Cashmere World 2013 attracts 60 exhibitors & 2000 buyers

Since its relocation from Beijing to Hong Kong last year, the world’s only trade fair dedicated to cashmere and other noble fibres has found its mark and settled well in the luminous, elegant Hall 5F of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Cashmere World is co-organised by the China Chamber of Commerce of Import & export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal by-Products and UBM Asia Ltd. It runs concurrently with Fashion Access, an exhibition dedicated to head-to-toe fashions, enabling both fairs to benefit from each other’s synergy.

“It is a great advantage that both Cashmere World and Fashion Access are held at the same time”, said New York Look’s buyer, Jayme Ramos. “Not only could I find the cashmere scarves I was looking for but also some awesome accessories”, she added.

Despite the on-going rising prices of the raw material, the industry is looking at the future with composure. The consensus among the majority of the exhibitors is to privilege quality of their products over quantity, and to become more service oriented towards their customers. For example by accepting small quantity orders, even if it means more administration handling and less productivity.

While suppliers such as Nepal’s Cashmere Parachute and Spain’s Teixidors, take pride in preserving and displaying the authenticity of their artisanal production, others such as Mongolia’s Jargal Cashmere and Italy’s Lora and Festa strive at developing innovative technologies that bring cashmere to another level of sophistication.

In order to make them more resistant and comfortable, children and baby apparel manufacturer, Jargal Cashmere incorporates sparkle cording manufactured in Korea and stretch to its garments. Smart textiles have moved from being the subject of intensive R&D into fully realised products.

Nano-technologies can now be applied to cashmere as in Lora & Festa’s new stain resistant and self-cleaning  Nano Cashmere range of garments. This special coating, developed in conjunction with the City University of Hong Kong, can be applied before or after spinning and respects the natural quality and hand-feel of cashmere, according to Lora & Festa’s CEO, Edoardo Festa Bianchet.