latest creations at Asia's premiere fashion event

Internationally acclaimed designers have taken center stage at Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter, presenting their latest creations at Asia's premiere fashion event.

Hong Kong Fashion Week (http://www.hktdc.com/fair/hkfashionweekfw-en) runs until Thursday at the city's Convention and Exhibition Center and Tuesday saw an exclusive show featuring the work of Japan's Keita Maruyama, South Korea's Doii Lee, Alex Wang from mainland China and Hong Kong's Barney Cheng.

The Paris-based Lee said the Hong Kong event was important to any designer who wanted to "go global."

"I'm a young designer who wants to make it in the international market," she told "Hong Kong Trader (http://www.hktdc.com/), the website of event organizers the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

"This means a lot to me, because it can be a platform to grow my business in Hong Kong and the China area, which is what all young designers dream of doing at the moment." 

The Hong Kong fashion event has been held for the past 42 years and the latest edition has attracted around 1,500 exhibitors from across the globe.

 Among them has been the Shanghai-based Qinyi, which made its debut at the show with its unique style of "qipaos," or traditional Chinese women's dresses. And the company's founder said the Hong Kong show provided a vital link between the East and the West.

 "As China's economy rapidly develops, we think this is also a good chance to spread the Chinese influence abroad," said Li Jian Qin, whose designs were seen on APEC leaders when Shanghai hosted the 2001 APEC summit.

This year the Hong Kong event has launched a new service on its youtube channel (www.youtube.com/hktdc) which features updates on event and interviews with designers.

Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2011 is being held concurrently with World Boutique with both events designed to "spotlight the city's role as a trend-setting capital and a major fashion-sourcing hub."