionunited was invited from HKTDC to Fashion Instyle.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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