In Hong Kong, Fashion InStyle aims to make ‘Made in Asia’ rhyme with sustainability

As the global economy was disrupted by rising US tariffs, many Asian fashion players met in Hong Kong from April 27 to 30 to attend the Fashion InStyle trade show and the first edition of the Next@Fashion InStyle space. FashionUnited was on site to gauge the pulse of ‘Made in Asia’.

It was crowded in late April at the huge Convention and Exhibition Centre, located on the edge of the sea that splits the city of Hong Kong in two. Six other major trade fairs were organised alongside the Fashion InStyle trade show: Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair, Home InStyle, Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair, DeLuxe PrintPack Hong Kong, Hong Kong International Licensing Show and Asian Licensing Conference. In total, they brought together 100,000 buyers from 131 countries and regions. Fashion Instyle attracted 11,000 of them. Despite concerns about rising US tariffs on imports from more than 60 countries, including China (Donald Trump's main target), the atmosphere in its aisles remained optimistic.

According to a survey conducted in March 2025 by HKTDC Research, a series of strategies (diversifying sources of supply, expanding into new markets and relocating production lines) were central to the concerns of many Hong Kong exporting companies. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), which is responsible for promoting the city as an investment centre, believes that these precautions will help companies mitigate the negative effects of any current or future protectionist measures.

‘Image of Made in China is changing’

Among the 400 suppliers exhibiting at Fashion InStyle, some produced directly for major international brands and groups such as Zara or H&M, while others collaborated with intermediate Asian companies. They came from China, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan and Hong Kong.

“Image of Made in China and creation in China is changing,” noted a representative from the Chinese company Textile Library, based in Hangzhou. His observation echoed the objective of the Next@Fashion InStyle project, the space in which he exhibited, which aimed to present Asian manufacturing far from stereotypes. To achieve this, the new space integrated into the Fashion InStyle trade show occupied a beautifully staged area, delimited by a graphic carpet on which was exhibited “a series of avant-garde fashion projects” that reflected “culture and heritage, innovations and sustainability”, according to a presentation document.

Textile Library occupied the largest stand at the trade show, despite starting 10 years ago like everyone else, with a much smaller stand at other trade shows. Among its innovations was a down jacket whose lining was a conductive textile. To demonstrate this, the teams brought a light bulb close to the inside of the garment and it lit up as soon as it touched the material. There was also a raincoat whose material revealed a pattern on contact with water.

The Textile Library team explained that the company develops the materials but also designs the pieces. Each of those presented at the trade show was labelled Textile Library. The company works with foreign clothing brands but now wants to collaborate more with China or more local companies.

The Next@Fashion InStyle area presented around 60 companies, many of which were Asian. Among them were: AlgaFila, which produces a 100 percent organic material from algae; Advance Denim, a company founded in 1987 which wrote on its website that it had implemented several measures to reduce its environmental impact; and Dd Nature Craft, which develops a hemp-based textile.

Each of these companies was invited to collaborate with young local designers to create several silhouettes presented during a catwalk show within the trade show. It was an attractive way of showing the world that ‘Made in Asia’ does not only refer to polyester, polyurethane and acrylic materials, which are widely used by the many Asian companies located in the stands around the Next@Fashion InStyle area.

Is the Asian market an accelerator of ‘sustainable fashion’?

In the midst of the majority of Asian exhibitors, a few stands were occupied by a minority of Western exhibitors, mainly from the UK, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. Among them, the British company Modern Synthesis - known for having collaborated with the fashion brand Ganni on a collection of bags designed from the cultivation of nanocellulose - occupied a prominent place within the Next@Fashion InStyle area.

According to Han Chong, the founder of the British brand Self-Portrait and ambassador of Next@Fashion InStyle, Asian territories have a key role to play in the large-scale dissemination of so-called sustainable materials. He said at a press conference organised during the trade show: “To be able to produce a sustainable fabric at a good price, you need a large volume, and China and Hong Kong order very large volumes. So you have to start from platforms like these to be able to lower prices for the rest of the world.”

This vision, that of a Made in China serving as a platform to develop and disseminate materials with a reduced environmental impact, goes against the image of a polluting factory that is generally associated with it.

The arrival of Modern Synthesis at the trade show seemed to corroborate the theory put forward by Chong. The London-based company has developed a material from a bacterium derived from kombucha. The solidity of this low-impact biotextile makes it a convincing substitute for polyurethane. After pilot projects, Jean Keane, the chief executive officer and co-founder, intends to launch production on a larger scale. “We are now considering European production and, eventually, Asian production,” she told FashionUnited.

“It's the first time we've exhibited here, and it's great to meet local brands because they're starting to be much more aware of the challenge that sustainability represents. So we can engage here, in the market, but also discuss with many and diverse manufacturers, with those who make accessories as well as with textile factories where we can work to develop our process.”

Keane explained that they produce moderately sized panels in London, but they are working on large-scale trials in order to be ready for mass production. “For now, we are focusing on trials with manufacturers in the region [in Asia] regarding seams and handling. This is a big challenge for biomaterials. It takes time.”

Similarly, Flocus, another company committed to an environmental approach and present at the trade show, is finding fertile ground for its development in the Asian market. The Dutch company, whose factory is based in Indonesia, uses fibres from a fruit called kapok, which was once widely used in the textile industry, until the arrival of materials derived from petrochemicals.

Jeroen Muijsers, chief executive officer and co-founder of the company, said: “The tree needs nothing other than rain and groundwater. There is no need for pesticides, fertilisers or irrigation water for this tree to grow.” The multiple properties of this very soft organic material allow it to be used in the clothing, construction or automotive industries to replace synthetic materials.

The company was founded in 2016, then the project started in 2018. Muijsers said: “We started innovating on the machines to ensure the evolution of the supply chain because it is over 100 years old.” The launch was finally carried out in 2023. Since then, several major brands including Zara and Patagonia have shown their interest and have integrated Kapok fibres into their collection.

Unfortunately, there is a problem: “I think the difficulty lies in the fact that brands want to obtain certain certifications, which is not easy at the moment, because we are working with wild trees which, in most certification models, cannot be recognised,” explained the co-founder. “We cannot, even if it is organic, have it certified organic, because the certifications are monoculture certificates, managed land certificates. Here, it is a parallel culture, a border culture, and therefore there are no clear land certificates.”

According to Muijsers, certification is actually an obstacle to growth, at least in Europe. Flocus sells more to Japan and China: “They don't need the certifications, but at least they are developing and demand is stronger,” he said.

The Vietnamese company Bao Lan Textile, also an exhibitor in the Next area, offers materials incorporating pineapple fibres (up to 30 percent). According to the founder, Toan Thuan Quach bao, his country has very significant production capacities, but its value as a development area is not known. “Vietnam has a lot of production and manufacturing capacity, it can do a lot, but it is not recognised. Many people don't know what the country is capable of and Vietnam doesn't do good marketing. It just works, works, works. We have the production capacity, the innovation and the material, but we need to do more marketing.”

He added: “In this trade show, we see a lot of China, Hong Kong or other countries. Thailand has 20 stands, Vietnam only has four.” According to him, these figures reflect the lack of visibility of a country whose textile innovation capabilities he intends to make known to the world.

FashionUnited was invited to the Fashion InStyle trade show by HKTDC.

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