The 33rd edition of APLF was the first since it was rebranded APLF Leather & Materials+ to meet the growing needs within the fashion industry where the sports casual, or athleisure, trend is booming among millennials, especially in many Asian countries. As much as this was a theme - and influence on the name of the expo itself -it was also a point of concern for many tanners, since anything casual is essentially a euphemism for the complete antithesis of leather. Leather footwear, accessories and finished products all have little, if any, place in this synthetic-based trend, and despite the price of crude oil being up about a third from this time last year and automotive maintaining robust growth, relatively speaking, this is another growing challenge that leather is up against. From 2014 to 2015, China's sportswear market grew from $23.9 billion to $26.6 billion, according to Euromonitor Mintel. By 2020, it's estimated that the market will grow to about $32.8 billion.
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