The Virtual Hong Kong International Fur & Fashion Fair 

Attracted 66,720 Visits from Global Buyers 
Successfully Connecting Buyers and Suppliers on this Brand New Platform 
 

The first ever virtual Hong Kong Fur Fair completed its first 4-day exhibition with success. This brand new virtual Fair showcased the latest fur and fashion collections, premium raw materials, novel accessories and other products from 28 exhibitors from Hong Kong, Mainland, Greece and Denmark. The Fair attracted 66,720 visits from buyers from 35 countries during the first four days.  

Although the industry has faced many obstacles and challenges, and it has got worse when the world is facing the coronavirus pandemic, the Hong Kong Fur Federation’s mission remains unchanged; thus we are determined to continue serving the industry by setting out our new vision on the virtual platform. With the development of advanced technology, it facilitates a good foundation and efficiency for digital business, regardless of travel restrictions, coronavirus or not, the digital platform provides buyers and exhibitors an effective channel to trade 24 hours a day around the globe.   

The brand new virtual Hong Kong International Fur & Fashion Fair provides easy access and an advanced product search engine, enabling instant and barrier-free communication between exhibitors and buyers intended to foster business opportunities.   
The percentage of visitors attending the virtual Hong Kong Fur Fair reflects Hong Kong’s major exporting markets, details as follows:  

Unfortunately, the pandemic has brought about big uncertainty to global economy, casting uncertainty on the retail markets, and the fur industry is no exception.  

During the current pandemic, travelling is restricted, people’s mobility is reduced, it also affects consumers’ daily life as well as their preference in the clothing designs, e.g. the demand for casual designs has increased.   

In the 5 House Shows, our exhibitors have smartly included more fur and fabric combination designs as well as light weight, soft colour tones to bring a chill and relaxed mood to their collections.   

One of the exhibitors, Mr. Wong Yau Fai from Ace Fur Manufacturing Ltd. said that the virtual Fur Fair being the first of its kind in the fur world, the responses from visitors were encouraging. Their company successfully met with old and new faces in its virtual booth, many of them asked for price list and product details. He reckoned this virtual platform should not be standing alone by itself in the future, it should grow and excel further. This virtual fair should complement the physical fair when the situation improves, in this way it will not only enhance the physical fair boosting business opportunities, it will also create more frequent communication between buyers and exhibitors in exchanging product information and making business deals, prior and after the physical fair. This will certainly be beneficial to the global fur industry.   

Mr. William Sun from Hong Kong Fur Factory Ltd. is also an exhibitor of the Fair, he commented that the Fair is a good attempt to bring together customers and suppliers. The merits of this platform are user friendly and interactive. He added that, with regard to current business, customers were a bit cautious in placing orders due to the recent increase in skin prices. Nevertheless, customers do have an appetite for new trendy designs after two difficult years.  

Another exhibitor representing an American brand commented, “We appreciate the Organizer’s effort in building such platform for the trade during the pandemic. It provides an opportunity for our company to do business and interact with customers all over the world which would otherwise not be possible.”  

A number of local visitors and Japanese buyers reflected, “I like the fashion show the most, because it helps me feel like I am really at the fur fair”.   

Ms. Rose Ko, Chairlady of the Hong Kong Fur Federation was pleased that the virtual Hong Kong Fur Fair has been receiving positive feedback from buyers about the fashion shows, the products, and efficiency of the platform.  

She expressed that “the virtual Hong Kong Fur Gala is definitely the best option to display the latest collections from Hong Kong furriers to global buyers under the pandemic. When the physical Fur Fair resumes, the Fur Gala will remain its uniqueness as the center stage of the international fur trade for all buyers to gather under one roof and enjoy a world class fashion presentation in Hong Kong.”  

The Hong Kong Fur Federation looks forward to further improving this platform and hopefully it will be staged side-by-side with the physical Fur Fair in the future.    

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