IFCO to shift summer edition to September from 2027

Istanbul Fashion Connection (IFCO), the Turkish apparel trade fair, will move its second annual edition from August to September from 2027, with the show running from September 8 to 10 at the Istanbul Expo Center.

The organisers said the August slot had held back attendance from European buyers, many of whom are still on holiday when the fair opens. Moving into September is intended to bring the calendar closer to that of Western buyers and lift international visitor numbers. IFCO's other annual edition, held in February, is unaffected.

The new slot places the fair within the European September season: Paris trade show Who's Next, whose 2027 dates have yet to be confirmed, usually falls in the first half of the month, while Italian footwear fair Micam runs from September 12 to 14, 2027, directly after IFCO closes.

The change follows the show's tenth edition, held from August 19 to 21, which brought together 208 exhibitors across 11,000 square metres in three halls. Organisers anticipated around 20,000 professional visitors from more than 130 countries, with final figures not released at the time of publication.

European buyers matter disproportionately to the exhibitor base. Turkey exported 16.8 billion dollars worth of apparel worldwide in 2025, of which 60.6 percent went to the European Union, according to the annual report of the Istanbul Apparel and Ready-to-Wear Exporters' Association (İHKİB). Germany is the largest single market at 2.6 billion dollars, ahead of the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.

The date move sits alongside a wider effort by the fair to shift attention from Turkey's manufacturing capacity towards its brands and designers. IFCO president Mustafa Paşahan, who also heads İHKİB, told press representatives at the show that the country was working to increase the number of Turkish brands with an international presence. For the tenth edition the fair enlarged its denim area, added a dedicated menswear space in Hall 4 and redesigned The Core, its designer section, around a scenographic installation featuring twenty Turkish designers.

This article was written with the assistance of AI.