For the second consecutive year, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council staged the mega-fair "Style Hong Kong" in Beijing to assist local enterprises to tap further into the burgeoning Chinese Mainland market.

As the title suggests, "Style Hong Kong" focuses on the distinct style of living and sophisticated setup of the city. The result is an emporium of exquisite taste and high style, with the innovative designs of an extensive range of merchandise on display exemplifying the theme.

With massive pre-publicity plus building on last year's fame and success, the second "Style Hong Kong", held between 31 March and 3 April 04, drew an overwhelming response on the Chinese Mainland. More than 20,000 traders, representing store buyers, retailers, distributors as well as licensee holders from across the country attended the fair to source, to collect market intelligence and to establish contacts. Like last year, the four-day fair was held in Beijing's China World Trade Centre.

This year's "Style Hong Kong" was delivering even more: there were more brands exhibiting at the fairground, including quite a few internationally-renowned ones such as Ashworth, Aquascutum and Guy Laroche. In total, there were 200-plus labels, 126 of them first-timers at the fair, offering an impressive range of merchandise that covered fashion, bags, footwear, jewelry, watches, gifts and household products.

A packed schedule of activities were planned during the fair to ensure that the event continued to be an ideal platform for Hong Kong exhibitors to market, showcase their merchandise. Such activities included fashion shows, seminars and brand presentations, all of which drew packed audience.

Fashion shows, held in the adjacent China World Hotel, remained the most effective means to showcase a brand's latest collection. Altogether, there were 11 shows featuring the exquisite designs from Compela, Deko'z, MC2, Saffron, Jeanswest, Moiselle, JC Collection (of Jackie Chan), TantPourElle and Miss K. Members of the Hong Kong Fur Federation also took up a timeslot to parade lush and signature pieces of 10 of its members, and so did their counterparts from the Hong Kong Designers' Association.

Exhibitors praised the importance of the event in establishing and strengthening their presence on the Mainland. Moiselle International Holding's chairman Boby Chan remarked that his company's repeated participation in "Style Hong Kong" had helped to raise not only the profile but also the image of his various labels. The numerous enquiries from department stores and potential licensees, he said, would certainly helped in meeting the company's long-term plan on the Mainland.