By Natalie White

More than 180 emerging and established womenswear, menswear and accessory brands will be taking part in the fourth edition of BLUEPRINT Tradeshow and Emporium at The Pit Building in Singapore.

The BLUEPRINT Tradeshow (16 to 17 May) for invited trade and media guests will see more than 160 local and international emerging designer labels showcasing their Pre-Spring 2014 collections, while the BLUEPRINT Emporium sees the venue, named "Fashion by the Bay", open to the public to shop from more than 180 brands over the weekend (18 to 19 May).

The fourth edition of the annual event sees an increased participation from overseas countries, and visitors can expect to see emerging brands from Singapore as well as Australia, Brazil, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, USA, UK and Vietnam.

The Asia Fashion Federation will also be organizing a fashion show during BLUEPRINT on 17 May at 2pm, with an accompanying showcase gallery during the tradeshow itself. Singapore will also host the Asia Fashion Federation Conference and six designers will be presenting their ready-to-wear collections for the occasion. These include Kaal E. Suktae (Korea), Christian Dada (Japan), Dieu Ahn (Vietnam), ISSUE (Thailand), Zou You (China) and our very own local favorite, Ong Shunmugam (Singapore).

Taiwan as a country collective will be participating for the first time, and will be featuring its designers from its own annual tradeshow "Taipei IN Style" while the French Trade Commission UbiFrance returns once again to support its French fashion labels.

For the public, BLUEPRINT Emporium represents an exclusive opportunity to buy limited edition, sample and seasonal sales merchandise from most of the tradeshow's exhibitors, as well as meet the designers in person.

BLUEPRINT is one of the key trade pillars of the Asia Fashion Exchange (AFX) - a joint private and public sector initiative involving the Textile and Fashion Federation of Singapore (TaFf), Mercury Marketing and Communications and government agencies, IE Singapore, SPRING Singapore and Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

AFX seeks to develop the long term sustainability of Singapore's fashion industry by providing a platform to showcase emerging Asian talent, and to position Singapore as Asia's leading fashion hub.

For this year, AFX will be launching an all-new concept, Fashion by the Bay, an integrated fashion platform in a single venue: Audi Fashion Festival and Audi Star Creation will take place at Tent@Marina Promenade, BLUEPRINT at the Pit Building, and the Asia Fashion Summit at the Raffles City Convention Centre.

For more information about BLUEPRINT, go to //blueprint.sg