35th IAF World Fashion Convention in Lahore, Pakistan

The IAF’s 35th World Fashion Convention was organised together with IAF member PRGMEA (Pakistan Readymade Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) on November 12-13, 2019 in Lahore, Pakistan.

The theme of the 35th IAF World Fashion Convention was: ‘Let’s Grow Together for a More Prosperous and Sustainable Future’. This theme focussed on apparel industry growth in a collaborative mode with a clear and systemic vision on sustainability. Brands and retailers compete with each other by having constructed together with their suppliers the best supply chains. New technology is changing the industry, but often it only works if several players in the supply chain are collaborating to implement the technology. In the Convention, brands, retailers and manufacturers from the fashion industry were gathering in one of the world’s main apparel manufacturing countries, Pakistan, to discuss in detail how we could all collaborate to build the most competitive and sustainable supply chains. Overall, the Convention key words were: Collaboration, Growth, Future, Innovation and Sustainability.

The Convention’s Thematic Objectives in Detail

1. The Future of Apparel: The conference program will offer a peek into the future of textiles and apparel along Industry 4.0 trends. They should be able to deliberate about the possible changes in materials, processes, consumer-behavior and lifestyle changes that would determine the future course for this global industry. New business models, new material uses and functionalities and new technologies on the workfloor and integrating the workfloor to the rest of the supply chain will be dealt with by our speakers. We will also discuss the future of work itself, with deep insights offered into the effect of robotization on the role of labour by the ILO.

2. The Market Place: Speakers will discuss market place changes and emergence of new trade channels. What would be new trends that would re-shape business to business dealings and business to consumer dealings?

3. Sustainability and Responsible Business Conduct: People often remark that IAF Conventions do not have keynote speakers or panels dedicated exclusively to the theme of sustainability anymore. This is true, but it is a conscious choice and it does not mean that we don’t deem the topic to be important. On the contrary, but we also believe that sustainability is only relevant when it is integrated in the core of the business. So, dispersed over several presentations, speakers will talk about circular textiles, new and more sustainable business models, legislative solutions and the real buyer – supplier collaboration that actually enables supply chains to make sustainable decisions that make economic sense.

4. The Legislative Context: The apparel industry, having such a profound impact on societies across the world, is heavily regulated. This has diverse impacts on our industry, ranging from catastrophic to very supportive. But it is important for the industry to understand the legislative trends and to understand how to deal with existing and upcoming legislation and where possible to influence it, including trade policy, investment policies and increasingly policies protecting workers, consumer and the natural environment.
5. Networking: The delegates coming from all over the world must interact and share their experiences. The networking would further strengthen the global collaborative operations. The delegates should be able to understand textile and apparel ecosystem in Pakistan. This understanding of the local context would enable the Pakistani industry to integrate with global value chains in a frictionless manner.

Convention Programme

Sunday November 10: IAF Golf Tournament, Board of Directors Dinner

Monday November 11: Board of Directors Meeting, General Assembly, Welcome Dinner

Tuesday November 12: Conference Day 1, Festive Fashion Dinner and Global Fashion Award

Wednesday November 13 : Conference Day 2, Farewell Cocktails

Thursday-Friday November 14-15: Study Tour

Speakers Day 1

Inaugural Session
Han Bekke

Overall moderator
Mr. Jan Hilger, Hilger Consulting/PVH

Keynote 1: A vision for a development path for the Pakistani apparel industry in a global context
Mr. Wilson Zhu, Chief Operating Officer, Li&Fung

Keynote 2: Trade & Investment Opportunities in Pakistan
Mr. Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera, Secretary of Commerce

Keynote 3: Possibilities now and in the future for the digitization and automation of garment production
Mr. Joachim Hensch, Managing Director Hugo Boss Textile Industries

Buyer – Manufacturer collaboration in practice
Mrs. Stefani Artmann (Artmann Consulting/Kik), Mr. Musadaq Zulqarnain (Chairman Interloop, Ltd),  Mr. Christopher Veit (CEO Veit GmbH)

Keynote 4: Perspectives for Pakistan’s Prêt-a-Porter – The Pathway To Protecting Global Competitiveness
Mrs. Yvonne Heinen, Gerber Technology

Speakers Day 2

Keynote 5: The State of Cotton
Mr. William Bettendorf, Cotton Council International

Panel Session: Education for a Prospering Industry
Pakistan Partnership for Cleaner Textiles (PaCT): Mr. Syed Muhammad Areeb Syed Hussain, ITC
Development of design skills: Mr. Damon Frank Giannocarro, Unido
Success with Digital Transformation – Hacking your way into Industry 4.0: Mr. Azfar Hassan, CEO Matrix Group

Panel Session: Innovation in the industry in practice
Mr. Fawad Shah and Ms. Muniba Rashid, Lulusar
Mr. Ram Sareen, Tukatech
Mr. Shuichi Utena, Juki Corporation

Keynote 6:Global Retail developments and consequences for the apparel supply chain
Mr. Bashir Ali Mohammed, Chairman and CEO of Gul Ahmed

Global Fashion Award

The IAF-PRGMEA Global Fashion Award represented the epitome of quality, perfection and concept of a design. The competition worked to educate young fashion designers about sustainable design techniques and theories. It also provided a platform in the spotlight for these aspiring designers.

The competition combined education and practical work and takes its participants on a worthwhile journey. It challenged young designers to put their creative prowess to the test by proving their ability to transform textile waste into wearable, appealing and commercially viable products. The top ten finalists presented their creations at the Festive Fashion Dinner at the 35th Fashion Convention in Lahore on the 12th of November, 2019. The IAF-PRGMEA Global Fashion Award was given to the best designed outfit.

Photos and Videos

Media coverage

During the visit of Matthijs Crietee to Lahore, Pakistan, a press conference was being held at TEXPO to announce that the 35th IAF World Fashion Convention was to be held in Lahore in November 2019.