The 10th Season of Ontimeshow Comes to a Close

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The 10th Season of Ontimeshow Comes to a Close

2019AW

2019-08-13

ByONTIMESHOW

On April 2^nd, as Shanghai Fashion Week was winding down, the 10th Season of Ontimeshow, Autumn/Winter 2019, came to a close at Shanghai West Bund Art Center. With a total floor space of 25,000 square meters, we welcomed 337 Chinese and International brands, as well as a total of 15,855 attendees, from various industries. They all came to experience Ontimeshow's contribution to achieving the goal of making this Shanghai Fashion Week AW19 the season with the largest ever order volume in Asia.

Since the strategic cooperation with Shanghai West Bund, Ontimeshow and Shanghai West Bund have been closely linked and have become key features of Shanghai Fashion Week. Some notable attendees included the Director of the Shanghai Business Committee, the District Director of Xuhui, the Deputy Secretary-General of Shanghai Fashion Week Organizing Committee, and the Shanghai West Bund Minister of Culture and Industry. Thanks to its diverse and international resources, Ontimeshow now serves as a window into China's fashion industry.

Over 30% of the visitors (5,215 people) were professional buyers, and they represent the largest demographic among the attendees. As for the brands, there were 3,429 people, raning from commercial to designer brands. Most of the industry attendees came from East China, accounting for 75% of the total number, while there was an even spread of attendees from other parts of the country, reflecting the fact that Ontimeshow's core market is in Shanghai, but has influence across the country, reaching channels from cities both large and small.

Over the past five years and 10 seasons, Ontimeshow has developed into a more holistic exhibition. In addition to 128 womenswear brands, there are 109 accessories brands, including jewelry, footwear, eyewear, and bags, and these have become the second largest category of exhibitors, giving Ontimeshow a competitive advantage over other similar exhibitions. In addition, there are 52 menswear brands, and this number increases year by year with the growth of the domestic menswear market. Of the 337 brands Ontimeshow exhibited this season, over 10% of returning brands expanded their booth size from the previous season.

Ontimeshow acts as a bridge connecting the Chinese and international fashion industries. Fittingly, Ontimeshow presented 245 Asian brands this season, accounting for 73% of the brands; these were mainly from China, Japan and South Korea. European brands account for around a quarter of the total, and these include British, French and Italian brands; there were also eight American and two Australian brands, adding to the growing international presence at Ontimeshow.

On this landmark season, Ontimeshow is making a shift to align itself with the standards of other large-scale international exhibitions, and has thus received recognition by other international platforms. From the scale of the transactions and the quality of the brands participating in the exhibition, Ontimeshow has stepped onto the international stage of fashion exhibitions, attracting mature institutions and platforms from Europe and the United States. It provides an entry point for overseas brands eager to penetrate the Chinese market, enabling them to achieve a "soft landing" in the Chinese market by allowing for the necessary degree of localization.

This season, Ontimeshow partnered with TRANOÏ, France's largest fashion trade show, which has been running in Paris for over 20 years, but also set up a Finnish Pavilion led by the Finnish Consulate, bringing six outstanding Finnish designers and their work.

↑ Venue A: TRANOÏ

↑ Venue A: Finnish Booth

Ontimeshow also worked closely with British Fashion Council (BFC) to bring two popular designer brands, Roksanda and Peter Pilotto, to Venue B3. Ontimeshow’s in-house showroom, ROOMROOM, provided them with showroom services, connecting them with 195 buyers.

This was an important part of the BFC’s China Partnerships Strategy which was launched in Shanghai in September last year. It aims to realize the organizational commitment of the BFC to enable British designers to better enter and integrate into the Chinese market through networks, content output, local partners and business support. Caroline Rush, CEO of the BFC, said that China has always been an important part of its strategic layout, hoping that this is just the beginning of a long-term relationship.

↑ Venue B3: British Fashion Council

In addition to its international reach, Ontimeshow deeply cultivates the local market, providing the best platform for the rise of local channels and brands. ROOMROOM has formal relationships with 892 buyers. Of the brands ROOMROOM represents, The Owner has grown by nearly 45% year-on-year, the newly signed brand ZHANG YUHAO has increased its distribution channels by 2-3 times so far, and its order volume is expected to increase by nearly 300%.

