The Korea Fashion Association's flagship business-to-business (B2B) order-taking exhibition, "Trend Fair," will be held under a new name, "K-Fashion Connect," for two days on the 22nd and 23rd of this month. Since I took over as chairwoman of the Korea Fashion Association in February 2024, there have been many events large and small, but I feel particularly attached to this one because of how much effort I poured into it.
Trend Fair grew into a representative industry event over the past seven years, but it also left something to be desired. As its name suggests, it had a strong character as an exhibition focused on the "Fair," showcasing trends. Gathering good brands and products in one place to introduce them is important, but I felt that alone was not enough. There was a need for it to be reborn as a venue for real business, where hard-working small but strong brands in the fashion industry could meet domestic and overseas buyers directly to create new opportunities and, furthermore, lay the groundwork for overseas expansion.
I put my heads together with association staff as well as industry officials in intense discussions. We drew out opinions such as "It must be a channel where practical information can be shared," and "It would be good to actively utilize the network the association has built and connect not only with fashion but also with various K-content companies." At that moment, I made up my mind. "Yes, let's start by changing the name."
The power a name holds is strong. It is a declaration of what we will do and carries the direction of where we will go from here. Changing an existing name also means parting ways with the familiar. So I wanted the new name to carry the meaning of changing not just the event's signboard but also its role. Various players—design and manufacturing, domestic and overseas buyers, brands and distribution—meeting in one place to communicate and connect to new business. The name "Connect" captures exactly the form of the event we want to create.
As it happened, welcome news also came in. According to one domestic department store, fashion sales to foreign customers in the first half of this year increased 135% from a year earlier, and foreign customers also accounted for 70% of sales at its K-fashion specialty section. The world's interest in K-fashion is being confirmed in numbers.
In step with this atmosphere, this "K-Fashion Connect" will bring together 95 domestic fashion companies and about 2,000 domestic and overseas buyers, under the goal of expanding business linkages between domestic fashion brands and global distributors, platforms, and buyers, and supporting K-fashion's entry into overseas markets and the creation of export results. In particular, three business agreements are set to be signed for the production of K-fashion goods, responses to global environmental regulations, and smooth market entry.
There is a saying: row while the tide is in. Now is precisely that time. Today's leap forward was possible because of the government's unstinting support and interest. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has intensively discovered emerging brands with high growth potential to invigorate the market. This multifaceted marketing support is becoming a key driving force leading to the quantitative and qualitative growth of the domestic fashion industry.
Now it is the field's turn to respond. Rowing hard until our "K-Fashion Connect" surely completes the first step in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's implementation of global fashion policy—that, I believe, is the duty I must fulfill now.
