Asia’s Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair Excelled

With all the talk of the September Hong Kong Jewelry & Gem Fair, there was another show quietly being held at the AsiaWorld-Expo, sharing space with the materials portion of the better known September Hong Kong fair. 

Buyers entering Asia’s Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair – September

Asia’s Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair – September (9FJ), one of the industry’s most inspiring and exciting events, was held September 12 – 15, which means the fair ended one day before Super Typhoon Mangkhut touched down on Hong Kong. 

The four-day fair hosted about 350 exhibitors and drew more than 9,000 local and overseas buyers. It occupied Hall 2 and the Concourse of AWE, and as an annual show, it has gained traction as a hub of opportunity for fashion jewelry and accessories manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, retailers, designers and buyers.

The fair specializes in low-cost design-oriented jewelry made with non-precious materials. Many of the larger pieces would be called costume jewelry in the U.S., but there were also more petite designs. Since design is such a focus of the show, no exhibitors would allow me to take photographs of their pieces since stealing designs is a concern. The fair also materials used to make fashion-oriented jewelry.

The Designer Atelier, a special zone featured a select group of independent designers from Hong Kong, debuted at this year’s fair. Another new attraction was the Fashion Accessories zone, which provided the latest creations of manufacturers and designers who are bringing their distinctive elements to the show, from beaded clutches and purses to colorful shawls and stoles.

A highlight of the show was the Stainless Steel Jewellery Pavilion, where exhibitors presented an array of stainless steel jewelry designed to complete a fashion-forward, urban-themed look. Versatile and affordable, stainless steel jewelry remains one of the most popular goods at this fair. 

Five group pavilions represented mainland China, India, Korea, the Philippines and the Taiwan region were also among the show’s top draws.

A tradition of the annual fair was the Editor’s Choice section, which provided a peak at the design trends for Spring/Summer. This year, the show turned the spotlight on three of the hottest materials that will be prevalent in the upcoming seasons: Beads, metals and semi-precious stones.

Asia’s Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair – March 2015 Opens

Asia’s Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair - March (3FJ) opened Tuesday at Halls 3, 6 & 8 of AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong. The four-day event gathers more than 440 international exhibitors, presenting the latest designs and collections in fashion jewelry and accessories for Autumn/Winter 2015. 

The exhibitors come from 17 countries, including mainland China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, UK, USA, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

At the 9th edition of 3FJ, four theme zones and six group pavilions are featured. The four theme zones are “Fashion Accessories Zone”, “Sense Zone”, “Stainless Steel Jewellery Pavilion” and the “Fashion Jewellery Atelier.” The six group pavilions are mainland China, India, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. 

Celine Lau, director of Jewellery Fairs at UBM Asia Ltd said the theme zones and pavilions “offer buyers unique market specialties. Grouping them into pavilions also makes it easier for buyers to navigate the show floor and quickly find what they need.” 

Lau added that 3FJ has been receiving growing support from the industry, as attested by the growing number of exhibitors. “There will be a wider range of product offerings that will cater to buyers with various budgets.” 

The trade fair runs till Friday.

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Amazon and eBay to Tap High-End Fashion Markets

Online giants Amazon.com and eBay are both targeting high-end apparel, shoes and accessories retail segments.

The new initiative for Amazon will rival established high-end online fashion sites Yoox and Net-A-Porter, according to a story in the Financial Times (subscription required). It will improve the experience for shoppers with more viewing options for clothing and will offer free returns for clothing items of more than $25, tapping into the success of a similar program from Zappos, the shoe Web site Amazon acquired this past November. The company reportedly said it will be ready to launch the new site by October, in time for the holiday shopping season.

Meanwhile, eBay relaunched its clothing sales under the eBay fashion brand in April, adding videos and comments from fashion stylists and a “find similar items” image-matching feature, the FT reports. It has also launched a “fashion outlet” site in the U.K. and created “storefronts” in the U.S. with retailers including Brooks Brothers and Timberland selling excess and discounted stock directly to buyers.

Here is a link to the story on the Zacks Web site.