The 16th IF Wedding Fashion İzmir – Wedding Dress, Suit and Evening Wear Fair was held on 22-25 November 2022, hosted by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, by İZFAŞ in partnership with the Aegean Clothing Manufacturers Association. The fair, where 223 participants from evening dresses, wedding dresses, groom suits, accessories and children’s clothing product groups from Turkey and 10 countries took part, hosted professional visitors from 98 countries and 75 provinces of Turkey. Within the scope of the fair, Purchasing Committee organizations were also organized with the support of the Ministry of Commerce, in cooperation with the Izmir Chamber of Commerce and the Aegean Exporters’ Association. The fair, which was held for the 16th time in Izmir, Turkey’s gateway to the world with its 8,500-year history, drew attention not only with the range of products on display, but also with its fashion shows, competitions and shows that turned into an almost international fashion feast. The designs that will shape the 2023 fashion were also showcased for the first time at the fair. “We are proud to host” Emphasizing that Izmir Metropolitan Mayor Tunç Soyer’s vision of making Izmir a city of fairs, they continue to work resolutely, İZFAŞ General Manager Canan Karaosmanoğlu Buyer said, “IF Wedding Fashion Izmir is the biggest fashion fair in Europe. We are proud to host this fair, which continues its uninterrupted growth every year, in Izmir. We had 223 participants from all product groups in our fair. We had more than 20 thousand domestic professional visitors from 75 provinces, nearly 5 thousand foreign visitors from 98 countries and procurement committees. Turkey is an important supplier of bridal gowns and evening dresses, and exports bridal gowns worth over 1 billion dollars. About 70 percent of this is carried out from Izmir. In addition to bridal gowns, wedding dresses such as evening dresses and groom suits are exported to the world, especially to Europe and the Middle East. For 16 years, our fair has brought together the representatives of the sector, which is developing more and more each year, in İzmir and contributes to the formation of a strong fashion economy. The fair sector, and the sector, carries the fair a little further each year. In addition, fashion shows and events add great color to our fair. We are bringing young designers to the sector with the Wedding Dress Design Competition, which we organized for the 13th time this year with the Aegean Clothing Manufacturers Association. I would like to thank all our participants, sector representatives, stakeholders and supporters. We will continue to grow the sector in our future fairs, contribute to exports by promoting them in international arenas, and contribute to the city’s economy with the synergy created by thousands of exhibitors and visitors, as we did in all our fairs we organized throughout the year. “It has become one of the most important meeting points in the world” İzmir Chamber of Commerce Chairman of the Board Mahmut Özgener stated that the fair has become one of the most important meeting points of the sector representatives in the world and said, “As İzmir Chamber of Commerce, we aim to strengthen, diversify and increase the connections of our producers from İzmir, who are the most important actors of the wedding dress, evening dress and grooming sector in our country. For this purpose, we organized a Buying Delegation Organization with the support of the Ministry of Commerce and in cooperation with İZFAŞ, simultaneously with the IF Wedding Fashion İzmir 16th Wedding Dress, Suit and Evening Dress Fair. In our sectoral procurement committee organization, which lasted for 3 days, 14 member companies held 220 bilateral meetings with foreign buyers from 9 countries. The highly productive meetings will also serve as a lever for the awareness and branding of our industry in foreign markets. We would like to thank the Ministry of Commerce for their support in the realization of the bilateral business meetings, which made significant contributions to the economy of our city and our country. We see fairs as one of the most important growth dynamics of İzmir. Therefore, as the Chamber, we strive to increase our support and services for our members’ participation in fairs. We hope that Izmir, the city of fairs, will put its signature under many beautiful fairs with the contributions of all stakeholders of the city, with the mission it has taken from history.” “Continues to be our pride in the international arena” Aegean Region Chamber of Industry President Ender Yorgancılar said, “IF Wedding Fashion İzmir is one of the biggest fairs of the fashion industry and continues to be our pride in the international arena. Bringing local and foreign sector representatives, who bring fashion winds to our Izmir, together in Izmir, the fair is the apple of our eye. Because it provides employment, earns foreign exchange by exporting. With its qualified workforce and quality production, it represents our İzmir and our country in the best way in the world. We are in a process of transformation in every field. And this transformation requires not to be late. In an age where innovation, creativity, tailor-made production and design come to the fore and industry 5.0 is on the agenda, every innovative step taken by the industry will make the next step stronger and more successful. I sincerely congratulate our sector representatives who add value to İzmir and our country and will continue to do so, and wish them continued success.” “We aim to increase our share in the world market” Burak Sertbaş, President of the Aegean Ready-made Clothing and Apparel Exporters’ Association, said, “IF Wedding Fashion İzmir is a fair that has become a brand in the sector and welcomes more than 20 thousand visitors from many parts of the world every year. Izmir alone meets 70 percent of our country’s wedding dress production. We export all over the world, including Europe and the Middle East. This year, our Association organized a purchasing delegation covering the wedding dresses, groom suits, evening dresses, children’s evening dresses and accessories sectors for three days simultaneously with the fair, through the Ministry of Trade. Our 18 companies held approximately 200 meetings with 51 foreign buyers from 10 different countries: Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Macedonia and Greece. Turkey’s apparel exports amounted to 17.8 billion dollars with an increase of 7 percent in the January-October period. In 2021, imports of 145 billion dollars were realized in the wedding dress, suit and evening wear sector around the world. Among the target countries participating in our