Collection Premiere Moscow (CPM), which is one of the most important garment and fashion fairs of Eastern Europe and Russia, brought together fashion and trend followers. The event was organized by Idego, and 20 thousand of people visited the fair where 1600 collections from 48 countries were exhibited. In the fair where there were such segments as CPM Premium, CPM Fashion&Denim, CPM Body&Beach and CPM Kids, the participants exhibited the trends of women's clothing, menswear, kids wear, young fashion, leather, swimwear and accessories. The original designs of Turkish firms stood out in the fair where the Turkish apparel sector attended as guest country. In the hall "CPM Style", which is newly created in the area of exhibition, 9 Turkish designers including Mehtap Elaidi, Gamze Saraçoğlu, Simay Bülbül presented their products to the visitors.
Turkish apparel industry focusing on design, trend and promotion attended the fair with 100 companies such as Mavi, Gizia, Bisse, Altınyıldız, AVVA, Sabri Özel, under the umbrella of Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters' Association (İHKİB). Turkish firms, which were admired by the visitors in CPM Fair, target to reach the summit in a few years in terms of the export volume to be recorded to Russia that is one of the most important export markets of Turkish apparel industry.
We Need to Increase Our Export Target
Making assessment regarding the exhibition, Chairman of İHKİB, Hikmet Tanriverdi said that Turkey, which is the world's largest 6th garment exporter, sold products to 195 countries in 2013. Pointing out to the fact that Russian Federation ranks 10th following such countries as Germany, England, Spain, France, the Netherlands in terms of export volumes, Tanrıverdi expressed: ''In Russia where we exported 380 million dollars of apparel products in 2013, we have sold 412 million dollars of products with an increase of 8.5 per cent in 2013. Russia, which has a total of $ 75 billion of apparel market, imports approximately $ 10 billion of apparel products each year. As Turkish fashion industry, we need to specify our level higher than before. We target to reach higher levels in terms of our export volumes with the approach including design, trend and promotion. Regarding the export volumes to Russia, exceeding the psychological limit of $ 1 billion is much easier today than the past.’’.
Success Formula: 3 Approaches Rule
Pointing out to the fact that Turkey recorded an export volume of 152 billion dollars with 90 million tonnes of products in 2013, Tanrıverdi stated that this volume means that a kilogram of product is worth 1.5 dollars. Emphasizing that this figure increased to 24 dollars per kilogram in the garment industry which closed 2013 financial year with an export volume of 17.4 billion dollars, Tanrıverdi said that: ''We reached this successful result with 3 Approaches Rule including Design, Trend and Promotion. We have also applied this approach for Russian people who consider the quality and stylish wear as an integral part of their lives. Especially our brands recognised the lack in Euro zone and have achieved significant improvements despite the saturation in this region. We are now taking place in the world markets with our own brand. We also reach important achievements in this area as in export. We target to reach an export volume of 19 billion dollars in apparel sector with value-added products, fashion and brand approach in 2014.
There Will Be More Comprehensive Business Models in Future
Pointing out to the fact that the P&D project titled "Promoting International Cooperation with the Design, Trend and Promotion-Based Cooperation in the Ready Wear Sector" realized by IHKIB in June 2013 with the support of the Ministry of Economy will bring a new vision to the sector, Tanrıverdi completed his remarks as such:
''Not only western countries such as Italy France Spain but also the other ones such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, many countries are trying to get a share from the garment industry. Therefore, there is a cut-throat competition. Those, who can apply the approach including Design, Trend and Promotion, will take a larger share of the pie. Within the scope of the project, there are 13 companies as manufacturers and suppliers and 13 other ones as designers in Apparel and Design Cluster. We have especially shown sensitivity that there are designers in the clusters in order to support the firms to increase their exports as design-oriented. As the cooperation between the firms, members of the cluster, is based on design, trend and promotion, this cooperation will contribute to the branding of the Turkish ready wear sector and increase the popularity of the sector in the international markets. Joint mobility and entrepreneurship will be accompanied by the value chain integration and contribute to increasing the product quality and product diversity. This project also provided a basis for future collaborations. Therefore, we hope that there will be more comprehensive business models in the coming periods. In the following period, we will be also performing a new cluster projects for other sub-groups of the garment industry.''
