There's no questioning Asia's importance in the fashion market, and Western brands have more than taken note.There's no questioning Asia's importance in the fashion market, and Western brands have more than taken note. This month in Hong Kong alone, Tory Burch, Kenzo, Moncler, and Calvin Klein all hosted events within days of each other. And at Singapore's FIDe fashion week (FIDe is an organization that aims to promote regional and international designers in Singapore), European brands like Pierre Balmain and American ones like Burkman Bros and Ari Dein similarly made the trek eastward to show their collections. "It was the first time both brands participated in a full-length fashion show," Steven Kolb, the CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, said of the latter two. "Fashion is no longer defined by borders, and the more we can nurture global relations, the greater the success for our designers."

But the region is also increasingly interested in holding its own in global fashion, and the eleven-day event in Singapore, which typically features several days of presentations by French haute couturiers and Asian couturiers, included the latest step in that direction: the founding of the Asian Couture Federation (ACF). Now, the Asian couturiers (dubbed by the ACF as "Asian Couturier Extraordinaires") will have a support system of their own. Its inception was an act that won FIDé executive chairman and ACF founder Frank Cintamani (below, left) France's esteemed Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres honor. Even Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, offered Cintamani a pat on the back, calling the Federation's establishment "a significant event for all of Asia," at a time "when we consider that fashion until recently was generally seen as the domain of Europe and the United States."
POST: 2026-08-26