Istanbul to emerge as fashion center where east meets west

As consumption shifted from the Western world to the East with the recent global financial crisis, Istanbul became the meeting point of the two, especially in the textile and ready-to-wear sectors, CNR Holding sales coordinator Selcuk Icinsel has said. Delivering a speech at a press conference organized to promote the 15th İstanbul Fashion Fair, which is scheduled to be held at the CNR Expo Center on Jan. 24-26, Icinsel said 125 companies from around the world are expected to participate in the fair. "Since the last fair (held on Aug. 28-30) coincided with the closing of the summer season, the number of companies that attended was very low; however, this time we are expecting a very high figure," he said, adding that he is very optimistic about the fair and that he expects it to attract some 30,000 visitors. The fair will be visited by delegations of 125 purchase specialists from Greece and Bulgaria, respectively, along with 10 purchase specialists each from Jordanian and Romanian textile and ready-to-wear associations. Moreover, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce expected to attend the fair with a group of eight buyers as will Russia’s Krasnodar Chamber of Commerce. Other countries that will be represented by companies at the fair are China, Egypt, France, Germany, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, the UAE, the UK and the US. Icinsel also drew attention to the attendance of Saudi House, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading department stores, at the fair, stressing that this will be the first time a Saudi company attends.