The eighth edition of the international festival hosted some twenty countries from Asia and Europe. Tunisia, Singapore, Canada, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Italy, Syria, Oman, France, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Spain and Indonesia attended the event. The program opened a space of competition to encourage international participation and facilitate direct contacts between Iranian and foreign companies.

On Sunday, 17 February, Deputy Culture Minister Seyyed Mohammad Mojtaba Hosseini, CFTIZ Director Abdolrahim Kordi, Director of Institute for Development of Contemporary Art Mehdi Afzali and a host of other officials, foreign dignitaries, fashion artists and international designers attended the awarding ceremony.

Addressing the participants, CFTIZ Director Abdolrahim Kordi said over 200,000 women work in the Iranian fashion industry, and they need a proper supply chain to get their works into the market. He said the industry’s turnover is around 40 million tomans and efforts are being made to turn Chabahar into a hub for international fashion and trade.

Also speaking, Deputy Culture Minister Hosseini thanked the officials of Chabahar for hosting the international event with some 20 countries in attendance. He said the country needs to open up dialogue with the international community and to that end the movers and shakers of fashion industry could be of great help.

According to the official, the festival will pave the way to open up communication channels with the international fashion and clothing industries, and that the way ahead is to share knowledge, cultural views, and experience in the field.

At the end of the ceremony, the organizers awarded top designers and entrepreneurs Zarkhatoun Azimi and Mahla Zamani. The top award of Mahtab went to fashion designer Maryam Rigi from Sistan and Baluchestan. Farin Norouzi Panah, Fariba Hosseini, Maryam Sadati-Tabaei, Parnaz Shakeri, Mahsa Dehghani, Rita Nikfarjam and Rana Pargasi were the other winners.

HONARONLINE