News

Fashion Week 2006 Fringe Event Garner Great Success

November 3rd, 2006

(SINGAPORE)- Fashion-Tech Solution Conference was a 3 day (1st – 3rd November 2006) event held in conjunction with Singapore Fashion Week 2006 at Singapore Expo Conference Hall. This event was jointly organized by TaF.f and TaF.tc with support from IE Singapore and Spring Singapore. This year’s event focused on a wide range of topics from RFID (which the government is currently spearheading in various industries) to virtual sampling, LEAN manufacturing to International Trade issues.

An international group of speakers from USA, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan and Singapore were invited to give talk during this event. From CEOs to Regional Heads, consultants to published authors, they shared with the audience their experiences, problems and knowledge on their specialized field. Topics veered from state-of-the-art technology to controversial issues as they were dished out and discussed at length.

This year saw the number of registration doubled compared to the year 2005. Delegates from Sri Lanka, Germany, Israel, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Indonesia and Singapore gathered at the Singapore Expo to soak in the information and also took the opportunity to widen their contacts with the other foreign participants. This shows how the Fashion-Tech Solution Conference has grown from a regional conference to an international contact hub to share ideas, discuss the latest international issues and delve into the future challenges facing the fashion and garment manufacturing industry.

Highlight of the event included an intensive seminar on the RFID solutions which prove to be highly informative. Day 2 saw the audience being treated with a bonus from Cotton Incorporated as Ms Kathryn Novakovic showcased the upcoming 2008 inspirations and colours, which were only ready just days before the event, and those who were present were one of the first few people in the world to witness this. Also popular with the audience were the LEAN manufacturing topics from Ms. Gisela Bachert and the passionate Mr. Charles Dagher, while Mr. Peter Shay and Mr. Rajesh Chhabara enthralled the audience with their dry wit and informative presentation. Day 2 also saw the official launch of Textile and Fashion Design Centre (TaF.dc) and Virtual Garment Centre (V.Gc) and on stage to present the software for virtual sampling were Mr. Thomas Tan and Mr. Adrian Huang. Delegates from Sri Lanka, Israel, Cambodia etc. specially flew in to the event see this presentation and they were not disappointed. Many were awed and skepticism were abound prior to the presentation but after, many were left a little more knowledgeable and receptive to what the future will bring.

Day 3 was filled with a myriad of thought provoking talks from Ms Rupa Ganguli who presented on Trade Remedies with China and renowned author, Mr. David Birnbaum gave an insightful presentation on Competitive Strategy for ASEAN Manufacturers and Buying Office. Mr.Irfan Ahmed Shaikh and Mr. K.C. Lau had an interesting exchange where their opposing views were deliberated while giving their respective topics. Last but definitely not least, Mr. Lou Protonentis from Cotton Incorporated introduced a range of new, innovative cotton based fabrics with various functional advancement developed with the help of the local manufacturers.

All in all, the response from the audience has been very positive and many actually requested the talk to be extended from the allocated 1 hour time limit because the felt the speakers will be able to delve deeper into their various subjects. There were also many other suggestions as to what they would like to have improved and the topics they were eager to anticipate for next year’s conference.

TaF.f and TaF.tc will regularly update their websites for more of such events in the future. Details can be obtained at: (TaF.f) www.taff.org.sg and (TaF.tc) www.taftc.org