APLF History
Earlier company descriptions, brand line-ups, store counts and photographs from the history of APLF, kept for historical reference.
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The Company Description of Its Time
APLF is filed among company names, but its business is bringing the industry together: for over two decades, Hong Kong-based APLF Ltd has been providing the global leather industry with its most important meeting and trading place. APLF's inaugural event, held in 1984, was then known as the Hong Kong Leather Fair - it was the city's first ever Mega-Fair. Today, APLF, a joint venture between Informa Markets and SIC Group, has expanded its scope, organising 5 premium events in Hong Kong and China, and has developed initiative programmes and awards covering a wide range of industry sectors.
The Fairs and the Prime Source Forum
APLF Ltd provides global companies a chance to trade and exchange information at a number of trade fairs. These include APLF - Materials Manufacturing and Technology, Fashion Access (bi-annual fairs) and the Prime Source Forum, which are all held in Hong Kong. APLF Ltd also organises the All China Leather Exhibition, China International Footwear Fair and Moda Shanghai, which pioneer the industry's push into mainland China. For an apparel reader, the structure is the story: materials and technology at one fair, finished fashion at another, sourcing strategy debated at the Forum - the supply chain laid out as a calendar.
The Prime Source Forum's weight is best shown by its attendance record, preserved in the original: around 400 senior executives from 25 countries attended Prime Source Forum 2009, including representatives from Adidas, Ann Taylor, Bossini, Cortefiel, Dick's Sporting, Eddie Bauer, Fila, G2000, Guess?, H&M, Jockey, JCPenney, Jones Intl, KarstadtQuelle, Li Ning, Liz Claiborne, lululemon athletica, New Balance and more. Several of those names carry their own profiles in this directory - two of them in this very letter - which is exactly what a sourcing forum is for: the buyers and brands of the names section, in one room, talking about how product gets made.
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