A joint venture has been formed to extend fashion’s largest global trade show to Asia with IFF Magic Japan.

Magic, run by US business-to-business event organiser and marketing services organisation UBM, has joined forces with JFW-International Fashion Fair, Japan’s longest-running, bi-annual fashion business trade show organised by publisher Senken Shimbun. Their new event will be at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre from April 26 to 28 2017, and will be the cornerstone of Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo.

The new event will launch with a social media presence, innovative marketing strategies and show-floor activations, drawing on Magic’s more than 80 years of fashion trade-show experience (the show is held in Las Vegas every August and February).

“Fashion is a truly global industry, and we are thrilled for Magic’s upcoming expansion into the Japan,” says UBM Americas MD for fashion Chris DeMoulin. “Our combined expertise will not only help IFF Magic Japan evolve quickly to meet the dynamic needs of the Japanese market, but will provide a new platform for our global fashion customers to find business partners and brands in Japan as well.”

Japan is the third-largest fashion market in the world after the US and EU. The new show will be as a high-profile showcase for Japanese fashion brands and designers.

UBM’s primary focus is events, and the company has 5100 employees in more than 20 countries, running more than 400 events a year. UBM is the second-largest exhibitions organiser globally and the largest independent organiser in the US and China. It is already prominent in Japan, where it organises the annual Japan Jewellery Fair as well as events for the beauty, health, food, pharmaceutical and information technology industries.

Senken Shimbun publishes a Japanese-language daily newspaper for the fashion industry, with a quarterly English-language version, The Senken. It has organised the International Fashion Fair, IFF, twice a year in Tokyo since 2000.