The festival organizer is presenting local residents with a total of 42 fashion shows this time around which are to include world class brands, such as Lanvin, Givenchy from France, Vivienne Tam from the United States, Vivienne Westwood from Britain and Ferragamo from Italy.

These international leaders are set to present the public their latest collections as well as renowned and admired classic designs.

Top domestic fashion designers from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan will also put on a show entitled "Classic Legend".

In addition, Donghua University, which specializes in fashion industry education programmes, will invite scholars from home and abroad to present seminars of the year's coming trends.

The ninth Shanghai International Fashion Expo, which is to provide a platform for business, covering 28,000 square metres and exhibiting products from 674 enterprises from 14 countries and areas, is expected to be an important highlight of the fair.

And the Shanghai International Model Contest will certainly bring excitement to the festival, with 48 models from 31 countries and regions competing to win the championship.

The festival is set to run from March 18 to April 6. It is co-organized by the festival commission, Luwan District government and Shanghai International Garment Centre.

(China Daily March 20, 2003)