Sustainability is present in all areas of CHIC: COFNA (kidswear) uses yarn from recycled PET bottles, Jore Baudry (womenswear) puts focus on slow fashion or KASHIYAMA (menswear) has been recycling old clothes for 15 years and donating the new items to poorer regions.

In cooperation with the media publisher China Fashion and WWD, CHIC selects companies to be awarded at the fair that meet best the criteria of sustainable production as part of the activity "Pursuer of excellence in sustainability".

CHIC digital

As a pioneer in the field of digital trade fairs, CHIC is increasingly expanding digital contact forms as a service provider for the fashion industry. The presence of the participants on site is accompanied and supported by the digital tools and social media networks of CHIC. CHIC is the interface between exhibitors and all sales channels and connects the brands with the right partner. The CHIC WeChat Mini program has integrated the trade fair's e-catalog directly to coordinate the business interests of the business partners. The functions of the mini-program are continuously being expanded, even now with the possibility of ordering catering during the fair. Digital developments and networking are the key factors for market success. China's consumers, whether millennials or Gen Z, spend over 100 hours a month on social networks, short video platforms and on mobile shopping platforms. China's seniors have also turned strongly to the use of online services, fueled by the pandemic. In 2015 they made up 13% of the population, but by 2050 they will make up 25%. Access to this is supported by the government; simplified versions for the apps with larger letters and other features are to be offered by the providers.

CHIC Match Making:

Top-class participants - constant growth of the e-commerce platforms

Top-class visitors have announced themselves for a total of 36 match making events at the fair in order to find the right partner in the Chinese fashion business on site.

These include brands such as Folli Follie, cocoon, Mo & Co, Eland, tanni, VERSINO etc., online brands such as Elephant and Giraffe, Ayuko Studio, SunDayMerry, Artist Hui or Eggka.

E-commerce platforms such as Little Red Book, JD, Dou Yin (TicToc), Wang Yi Yan Xuan or SHEIN, China's expansion-friendly online shooting star with US $ 8 billion in worldwide sales in 2020, have also announced themselves, as have trading houses such as Walmart, the Bailian Group , Wangfujing, the Eurasiagroup, SKP, LIQUN or the Hualian Commercial Building.

Seven out of ten Chinese consumers use e-commerce; this share could rise to 83.5% by 2025, according to the statistics portal Statista. The online fashion industry in China is projected to grow to US$ 285,981.4 million through 2025. GlobalData primarily blames the corona pandemic for the strong increase in e-commerce sales. The sharp lockdown in China has led to such an increase in online orders.

Sales in the Fashion segment will amount to around € 340,000 million in China this year, with an expected global sales of € 777,781 million. China offers US$ 5 trillion growth opportunity over the next decade, according to the McKinsey Global Institute report. Income increases rapidly in the middle income bracket and above. Today there are fewer of these households in China than in Europe. In just ten years, China could be almost as much as Europe and the United States combined with about 400 million.

The enormous volume of the Chinese consumer market plays the decisive role.