HONG KONG—Rising fuel prices and political strife in the Middle East had many apparel manufacturers at the Spring/Summer 2007 Hong Kong Fashion Week worried that sales would be adversely affected in the upcoming seasons.

Price increases at the pump also meant that more gar-ment makers were being pressured to deliver cheaper prices to retailers looking to keep up their profits, as well as to attract more customers with lower price points.

More than 1,100 exhibitors— a 21 percent increase over last year—signed up for the event, held July 11–14 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, with its sweeping view of Victoria Harbour and surrounding skyscrapers.

The summer version of the show, which features designers and clothing makers from all over the world, has grown markedly since 2004, right before most apparel quotas went away in 2005 for the 149 countries that belong to the World Trade Organization. But temporary U.S. quota limitations on 34 categories of apparel have many Chinese manufacturers in a bind, which was why so many decided to participate in this summer show. Their chief goal was to search for new clients from other countries.

“This gives you exposure to different customers from all over the world,” said Dick Ng, general manager for Keen Bond International Ltd., a Hong Kong–based company that has been attending the show for the past 10 years. The apparel maker does women’s knit tops and sweaters from its Chinese factory, which currently employs 600 workers, down 200 from the plant’s full capacity.

But Ng said business at Hong Kong Fashion Week was lukewarm. “The show this time was average but not very encouraging,” he noted. “It all depends on the general economy and if your design team hits the mark.”

Overall, exhibitors reported mixed results. Some were disappointed that they weren’t scooping up more business, especially when there were 21,351 visitors, up 9.9 percent from a year ago. Of those, 12,950 were local visitors and 8,401 were international visitors.

Vikas Agarwal, president of Aman Exports International in Jaipur, India, received hefty orders at the previous Summer and Winter shows. For example, one season he snagged an order for 30,000 T-shirts and tops from Los Angeles–based retailer Forever 21 Inc. But this year, Agarwal got no orders at the show from any U.S. companies for his cotton tops, T-shirts and dresses that have colorful prints. “My customers tell me fuel is expensive,” he said. “Normally, I sell 1.5 million pieces to the U.S., and in the first six months, I’ve sold 200,000 pieces.”

Agarwal doesn’t believe his dip in business is related to the fact that Indian-style garments are not as popular as they were last summer. He pointed to purchases by buyers from Canadian companies such as Fine Line Imports, which ordered 5,000 pieces of clothing during the show, and Montrealbased retail chain Boutique Marie-Claire Inc., which ordered 8,000 tops and dresses.

Agarwal also had to lower his wholesale prices, dropping T-shirt prices from $5.50 to $4.

“All the Indian companies in our group are doing so-so—not good, not bad,” he said, noting that he came to Hong Kong Fashion Week with 119 other Indian companies organized by the country’s Apparel Export Promotional Council.

Companies from countries such as China also were concerned about the number of orders written. Angela Li, a saleswoman for Alphasion Apparel Co. in Jiaxing, China, where they make cotton dresses, jackets and blouses, said her business was disappointing. “Last summer was better than this summer,” she said.

Californians cruising

But the show was very successful for the only two California apparel companies participating in Hong Kong Fashion Week.

Aris Ai, president of Shennel Trading Group in Ontario, Calif., was making her second appearance at the event. Currently, 95 percent of the crinkled velvet dresses and colorful beaded shawls, scarves and tops the company makes in its Chinese factory with 200 workers are sold in the United States. Her U.S. customers include Nordstrom and Chico’s. But Ai wants to branch out to a worldwide market to boost her annual sales of $5 million.

“I heard a lot of people come from different countries to this show,” said Ai, who started her company 14 years ago. “We’re happy. People are placing orders, and others are waiting for samples.”

This was the third season at Hong Kong Fashion Week for Renee Song, president of Los Angeles–based So Cool Inc. A graduate of the Otis College of Art and Design, Song launched her company eight years ago and is the chief designer. She has several labels, but at this show she brought mostly her Renee C label of knit tops and sweaters made in a Shanghai factory owned by her father.

A mannequin dressed in a blue faux-leather skirt and navy blue sweater attracted two buyers from a chain of maternity boutiques in New Zealand. They liked the outfit but wanted Song to send samples of the skirt made for a maternity customer.

“This time our business is getting better,” she said. “We’ve seen buyers from France, Italy, Spain, Egypt, Mexico and Japan. The January market was very slow, but everyone said then that the Spring market is better.”

Making his first appearance at Hong Kong Fashion Week was Mark Warman, owner of Dress Me Sales, a 41-year-old company that has an office in the California Market Center in Los Angeles.

Warman, who represents several lines and imports others, was looking for new lines of jeans, dresses, knit tops and clubwear after deciding to go directly to the manufacturers for goods instead of working with agents.

“There is a lot of interesting stuff here,” he said. “This is great. There are people from all over the world here.”