Expo and MSFW to target overseas buyers

The organiser of trade fair FASHION EXPOSED has announced plans to join forces with Melbourne Spring Fashion Week (MSFW) to attract international visitors.
Australian Exhibitions and Conferences (AEC) had already worked with MSFW on this year's Melbourne expo - which took place from September 4 to 6 - to ensure the two events would coincide, claimed AEC project manager fashion Sue Dight.
"We certainly want to create an aligned profile so that interstate and overseas buyers can attend both events," she said.
In future, AEC would work with Australian government trade export body Austrade to promote FASHION EXPOSED and MSFW overseas, she said.
"We believe there's great potential to attract overseas buyers and Austrade [which has offices throughout the world] is the perfect avenue to achieve that," she claimed.
"We hope to continue to grow international attendance," she continued, adding that overseas visitor numbers at this year's Melbourne event were up by 17 per cent from September 2004, with Austrade's assistance facilitating a marked increase in buyers from New Zealand.
A significant rise in attendance from New South Wales buyers compared with previous fairs had also been noted, while Victoria was represented strongly with 71 per cent of the market attending.
A total of 469 exhibitors took part in the Melbourne fair, while more than 160 labels across 80 companies took part in high fashion section preview.
AEC reported a total of 9,572 trade visits over the three days of the event, incorporating 7,488 visitors.
Dight said visits in the womenswear and accessories and footwear categories saw clear growth compared to last year's autumn winter event, while childrenswear and menswear continued to be represented strongly.