Best of APLF Awards announced

12 Apr '11

4 min read

The 'Best of APLF Awards' (BoAA) competition has become established as a popular and integral feature at the APLF Materials, Manufacturing & Technology (MM&T) and Fashion Access (FA) trade fairs in Hong Kong.

Competing products were selected those exhibited at the recent 3-day Asia Pacific Leather Fair Ltd exhibitions of MM&T and FA, held in Hong Kong over March 30 – April 1, and once again had an extremely high overall standard. The judges agreed on eventual winners only after considerable debate.

The BOAA is an initiative that cultivates and nurtures talent and creativity in fashion-related industries. The project recognises design excellence, originality, innovation, use of materials and accessories and outstanding workmanship.

Rising interest has also encouraged more companies to compete. The ever higher standard of entries, and the subsequent prestige conferred on the winners, combines to give real credence to the overall competition. And many previous winners have directly benefitted commercially, as well.

The end result has been that the overall level of exhibitors within a category has improved enormously, with the bar continuing to trend upwards across the entire sector. The 'knock-on' effect is that more visitors come to the fair.

The competition is judged by a team of independent persons prominent within the leather and fashion-related sectors — a factor that has underscored the event's success. (Please see the attached Appendix for the list of judges.)

The competition winners, running across 12 categories, six from MM&T and six from Fashion Access, were announced at a cocktail party held during the exhibition.

For Fashion Access, “The Award goes to …...”

The “Best Leather Garment Award” goes to Zhejiang Stage Leather Apparel from China for jackets made of stripped leather sewn into elastic fabric providing both comfort and style.

The “Best Travelware Award” goes to Guangzhou Dengsimilan Leather, also from China, for travelware that took full advantage of the big maxi trend in today's fashion. This oversized bag that serves as travelware, is functional without sacrificing style.

The “Creative Initiative for Footwear Award” goes to Shoe Fountain by the Federation of Hong Kong Footwear. This is a programme that injects energetic and young design elements into the fashion industry by matching young designers with footwear manufacturing, and aims to promote the Hong Kong footwear industry's creativity and competitiveness on the world fashion stage.

The “Best Technical Development for Footwear Award” goes to Apex & Co. Ltd., from Japan, for its seamless, waterproof, breathable rubber footwear that combines function and wear-ability with trendy designs.

The “Best Fashion Footwear Collection Awards” goes to PIT from Switzerland for its range of casual-style footwear that fits very well into the travel-themed and timeworn trend that is very strong in fashion today.

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