Former IAF prez Han Bekke receives Golden Pin at convention in Belgium

Only a few IAF Golden Pins have been awarded throughout IAF’s 49-year-old history, the association said in a media release.

Han Bekke was the IAF’s first secretary general, supporting the board of directors of the organisation founded in 1972 when he had just joined the Dutch apparel industry association in Amsterdam. In 2006 when the IAF secretariat moved from London to Amsterdam, Han Bekke became its secretary general; a role he took in addition to his role as director general of MODINT, the Dutch apparel and textile industry association. In 2016, Bekke took over the IAF presidency from then CMAI president Rahul Mehta, a position he would hold until last week, when Cem Altan succeeded him. Bekke will retain his seat in the IAF executive committee as immediate past president.

“Han Bekke embodies the international spirit of IAF and the benefits this brings to its participants. Leading IAF he has grown to be a strong advocate of international supply chain solidarity and collaboration as well as of the urgent need to create a less fragmented set of rules and regulations for the apparel industry,” the release said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)