procurement committee, Germany ranks second after the USA with its imports of 13.6 billion dollars in the relevant sectors in 2021. France, another important country of the procurement committee, ranks third with an import of 7.6 billion dollars in 2021. The UK’s import amount in 2021 is 6.9 billion dollars, while Italy’s is 4.8 billion dollars. We aim to increase Turkey’s 4% share of the world market to 10% in the wedding dress, suit and evening dress sectors with new commercial connections.” “It contributes not only to the sector but also to the commercial circulation of the city” Zekeriya Mutlu, President of İzmir Chambers of Craftsmen and Craftsmen, said that the fair made important contributions not only to the sector but also to all the dynamics of the city, adding: also has an effect. I would like to express that the İzmir Tradesmen Organization has fulfilled its responsibilities in the field of specialization fairs, which constitute the most important growth motivations of the city. We strive to serve our city and country in cooperation with our local governments, the public and other professional organizations, both in this fair and in other sectoral specialization fairs. As an organization of tradesmen, we participate in most of the specialization fairs that have not lost anything of their value despite the significant progress of the internet and online commerce. We benefit from fairs in order to gain strength in sectoral competition. On the other hand, it should not be overlooked that specialized fairs have a positive impact not only on the members of the relevant sector, but also on the commercial circulation of the city. Tradesmen and artisans are at the forefront of the segments that serve the guests and participants during the fair. Our tradesmen organization also gets its share from the added value that spreads in waves from hoteliers to taxi drivers, from restaurants to our members operating in the souvenir sector. For this reason, as IESOB, we attach importance to these studies and thank those who contributed to the fair”. Adoption of all institutions and acting together brought success Hayati Ertuğrul, Chairman of the Board of the Aegean Clothing Manufacturers Association, stated that the fair has been continuing with an increasing momentum for 16 years and that there has been an increase in the number of participants and quantity this year compared to last year, “The Fair, of which we are a partner, has an important place in the world. The most important reason for this success is that all institutions in our city embrace the fair and act together to expand it. After the business connections made at the fair, the fast and high-quality production service of the manufacturing companies to their customers enabled the sector to reach a successful point abroad. Izmir is known as the capital of bridal gowns and IF Wedding Fashion Izmir has a big role in this. Our Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and İZFAŞ are making huge investments for the fair, the foundations of which were laid 16 years ago. Visitors from countries determined as target markets are brought to İzmir. Aegean Exporters’ Associations and Izmir Chamber of Commerce organize foreign visitor organizations with the work of purchasing committees from abroad. İzmir Chamber of Commerce provides fair incentives to companies from İzmir participating in the fair. Companies have made great efforts to make our city a brand in wedding dresses abroad with their production quality, educated workforce and export experience. Success is not accidental. This year, too, purchasing groups from various countries came to our fair. These visitors will pave the way for companies to open up to new markets. The 13th Wedding Dress Design Competition, which we are holding simultaneously with the fair, brought together young designers with the theme of Modaverse. The young designer Hasancan Meşelik, who won a degree in last year’s competition, put on a fashion show that left the audience in awe. The unity in the sector is strong enough to set an example for other sectors. The cooperation between companies and institutions is reflected in our fair in the same way. The branding of the sector in our city is a source of great pride for İzmir.” Hotel occupancy reached 100% Skal İzmir President Güner Güney stated that IF Wedding Fashion İzmir made a great contribution to the hotel management and tourism sector and said, “It has been of great benefit not only to our sector, but also to the tradesmen in the surrounding area. According to my estimations, approximately 2 thousand overnight stays took place within the scope of the fair. Occupancy rates reached 100 percent both in the hotels in the city center in Çankaya, Konak, Alsancak, Basmane, Bayraklı and Balçova, as well as in the surrounding holiday areas. After the pandemic, these rates made a great contribution to the sector, it was morale. After a short while, TTI Izmir Fair is coming. Specialized fairs have a great impact on our industry and the promotion of İzmir. Participation increases every year, compared to the previous year. I congratulate İZFAŞ General Manager Canan Karaosmanoğlu Buyer and his team on this issue. More than 30 fairs, held in a world-class fairground, provide great support to both the economy and promotion of İzmir, both at home and abroad. I think that the fairs not only contribute to the economy but also increase the recognition of İzmir”. IF Wedding Fashion İzmir has become a world brand Stating that IF Wedding Fashion İzmir has become not only a fair but also a world brand with its competitions and fashion shows, Abdullah Salkım, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fashion Textile Confectioners Industrialists Businessmen’s Association, also stated that the union of forces of all institutions and organizations at the fair made great contributions to the development of the sector. Salkım said, “Both the Fashion Tech and Fashion Prime fairs, which are held simultaneously, and the IF Wedding Fashion İzmir Fair are very important fairs for the sector. As in the other two fairs, this fair was also very successful. I think that the fair made serious contributions to the Izmir economy as well as the industry. The participating companies I interviewed say that they are very satisfied and that they receive very good orders abroad. This makes us very happy. We are already among the supporters of this fair to contribute to our members and we are glad that we are reaping the fruits of our efforts. I think that IF Wedding Fashion İzmir, which grows with each passing year, will grow even more in the coming years in terms of both the number of participants, its area and its business volume.”