"The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) presented a pavilion at the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair (CIFF), the premier fashion event in Northern Europe, from January 31 to February 2 the aim was to assist Hong Kong designers go global. The pavilion, ‘Fashion Hong Kong Gallery’, showcased latest collections from four Hong Kong fashion accessory brands: Cafuné (designer: Queenie Fan), Pomch (designer: Felix Tai), ro and Volare (designer: Franco Yeung). Networking events will also be arranged to provide greater exposure and more business opportunities."

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) presented a pavilion at the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair (CIFF), the premier fashion event in Northern Europe, from January 31 to February 2 the aim was to assist Hong Kong designers go global. The pavilion, ‘Fashion Hong Kong Gallery’, showcased latest collections from four Hong Kong fashion accessory brands: Cafuné (designer: Queenie Fan), Pomch (designer: Felix Tai), ro and Volare (designer: Franco Yeung). Networking events will also be arranged to provide greater exposure and more business opportunities.

The Fashion Hong Kong Gallery is a feature of the HKTDC’s Fashion Hong Kong campaign, which was launched in 2015 to promote Hong Kong fashion designers and labels in the global fashion arena through a series of international events. These include large-scale runway shows and displays at major international fashion events such as Tokyo Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week, as well as Hong Kong pavilions and networking activities at fashion fairs. Northern Europe’s largest and longest-running fashion fair, CIFF has evolved into a major event for the global fashion industry. This edition will feature some 2,000 international labels across various exhibition halls, including Style Setters Bungalows where the Fashion Hong Kong Gallery will showcase Hong Kong’s creativity to global buyers and media, helping the city’s designers and labels expand internationally.

As per Rebecca Tse, Senior Product Promotion Manager, HKTDC, this is the fourth time Hong Kong designers showcased at Copenhagen. This time, the focus was on CIFF and Hong Kong labels of different styles. In addition, they arranged networking events for designers and buyers. The HKTDC will continue to review Hong Kong’s strengths in fashion markets around the world.

Innovative display by budding designers

Among the exhibits was Cafuné is the label of Queenie Fan, a handbag designer born and bred in Hong Kong. Fan studied Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design in the US. Central to the brand is a strong attention to construction and detail, and a devotion to creating a harmonious balance between timeless and playful elements.

The Pomch a brand founded in 2011 by director Felix Tai, a graduate of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design majoring in industrial and product design. The brand, focussed on handbags, has been featured at global events, including the DMY International Design Festival in Germany and Paris Fashion Week, winning high acclaim from renowned media such as Elle, Marie Claire and Hypebeast.

A graduate of the College of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales in Australia, Franco Yeung is a designer and merchandiser for more than eight years, working with clients in the US, Italy, Israel and other parts of the world. In 2008, he founded his brand with the name ‘Volare’, an Italian word meaning ‘fly’. Having participated in New York Fashion Week with the HKTDC last February, the designer launched his new collections of men’s and women’s footwear at CIFF.