Hong Kong Denim Festival Targets Future Talents
The denim industry is quickly changing in response to pressures such as the need for sustainability. As the business looks to tackle these challenges, one way to accelerate innovation is through collaboration with new minds.
This year’s Hong Kong Denim Festival is themed “Denim Tomorrow,” focusing on bringing together the industry’s next generation of designers and creators with established denim producers. From February to March, the event will host exhibitions, workshops, forums, shopping and more. While the event is happening in-person with safety protocols in place, the festival has added virtual experiences for attendees who cannot make it to the physical venues.
On Feb. 19, the fair will kick off at PMQ with a live-streamed opening ceremony complete with live music. That same day, a “Denim Tomorrow” exhibit will open with 12 companies showcasing innovative materials to Hong Kong’s local denim designers. Up until Feb. 25, the display will include TENCEL™ branded fibers as well as manufacturers and machinery firms Advance Denim, Panther Denim, Jeanologia, Levi Strauss, Brother and more. The Denim Tomorrow exhibition will also feature the “International Denim Design Exchange Project,” with work from seven students from around the globe.
A “Denim Tomorrow” bazaar will feature displays from 20 local denim designers and artists and five international creators. Responding to the safety needs surrounding Covid, the vendors will be able to host live-streams and leverage online showroom capabilities to reach those who cannot travel to see them in-person.
Workshops will walk attendees through projects such as making a denim headband, origami handbag or bow tie. Other classes will allow participants to upcycle jeans with paint or turn jeans into an apron.
On Feb. 22, the festival will host a forum to discuss innovations in denim. Lenzing’s own Tricia Carey will be among the speakers, along with other denim names like Genius Group founder Adriano Goldschmied, Jordi Juaní Moragas from Jeanologia and The Denim Window founder Silvia Rancani.
Following the Denim Tomorrow events at PMQ, the festival will continue in March with “Downtown Denim” at Shamshuipo, with more shopping, workshops and exhibitions.
Since the festival began in 2019, it has attracted more than 60,000 attendees, including retailers, manufacturers, brands, students and the public. Per organizer Hong Kong Design Institute, part of the purpose of the event is to support Hong Kong’s position as the “Denim City of Asia.”
“There is a long denim history and culture in Hong Kong. We also have lots of denim expertise are working in Hong Kong,” said Advance Denim’s Michael Lam, who is a co-organizer of the Hong Kong Denim Festival and a forum speaker. “The Hong Kong Denim Festival is one of the biggest events in the HK denim industry to gather people from the retailers, mills, laundries, jeans makers, artists and students to share their thoughts, experience and innovations. Hong Kong is still an important hub at the denim industry for the East and West, so the event like HK Denim Festival is really an important platform for this exchange.
“I am involved in the Denim Festival because I have been working in the denim industry for almost 24 years and see lots of changes. I believe the people in our industry really need to stick together in order to come across all the challenges, and we also need to share our experience to the young generation so our industry can be sustained,” he added. “I believe a nonprofit denim platform is necessary, so I started to discuss this project with the HK government few years ago and fortunately they accepted this idea and agreed to pay the funding. I am really happy to be part of it and wish we can get the recognition from the people in our industry.”
To learn more about the Hong Kong Denim Festival, click here.