Event organizer says World Congress of Master Tailors boosted local industry

The successful hosting of the 32nd World Congress of Master Tailors in Taipei boosted the profile of the local fashion industry, event organizers said yesterday.

The conference, held Monday through Thursday at the Taipei International Convention Center, brought together 206 experienced tailors from 15 countries around the world. The event was an opportunity for master tailors to exchange information and show off their tailoring and design skills, organizers said.

Ho Liang-hung (何良鴻), chairman of the organizing committee, said Taiwan beat off competition from Austria, the US and Thailand for the right to host the event. The congress was previously held in Berlin, Germany, in 2005. The first conference was held in Brussels, Belgium, in 1910.

The four-day event featured suit-tailoring competitions and fashion shows, Ho said.

Taiwan joined the master tailors federation in 2003 and became the third Asian country to host the conference after Japan, which held the event in Tokyo in 1964, and South Korea, which hosted the congress in Seoul in 1991.

On the last day of the event, the organizing committee invited domestic designers to put on a fashion show to showcase local talent.

Lin Kuo-chi (林國基), one of the participating designers, said Taiwan's world-class tailoring of Western suits was recognized around the world. Further exchanges with tailors working with brands favored by young people would help to create more business opportunities for the local industry, Lin said.

Established brands such as Prada, Yves Saint-Laurent and Burberry -- once seen as staid -- had all produced designs that attracted the younger generation, Lin said.