Fashion on a piece of cloth

By+Zhao+Zihan

Keqiao Fashion Week has been successfully held for two consecutive years since 2015. As a high-quality carrier of Keqiao fashion industry development， it has made great contributions to promoting the upgrade of the industry and advancing the rapid development of China textile fashion industry in the aspects of building the creative platform， gathering fashion resources， guiding fashion trends and product development， promoting fashion design， and realizing the commercial value.

2017 Keqiao Fashion Week Press Conference was held in Zhejiang Keqiao on July 4th， 2017， marking the official launch of the Third Keqiao Fashion Week.

Advised by China National Textile and Apparel Council and sponsored by the Peoples Government of Keqiao District， Shaoxing City， the Press Conference was co-organized by China Textile Information Center， National Textiles Development Center， Science and Technology Bureau of Keqiao District， Shaoxing City， attracting nearly 200 people including the leadership from the organizers as well as media， business representatives of Fabrics China Pioneer Plant in Keqiao， shortlisted enterprise representatives of Fabrics China， and the cutting-edge designers.

“In 2016， the above-designated textile industry in Keqiao achieved the output value of 218.458 billion yuan， sales of 210.326 billion yuan， and textile exports of 8.86 billion US dollars.

Each year， nearly 1/4 of the textile products in China are transacted in China Textile City. Last year， China Textile City Market and “Online Textile City” respectively saw a turnover of more than 150 billion yuan and 22 billion yuan. The businesses settled in Keqiao Textile Industry Creative Design Base enjoyed revenue of 1.035 billion yuan， of which the sales revenue of design and development services accounted for 18.268 billion yuan， becoming an important force to promote the transformation and upgrading of Keqiao industry and the innovative development of fashion industry.” Qi Fangliang， Vice District Mayor of Keqiao， elaborated the vigorous development trend of Keqiao Textile industry with a set of powerful data in his speech.

Xu Yingxin， Vice President of China National Textile and Apparel Council， also said in his speech that the increase booming of Keqiao fashion creative industry is mainly based on its deep cultural accumulation and the“industry + market” unique advantage. It also depends on the support and planning guidelines from the government， the organic integration of modern service industry， industrial modernization and the new urbanization， the harmony of Keqiao industrial development and environmental ecology， as well as the international innovative cooperation platform featured by integration， inclusiveness， and openness. He also pointed out that in 2017， Chinas textile industry will start a series of “campaign”， including “Go Global”， intelligent manufacturing， heritage of tradition， innovative development， etc. In this context， Keqiao is required to seize the opportunity to establish a global development pattern from an international perspective and achieve cooperation-competition with world fashion through the right to speak and the new advantages.

On the importance of strategic partners

In 2016， Keqiao Fashion Week and China National Textile and Apparel Council for the first time started a comprehensive strategic cooperation， achieving resource integration of a professional organization and regional industrial economy. With the influence of China National Textile and Apparel Council in the national textile industry， Keqiao Fashion Week has become a national fashion event from an local activity， while the Fashion Week also has gradually become a gold card for the publicity of Keqiao city. In 2017， based on the promotion of Keqiao textile industry transformation and upgrading， Keqiao and China National Textile and Apparel Council will continue deepening the strategic cooperation.

The significance of cooperation between the two sides not only lies in the joint organization of fashion activities. According to Shen Zhijiang， Deputy Party Secretary and District Mayor of Keqiao， Shaoxing City， “Further implementation of these activities and market-oriented product development professional services will push forward technology and fashion， and further enhance the technological innovation capability of fashion products manufacturing enterprises， thus promoting their intelligent green transformation and upgrading， expanding brand awareness and reputation of self-owned fashion brands， and cultivating a number of fabric brands and designers full of innovation and development potential. In such a context， to perfect Keqiao fashion creative industrial chain and build a fashion creative industry ecological system will accelerate the achievement of “fashionable Keqiao， impressive Keqiao， happy Keqiao”， in order to help Keqiao really become a creative center of the fashion industry led by creative design and the fashion source of global textile industry.”

