IFCO - Istanbul Fashion Connection: Colouring the Future - 5th edition with record visitor number
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The successful fifth edition of IFCO Istanbul Fashion Connection took place from 7 to 10 February 2024 with a record 38,545 visitors. At IFCO, 545 exhibitors met international trade visitors from 159 countries such as Australia, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, UK, USA, United Arab Emirates in a total of 8 halls at the Istanbul Expo Centre. The largest group of foreign visitors came from the Middle East (33.4%), Europe (24%), Asia (23.3%) and North Africa (13.3%). A total of 6% of visitors came from the USA, South America, Australia and Africa.
"We are delighted with the very successful fifth edition of IFCO and the unanimously extremely positive response from exhibitors and visitors. The trade fair is an indispensable hub for the fashion industry at an international level, bringing together supply and demand. Both the quality and quantity of the visitors were convincing, as were the creative designer presentations and the high-quality products of the exhibitors." Mustafa Paşahan, İHKİB Vice President
EXHIBITORS
Divided into clear exhibition areas on a total of 100,000 square metres of exhibition space, brands and manufacturers presented the latest collections from the areas of womenswear, menswear, kidswear, denim, sportswear, evening and wedding wear, lingerie, hosiery, leather and furs.
In keeping with the design of the Colour of the Year 2024, the designer area THE CORE ISTANBUL presents itself peach-coloured with 25 internationally renowned designers, such as Arzu Kaprol, Be Oz - Sinem Özusta, Çiğdem Akın, Dilek Hanif, Eda Türker, Emre Erdemoğlu, EssinBarış,Eynaco, Lady Faith, Meltem Özbek, Mert Erkan, Murat Aytulum, NEJ, Özlem Erkan, Şebnem Yıldız, Selin Küçüksöz, SHYZ Wear, Siren Ertan İstanbul, SYGA, TAGG, The Handloom, Tuba Ergin, Viola & Vesper, Y Plus. "This season was the best we've had at IFCO so far. The trade fair has developed extremely well in terms of communication technology. We had visitors from
the USA, the EU, the Middle East, the Near East and North Africa. We are very satisfied with the organisation. This time, The CORE was organised by the Fashion Designers' Association, from which we designers benefited greatly. IFCO is the right platform for us and we are proud of it." Nejla Güvenç, designer of NEJ.
In the IFCO BRANDS area, market leaders and retail brands such as Armine, B&G Store, Giotelli, Gizia, Kayra, Kigli, JakamenNaramax, NCS, Panco and Perspective impressed with trendy stands in their individual store designs. They presented the current collections, which they also sell internationally, and were very satisfied with their participation in the trade fair. "We had a large number of visitors, mainly from Russia, the Gulf region and the USA, and received numerous orders. At the same time, IFCO is a platform for us to increase our brand awareness. We are absolutely in the right place here." Ayse Diskaya, Gizia
In two separate halls, 9-10, LinExpo provided an impressive overview of lingerie and hosiery manufacturers as part of IFCO.
In Halls 5-6, the FashionIST section once again presented a large selection of high-quality bridal and evening gowns and suits.
VISITORS
With over 38,500 visitors, the fifth edition of IFCO set a new attendance record and emphasised its relevance as an international hub for the fashion industry. Among the international VIP buyers were 6th Street Apparel from Dubai, Ackermans Woman from Cape Town, AEON from Kuala Lumpur, the Alshaya Group from Kuwait, Fashion River and Fearless 310 from New York, Group Aksal from Casablanca, Lulu Dubai from Abu Dhabi, Next Group London, Quest from Bogota, Ted Baker from the USA and took advantage of the IFCO Match Making for efficient networking and order placement. The quality of the visitors also impressed first-time exhibitors such as Indicode Jeans from Denmark: "It was a great trade fair for us, this was our first time
at IFCO and we will be attending again next time. The fair was recommended to us by a Norwegian customer who has already visited IFCO twice. We met many international buyers here, including from Colombia, the USA, the United Arab Emirates and Europe. Our offer met the customers' demand exactly." Ulrik Kyvsgaard, Sales and Marketing Director
SUPPORTING PROGRAMME
For the first time, IFCO cooperated with the renowned Fashion Designers' Association (MTD), which played a key role in the organisation of Istanbul Fashion Week. The trade fair theme "Colouring the Future" was developed by the association. Seven Universities of Fine Arts, including Mimar Sinan University, Maramara University, Bilgi University and others presented their creative projects curated by MTD at IFCO. From the beginnings of collection production, material search, fabric samples, design sketches to prints, the students showed their entire creative path to the finished collection.
"Colouring the Future" was also staged by the IFCO Trend Area, designed by the IMA Istanbul Moda Akademisi with the theme RESILIENCE. In addition to the presentation of innovative materials that combine technical components with elements of nature, the topic of AI was also presented. The use of digital innovations is essential for the future of fashion. The IMA Trend Area was full of colour and inspired visitors, presenting the latest trends and developments in the fashion industry.
As part of the IFCO Fashion Talks, renowned experts from WGSN, Accademia della Moda IUAD, the IHKIB Digital Transformation Center and the Turkish Designer's Association provided information on the latest developments and trends in the fashion industry, consumer behaviour, the benefits of digital transformation in fashion and trend forecasts for spring/summer 2025. The new era of fashion: less fast fashion, more quality and sustainable fashion was presented by Prof. Erica Marigliani from the Accademia della Moda IUAD.
FACTS AND FIGURES
The Turkish textile and clothing sector exported a total of US$ 28,8 billion in 2023, with the aim of doubling exports to US$ 40 billion in the medium term. With this export volume the Turkish clothing industry is the sixth largest exporting country in the world. Turkey's share of global exports is 3.5%. Turkey is the third largest supplier to the clothing market in the European Union. The Turkish clothing industry is the leading industrial sector in the manufacturing industry and the sector with the highest employment in the Turkish economy.
"With US$ 20 billion in January this year, the highest export figure for a January was recorded in Turkey. This is a great moral incentive for us to reach the target of US$ 267 billion of goods and US$ 110 billion of service exports for this year. " Mustafa Gültepe, President Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TIM) and Istanbul Apparels Exporters' Assocation (IHKIB). IFCO contributes to this goal, and the successful course of the trade fair points the way forward. With Texhibition Istanbul, the organiser is completing the all-round offer for the international fashion business of fabrics, ingredients and yarns as a supplement to IFCO from 6 to 8 March 2023, also at the Istanbul Expo Center.
The next IFCO is planned for 7-9 August 2024.