A model displays a creation on Jan. 13, 2009 by Indonesian designer Ika Butoni at the Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2009. [Xinhua/Reuters]

The 2009 Hong Kong Fashion Festival and Rio de Janeiro's Fashion Week kicked off both on Monday, each attracting thousands of fashionistas from around the world.

Fourteen fashion shows and eight special topic seminars are among the highlights of Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2009 and World Boutique, Hong Kong 2009. More than 1,500 exhibitors from 23 countries and regions take part in the four-day Fashion Week ending Thursday.

China's hottest fashion designers, including Jenny Ji, Le Kun, Estune Icicle and Helen Lee, joined the catwalk in support of EcoChic Shanghai on Monday. The show presented clothes made with eco-friendly textiles like organic cotton, silk and hemp, and also those using reconstructed clothing, in order to encourage a more environmentally friendly fashion industry.

The show also displayed collections by world-renowned designers Diane von Furstenberg, Thakoon Panichgul and Nathan Jenden.

As one of the largest and oldest fashion events in the world, Hong Kong Fashion Week is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Among other activities the Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers' Contest aims to cultivate and promote a new generation of young designers, whose ideas will further enhance the image of Hong Kong as a fashion design center.

A model displays "Lion Dance", the 2nd runner-up of the kids' footwear category in the territory's annual Footwear Design Competition Awards, during Hong Kong Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2009 on Jan. 13, 2009. [Xinhua/Reuters]

Meanwhile in the Brazilian port city, designers presented their upcoming autumn/winter collections to Fashion Rio Show, the city's bi-annual week-long fashion event.

While thermometers read 35 degrees Celsius and thousands packed Rio's beaches, swimsuits were nowhere to be seen on the catwalk.

Instead, wool coats and leather dresses took over the runways as new designers presented their 2009 autumn/winter collections.

"I sought to bring out the best of the two worlds (cowboys and Indians) by using tailoring techniques, graphic patterns, and maintaining the brand's identity, which are the ultra-feminine elements like large bows." said a designer of Giulia Borges.

Brazil's fashion exports have soared an average 5 percent every year since 2002, reaching 185 million U.S. dollars in 2008, according to the country's Textile and Confection Association.

But its annual report also pointed out that the global credit crunch may lead to a slowdown in the business.

This event is the debut for some brands, including the Rio-based Homem de Barro brand. The new designers' collection won high praise from spectators. Fashion Rio ends on Friday.

(Xinhua/Agencies January 14, 2009)