At the 32nd International Fashion Exhibition Central Asia Fashion (CAF) and the fourth season of the International Exhibition of Footwear, Fur, Leather and Accessories Elite Line held in Almaty, representatives of fashion associations spoke about the development of fashion business in the Central Asian region. The experts agree that now is the time for unification and co-operation.
Opening of the 32nd International Fashion Exhibition Central Asia Fashion
According to the Istanbul Ready-to-Wear Exporters' Association "IHKIB", Turkey ranks 6th in the world and third in Europe in terms of fashion exports. Thus, the members of the association, which includes more than 21,000 members, account for 70 per cent of all ready-to-wear exports of the Republic of Turkey.
Representatives of the leather, footwear and fur industries in Uzbekistan also express interest in development. According to Farhod Nurmuhammedov, Deputy Chairman of the Uzcharmsanoat Association, which includes more than 700 enterprises, through reforms and support from the state, the majority of the country's population is already choosing local production, and businesses are looking towards active exports.
In the meantime, for the first time, Euro Shoes expo-project, which is widely known to many buyers and fashion industry specialists, became a partner of Kazakhstan's Elite Line exhibition. Industry professionals note - the industry requires unity and common solutions. "We see that the world is changing incredibly fast. And of course, we try to respond to these changes quickly. Therefore, we see further development of the industry as a whole only in unification. It is gratifying that we are coming to the exhibition in Kazakhstan for the second season already. In our opinion, this is the most rapidly developing, progressive, professional and long-standing exhibition among all regional expo-projects in the world," - emphasized Jan Belyaev, General Director of the National Footwear Union (NFU) of Russia and Founder of the Euro Shoes premiere collection international footwear exhibition.
Sergey Stolbov, President of the Russian Fur Union (RFU), spoke about the situation on the fur market. The expert notes that the industry is going through bad times: "The decline in the purchasing power of the population has been recorded for 7-9 years. There are a lot of factors that work against our industry: everyone was hit by the pandemic, and we are still feeling its effects today. In addition, the geopolitical situation has also taken its toll. But in any case, fur was today, will be tomorrow and in another 70-90 years. This is a long-term investment".
Along with foreign participants of the event for the first time Kazakhstan exhibition was visited by representatives of the world famous largest International Fur Federation (IFF) from London. "The International Fur Federation is honored to contribute to the success of Elite Line and to share our expertise with the community. Through our participation, we aim to promote responsible practices, sustainability, and the inherent beauty of fur and leather".