↑ Venue B1: ROOMROOM

In the unique cultural and artistic environment of Shanghai’s West Bund area, Ontimeshow also provides designers with more possibilities to explore their creativity in their booth design, so as to bring a more complete visual branding experience to buyers and attendees. Qiu Hao, winner of the prestigious Woolmark Award, transformed Venue C into a retrospective of the QIUHAO brand. Vega Zaishi Wang, in collaboration with the designer for WUU, enhanced the experience of her booth space through special lighting design and a creative entrance area.

In addition, HCH Showroom, a leading domestic buyer store, provided a brand-new exhibition experience to attendees with their HCH Mountain space, and presented a number of high-level domestic brands including Ms Min, Ricostru, Evening, Tommy Zhong, etc.

↑ Venue B1: ROOMROOM / ZHANG YUHAO

↑ Venue B1: ROOMROOM / The Owner

In the unique cultural and artistic environment of Shanghai’s West Bund area, Ontimeshow also provides designers with more possibilities to explore their creativity in their booth design, so as to bring a more complete visual branding experience to buyers and attendees. Qiu Hao, winner of the prestigious Woolmark Award, transformed Venue C into a retrospective of the QIUHAO brand. Vega Zaishi Wang, in collaboration with the designer for WUU, enhanced the experience of her booth space through special lighting design and a creative entrance area.

↑ Venue C: QIUHAO

↑ Venue B1: Vega Zaishi Wang

In addition, HCH Showroom, a leading domestic buyer store, provided a brand-new exhibition experience to attendees with their HCH Mountain space, and presented a number of high-level domestic brands including Ms Min, Ricostru, Evening, Tommy Zhong, etc.

↑ Venue B2: HCH

While maintaining the professional atmosphere of a trade show, Ontimeshow provides a lot of additional display space for designers who pay close attention to their brand’s image so as to meet their artistic and visual requirements. In addition to the traditional booth presentation, Ontimeshow hosted runway and static presentations for Reclothing Bank x Fake Natoo, and YE'SbyYESIR in the courtyard in Venue B. The multi-dimensional presentations allowed buyers, media and professional audiences to have a deep contact with the work.

↑ Reclothing Bank x Fake Natoo Runway Presentation

↑ YE’SbyYESIR Still Presentation

It is noteworthy that there are a number of brands at Ontimeshow that have outstanding sales performance. Among them is W. RONG, a brand that has been with Ontimeshow since its first show. The brand was founded by the designer Wang Changrong, and the brand is now stocked in nearly 60 retailers across 50 different regions of the country, with annual sales reaching 50 million RMB. The brand expanded their booth and built it into a model store in order to demonstrate the brand image and product display for the buyers who come to make orders. The brand is planning to open independent stores in Chengdu and Wuhan, where there is high market potential.

↑ B1馆 W.RONG

The footwear brand KKtP is moving towards its second phase of greater commercialization, and expanded its men's ready-to-wear into a core part of its business. This season, it added 14 new channels, representing 150% growth.

↑ Venue B1: KKtP

Ontimeshow's brand portfolio is very diverse, ranging from Roksanda, Peter Pilotto and other mature international designer brands, rising Chinese designer brands, to mature local designer brands like Reclothing Bank x Fake Natoo and YE'SbyYESIR. Brands like KKtP, Percy Lau, and Angel Chen are independent designer brands that emphasize individuality, while brands like W. RONG, Reineren, and Annakiki have great commercial ambitions. Ontimeshow is inclusive, providing space for brands with different dimensions and needs.

↑ Venue B1: Annakiki

Ontimeshow plays a role as a bridge between China and foreign countries. Ten seasons on, Ontimeshow is also planning a more ambitious plan to start expanding beyond Shanghai. In the future, more exchanges will be held in London, Paris and other international fashion cities, to further open channels between overseas markets and Chinese markets, and to facilitate the flow of information and resources in the fashion industry.