In this regard， Xu Yingxin said that China National Textile and Apparel Council， as a national platform for textile and apparel industry， has been providing the textile industry clusters with a steady stream of quality resources for transformation and development and professional services advancing with the times. Both sides will build the first international fashion week in the world with fashion creative fabrics as the core， enhancing the fashion status， fashion discourse and fashion charm of Keqiao.

Qiao Yanjin， Director of China Textile Information Center， pointed out that China Textile Information Center and National Textile Product Development Center will make full use of their advantages in terms of resources， professions， brands， as well as industry study and services to contribute to the upgrading of Keqiao Fashion Week in the aspects of trend research， product development， creative design， etc.， promoting the rapid development as well as transformation and upgrading of Keqiao fashion industry. She also said that during the Fashion Week， there will be a series of highquality activities including “China Womens Wear Fabric Trends Release”，“China Fashion Fabric Design Competition”， “Fabrics China Cutting-edge Designer Creative Design Invitational”， and “Keqiao Fashion Comes into China International Fashion Week”， in order to find Keqiao fabric brands of innovative competitiveness， promote the building of Keqiao fashion creative system， advance the connection between fashion resources and the industry there， and drive Keqiao fashion to step onto the international stage for discourse power.

Fabrics are the protagonist

“The first international fashion week focusing on fashionable and creative fabrics in China.” Li Bo， Deputy Director of China Textile Information Center， clarified the new precise positioning of 2017 Keqiao Fashion Week in his introduction， which is mainly based on textile manufacturing industry base and the unique advantages of fashion industry in Keqiao.

Li Binhong， Director of National Textiles Development Center， elaborated the double meaning“First to Do” and “To Be the First” from technological design， fashion design， and green design， pointing out that Keqiao is the most important industrial cluster of textile and garment industry in China， not only for its industrial scale but also for its industry innovation. “The economy on a piece of cloth” makes up the main GDP of Keqiao， and its amazing textile output value， sales revenue and market turnover data， as well as the innovations of the outstanding businesses there have confirmed this point. She also said that“China Womens Wear Fabric Trends Release” will integrate the established Fabrics China trends research and release system into the actual operation of Keqiao textile enterprises， which will promote the combination of trend research results and enterprise production practices， and drive textile enterprises for excellent fabric development. Meanwhile， she believes that to be the first， the industry itself must have a unique competitive advantage and sustainable development potential.

Fashion paves a way to industrial upgrading

The achievement of “fashionable Keqiao， impressive Keqiao， happy Keqiao” is a critical strategic goal of Keqiao during the 13th Five-Year Program period. What will Keqiao do for transformation and upgrading？ Shen Zhijiang pointed out that fashion and creative industry in Keqiao District will grow into a fashion platform of large-scale industry gathering and powerful comprehensive strength， cultivate a number of fashion enterprises （projects） with distinct industrial advantages and strong core competitiveness， and build a number of fashion and creative activities of international influences and strong demonstrating roles， in order to achieve accumulation and leapfrog development of fashion enterprises （projects）， fashion platform， and fashion activities. At the end of 2017， the fashion and creative design will see a total value of 66.2 billion yuan， of which fashion design driven value accounts for 23.5 billion yuan， fashion manufacturing sales reach 21 billion yuan， fashion consumption turnover is 16 billion yuan， and fashion services sales revenue amounts to 5.7 billion yuan.

Li Binhong mentioned at the conference that fabric development is featured with such complexity as a long industrial chain， many industry links， a wide range of impacting factors， and obvious differentiated demand， as well as such dynamics as many varieties， small volume， fast delivery， and short product life cycle. Therefore， through a series of related activities， training enterprises to establish integrated innovation system of internal and external resources for timely grasp of trends and product development direction， plus the transition from research and development of individual products to cultivation of system innovation， is the key to the implementation of Keqiao Fashion Week.

According to Li Bo， “2017 Keqiao Fashion Week” new permanent logo collection has been officially launched since the conference. The Fashion Week will present a series of both dynamic and static activities， when Keqiao will be the focus of the indsutry， and Keqiao fashion will become the hot topic of the industry.

In the future， what definition will fabric give to fashion？ Perhaps the answer right lies in 2017 Keqiao Fashion Week. Lets wait and see.