Last year's fair attracted more than 1,000 enterprises from 17 countries and regions along with 120,000 visitors from 30 countries and regions.
 

The 16th China International Clothing and Accessories Fair - known as CHIC2008 - from March 28 to 31 will be the first event ever held at the newly opened China International Exhibition Center (CIEC) near Beijing Capital International Airport.

The fair is co-organized by the China National Garment Association, the China World Trade Center Co Ltd and the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT TEX)

The new CIEC, the largest exhibition facility in Beijing, has 106,000 sq m of floor space in its first-phase project. Its first phase was finished early this month.

An opening ceremony for the new CIEC facility will also be held on March 28, the same day CHIC2008 opens.

The grand gala of China's garment industry, CHIC2008 will include eight exhibition halls with a total area of 110,000 sq m. About 20 types of garments will be displayed in 10 sections, including men's wear, women's wear, casual wear, kid's wear, leather and fur, down wear, accessories, designers' collections and fashion.

More than 1,000 brands from 23 countries and regions, including Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, Spain, Greece, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan and Thailand, as well as the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan province, will be exhibited during the fair.

Special sections

Latest fashion at the CHIC2007 fair
 
The men's wear section will be located in the E1 hall of the new CIEC to exhibit more than 50 brands produced by 36 noted foreign and domestic companies, including Michel Rene, Babei, Crocodile, Firs, Hongdou and Septwolf.

The W3 and W2 halls will house the women's wear section, displaying more than 100 famous brands including Eigenpost, Cordier, Gloria and Omnialo.

The casual wear section at the E2 hall, including business casual wear, golf wear, fashionable casual wear, jeans and sports wear and casual wear for the youth, will exhibit more than 60 brands, such as Lansha, Saidan, Cabbean, Ixesse, Yishion, ID.Fix and Ayilian.

Leather and fur products will be displayed at the E3 hall, with such famous brands as Yingdak, Yuanlong, Sollo and Zhuangzi to be exhibited.

The W4 hall will house nearly 100 kid's wear brands. And the nation's top 10 kid's wear brands will be released there.

The W4 hall will also exhibit knitwear, underwear and down wear. Accessories and fashion will be in the E4 hall.

CHIC2008 will also have a Designers' Collection section for the first time.

Overseas pavilions

The W1 and W2 halls will have pavilions from overseas countries and regions including France, Italy, Japan and South Korea, as well as China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan province.

The French pavilion is expected to be 30 percent larger than its exhibit at CHIC2007. Many of the participating enterprises are also frequent exhibitors at famous Paris garment shows such as Who's Next and Premiere Clase.

The 1,800 sq m Italian pavilion has been part of CHIC shows for six consecutive years. This year it will display products from more than 30 enterprises ranging from men's wear, women's wear and accessories.

The South Korean pavilion will host exhibiting enterprises organized by the Korean Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. In addition, the Seoul Fashion Center will organize another 20 garment companies to attend CHIC2008.

The Japanese pavilion will gather more than 40 enterprises to exhibit their products in a total exhibition area of 2,300 sq m, up 50 percent over last year's event. A fashion show called "Tokyo Girls Collection in Beijing" will be held at the pavilion on March 28, the opening day of CHIC2008.

The Style Hong Kong Pavilion, organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, will again have the largest overseas pavilion at the fair, with nearly 200 booths displaying the latest in men's wear, women's wear, accessories, leather products and shoes. Famous brands like Chicks, Olymp, Moiselle, Veeko, Joyo and Viscap will be on display. The pavilion will also present a series of fashion shows.

The Taiwanese pavilion will be twice as large as last year. About 20 brands will be shown and four of the island's famous brands will have fashion shows to release their latest products.

In addition to pavilions from countries or regions, famous brands will participate as individual exhibitors. Booths will include Italy's Moschino and Harmont&Blaine, French casual wear maker Lecoq sportif, US golf wear brand Jack Nicklaus, Australian teen sports clothing brand No Rule, British jeans maker Lee Cooper and Japanese icon Hello Kitty's line of underwear, as well as children's clothing brands Disney and Snoopy.

Activities and services

Through its official website, CHIC organizers have sent invitations to 270,000 people from all over the world, including business representatives, those in the fashion trade and journalists. Also, representatives of about 1,000 stores at home and abroad have been invited.

To date, about 6,000 people have registered to participate, with 500 journalists signed on to report the event.

The fair's organizing committee will provide free buses to carry passengers between the new CIEC and the airport and hotels.

A number of related events will be also held, including the release of China's high-end garments, the 2006-07 China National Garment Association Awards Gala, the 2008-09 autumn-winter China fashion trends release, the China Fashion Forum and the annual conference of the joint convention of China Apparel Distributors and Retailers.

In the theme of "In search of new eneregy to establish brand preponderance," the China Fashion Forum will gather famous designers, industry insiders and specialists, offering an exchange platform for the industry.