South Africa’s premier fashion and textile trade fair goes virtual

AllFashion Sourcing, Messe Frankfurt South Africa’s annual trade show for the apparel, textile, footwear and leather industry, will this year be hosted on a virtual platform from 3-5 November due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

An important event on the industry calendar, the exhibition serves to help forge connections between local and international players in the broader textile and fashion value chain.

Instead of postponing the event, the decision was taken to shift AllFashion Sourcing to a digital format to help support southern African manufacturers, retailers and suppliers who are faced with the challenges of doing business during a pandemic and a strained economic climate.

Virtual networking
The trade fair, which used to be known as the ATF Expo and Source Africa, was rebranded to AllFashion Sourcing earlier this year, but the event will retain its winning mix of fashion shows, exhibitors, insightful seminar content and networking opportunities, despite being hosted online.

Messe Frankfurt’s artificial intelligence-powered virtual platform boasts intelligent business-to-business matchmaking capabilities linking buyers to relevant sellers. It also allows for scheduled video meetings between visitors and exhibitors and integrated live streaming of seminars.

AllFashion Sourcing show director Kathryn Frew points out that there are important upsides to the event being held virtually this year, especially when it comes to affordability and reach. It allows exhibitors to market products and services in a more cost-effective manner, and attendees save on associated costs like travel and accommodation.

The AllFashion Sourcing virtual platform will also be live for 3 months, providing lasting value for exhibitors and enabling visitors from around the globe to access the marketplace and seminar content for a far longer period than they would with a traditional exhibition.

Seminar highlights
Topics on the agenda during the AllFashion Sourcing 2020 seminar include:

• The state of the African textile and leathergoods industry
• Why African fashion matters
• Sustainability-led fashion – myth or reality
• Womenswear and menswear 2021 trend forecasts by trend analyst Nicola Cooper
• AGOA (Africa Growth and Opportunity Act) unpacked – the trade benefits, textile-related categories and partner country benefits
• Exporting products to the United States – What U.S. buyers look for
• AllFashion Sourcing Cape Town Young Designers Awards 2020 showcase

“The showrooms and seminar content have been carefully crafted to enhance both the exhibitor and visitor experiences and we are really looking forward to engaging on the virtual destination that we’ve put together,” says Frew.

Below, Frew shares more on what the virtual edition of AllFashion Sourcing can offer attendees, and elaborates on the shift to a digital platform and the post-Covid future of events.

AllFashion Sourcing is free to attend and is taking place online from 3-5 November 2020. Click here for registration and more information on the event.

Content courtesy of Biz Community & Nairobi fashion hub