New Zealand may be a small, geographically isolated retail market, but that doesn't mean its stores or customers should miss out on what is emerging internationally. For retailers, finding something new often means getting out into the world, meeting brands directly and discovering products before they are already everywhere.
That was the purpose of taking New Zealand retailers and distributors to CENTRESTAGE 2025 in Hong Kong.
The trip was about discovery. New brands, new designers, new products and, importantly, new opportunities to bring something back to New Zealand that customers here may not have seen before.
CENTRESTAGE is very different from a sourcing or manufacturing event. It is focused on finished fashion brands and collections that are ready to meet the market. For New Zealand retailers, that creates an opportunity to walk the show, discover labels from around the world and speak directly with the people behind them about stocking, importing or potentially distributing their products in New Zealand.
The 2025 edition marked CENTRESTAGE’s 10th anniversary and was its largest and most international to date. More than 260 brands from 25 countries and regions participated across the four-day event, attracting more than 10,000 trade buyers from 91 countries and regions. Buyer participation from the United Kingdom, Mainland China, India and Indonesia also recorded significant growth.
That international mix matters because CENTRESTAGE is not simply a place to see what is happening in fashion. It creates an environment where brands looking for new markets can meet retailers looking for something new.
Major international buyers attending in 2025 included Machine-A from the United Kingdom, Sugar Srl from Italy, Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores from Japan, Zalora from Indonesia and ESSX from the United States.
For Fashion Council of New Zealand co-founder Caitlan Mitchell, creating those connections also has personal significance.
Her father, Apparel Magazine founder Peter Mitchell, was passionate about bringing people together and creating connections across the fashion industry. Since his passing in 2022, Mitchell has continued that legacy by creating opportunities for New Zealand businesses to build relationships beyond their own market.
“I love the matchmaking side of it. I’m constantly running around CENTRESTAGE, meeting brands, finding out what they’re doing and thinking about who from New Zealand I need to introduce them to. You start connecting the dots between businesses and thinking, this would be perfect for this retailer, or this brand could have a real opportunity in New Zealand. Making those introductions and then seeing where they lead is one of my favourite parts of what I do,” said Mitchell.
For New Zealand retailers, being there in person opens doors that are difficult to replicate from home. Instead of discovering brands through an algorithm or social media feed, buyers can walk through hundreds of collections, spot something unexpected, meet the people behind it and start a conversation immediately.
Sometimes it might be a complete label that would work for a New Zealand store. Sometimes it could be a particular product or accessory that stands out. In other cases, there may be an opportunity for a retailer or distributor to represent a brand more widely within the New Zealand market.
CENTRESTAGE 2025 demonstrated that those discoveries can translate directly into business. Machine-A Founder and Buying Director Stavros Karelis attended the event for the first time and described it as a gateway for international buyers to explore Asia’s fashion market. Karelis allocated a specific budget to acquire standout designs discovered during the fair, demonstrating the commercial potential of bringing brands and buyers together in one place.
That is exactly the kind of opportunity that makes CENTRESTAGE relevant for New Zealand.
New Zealand retailers are a long way from many of the markets where new fashion businesses are emerging. Travelling internationally creates an opportunity to discover brands that may never have considered New Zealand, while giving those brands a direct introduction to retailers who understand the local customer and market.
The potential goes beyond apparel. CENTRESTAGE introduced a dedicated Accessories zone in 2025, while an HKTDC survey of more than 400 exhibitors and buyers found 36 percent believed fashion accessories offered the greatest growth potential among fashion product categories in major sales markets.
There was optimism about finding growth beyond established markets. Thirty-eight percent of respondents identified rising demand from emerging markets as their greatest business opportunity, reinforcing the importance of creating connections between brands and customers beyond their existing territories.
The United Kingdom participated as CENTRESTAGE’s Partner Country for the first time in 2025, bringing 16 fashion brands and emerging designers to Hong Kong. The wider event brought together designers and businesses from across Asia and other international markets, giving New Zealand retailers access to a much broader pool of potential discoveries within a single trip.
Hong Kong itself is well positioned as a meeting point between markets. New Zealand fashion retail has traditionally had strong connections with Australia, Europe and the United States, but CENTRESTAGE opens another door, particularly to designers and brands emerging across Asia.
Discovery also extended well beyond the exhibition stands, with around 50 fashion shows and events staged across CENTRESTAGE 2025. CENTRESTAGE ELITES featured internationally acclaimed couturier Guo Pei, who presented more than 30 handcrafted pieces from her “Gilternity: An Everlasting Radiance” collection and later hosted a masterclass.
Fashion Hong Kong showcased ANGUS TSUI, ARTY, IP AXIS INDUSTRIAL STUDIO and selfFab., while the FASHIONALLY programme introduced another group of emerging Hong Kong brands.
For retailers, that breadth creates more opportunities to stumble across something they were not necessarily looking for.
But the real value of the trip is what happens after the show.
A conversation on a stand can lead to a wholesale order. A newly discovered label could find its first New Zealand stockist. A retailer might identify a brand with wider potential and explore becoming its New Zealand distributor. Even where an immediate commercial relationship does not eventuate, those introductions begin building a network between New Zealand retail and brands in markets that can otherwise feel a long way away.
For Mitchell, that is what taking a delegation of retailers to CENTRESTAGE is ultimately about: putting people in the same room, making introductions and seeing what can come from them.
In many ways, it is the same philosophy her father brought to the industry throughout his career.
CENTRESTAGE 2025 was not about teaching New Zealand retailers how to buy. They already know their businesses and their customers. It was about giving them somewhere new to look, putting them in front of brands they may never otherwise encounter and creating the connections that could bring something new back to New Zealand.
For a small market at the bottom of the world, those connections matter. The next international label to find a home in New Zealand could begin with something as simple as a conversation on a stand in Hong Kong.