• Successful premiere of Istanbul Fashion Connection from February 9th to 11th, 2022 at Istanbul Expo Center with more than 600 exhibitors
• Almost 25,000 visitors, with a nearly 50% share of international visitors: mostly from Russia & CIS countries, Europe and Middle East/North Africa
• Unbroken trend of increasing exports of Turkish textiles to the EU, record figure of US$ 20.3 billion reached in 2021, trend will continue in 2022
• Istanbul Fashion Connection positions itself as a matching platform for supply and demand, professional networking by the organizer
More than 25,000 visitors from about 100 countries attended the kick-off event of Istanbul Fashion Connection. Over 600 companies presented their collections on more than 35,000 square meters of exhibition space and provided information about their creative collections and production capacities in the areas of womenswear, menswear, kidswear, denim, shoes, leather and fur, lingerie and bridal and evening wear.
Turkey is seeing record figures in garment exports, one of the four engines of Turkey’s industry with the EU as the largest export market. In 2021 alone it shows an increase of almost 20% compared to 2020. The momentum in Turkey’s industry has been accelerated by the pandemic. Delivery bottlenecks could be bridged and near shoring becomes a competitive advantage.
With Istanbul Fashion Connection, the Istanbul Ready-to-Wear and Apparel Exporters’ Association (IHKIB) in cooperation with the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce is launching an international fashion platform with a biannual rhythm for Turkish and international manufacturers. The next event will take place from August 24th to 26th, 2022.
The declared aim of the organizers is to develop Istanbul Fashion Connection into one of the most important international fashion and textile platforms and the indispensable meeting place for the international fashion industry and fashion trade.
Exhibitors
The collections of the suppliers were presented in a clearly structured manner in booths with showroom design in eight halls of the exhibition center.
Leading representatives of the apparel industry for men and women such as Cross, Climber BC, Lee Cooper and In City, Tugi for kids, Ferelle, Armofur and many more for leather & fur garments exhibited in Halls 2, 4 and 8 with shoes and accessories such as La Pinta and Bay Şapkacı which also complemented the product range. The bridal and occasion wear area was concentrated in Halls 1 and 3, top lingerie and hosiery companies were presented in Halls 9-10 and 11.
EKOTEKS, the official institute in Turkey for the development and awarding of internationally valid sustainability certificates also attended IFCO, holding seminars on sustainability and environment in addition to its booth area. The creations of well-known designers such as Arzu Kaprol, Dilek Hanif, Deniz Berdan, Ceren Ocak, Çigdem Akin, Emre Erdemoglu, Gökhan Yavaş, Tagg Gökay Aydogdu, Mehmet Emiroglu, Mehtap Elaidi, Mert Erkan, Murat Aytulum, Nedo Nedret Taciroglu, Nej, Nihan Peker, Niyazi Erdogan, Özgür Masur, Özlem Erkan, Özlem Kaya, Selen Akyüz, Sudi Etüz, Sbnm Sebenm Gunay,Tanju Babacan, Tugba Atasoy and Y Plus Yakup Bicer under the umbrella of Istanbul Fashion Week in Hall 8 next to the Fashion Show Area showed the design talent of “Made in in Türkiye “. Exhibitors reported numerous business meetings, which is estimated to contribute +1 billion US$ to the sector’s exports by the end of the year.
“The fair is very productive. First of all there is a well-qualified enthusiastic visitor attendance, which is very important for us.” said Mert Karaca from FİBAK. “I believe IFCO will make a great contribution to the Turkish export figures of our sector, we can see that from our meetings at the fair.” stated Barış Köseliören from FİMKA. “The fair has really achieved a success beyond our expectations. I think we will benefit from this for a long time.” Faruk Kaş from Braca Melisa is happy to report. “IFCO has been very good for our industry, we profited a lot from the wide range of the companies.” said İbrahim Erdoğan from Derma Leather. Sedat Yıldırım from İkoll Tekstil: “Most importantly, we are able to introduce our products and industry globally.”
Visitors
Despite the pandemic, Istanbul Fashion Connection registered more than 25,000 visitors from over 100 countries like Russia, Ukraine, UK, France, Germany, Poland, and further EU countries, Middle East and North Africa, USA etc.
The new fashion collections, combined with the ideal near shore capacities, experienced high demand and contributed to excellent business activities. For trade and industry, Istanbul Fashion Connection was a unique opportunity for a face-to-face meeting on an international platform. All trade channels were represented at the fair, from large shopping mall and department store groups to wholesales and international retail chains or online platforms.
