Texworld Evolution Paris and Apparel Sourcing which took place February 5 - 7 2024 received close to 8,000 international visitors to meet the 1,200 exhibitors, mainly weavers, mills and clothing companies from 25 countries.
Organisers said this season the offer was broader, more diversified and more accessible; and despite increasing demands facing the global fashion and textiles industry, visitor numbers remained stable.
Organisers at Messe Frankfurt France also announced that the two complimentary fairs will be combined into one entity, to be named jointly as 'Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris" to reflect evolving developments in fashion sourcing and the expansion of brand universes. A growing number of buyers now want to be able to select materials, while also sourcing finished products directly to complement collections or expand their range, they said.
The new name is accompanied by a new dual baseline - Weaving the future; sourcing/business/solutions - to underline these developments and reinforce the fairs' service-led positioning. This new signature will be adopted at the next edition of Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris, encompassing Avantex and Leatherworld, slated for July 1 to 3 2024.
This February, Texworld and Apparel Sourcing were set up across the two levels of Hall 7 (7.2 and 7.3) at Parc Expo in Porte de Versaille in the south of Paris. The bright and airy atmosphere of the exhibition venue gave Texworld a fresh look to showcase the international event.
The top 5 group of visitors from Europe were buyers from international companies in Europe, representing France (20% of the total, up sharply on 2023), the UK (8.3%), Italy (7.9%), Turkey (7.2%) and Spain (6.8%).
The alignment of textiles on show in Texworld and complimented with garment makers in the Apparel Sourcing Paris was a key benefit for many designers and buyers visiting the fairs.
A designer for the George Rech brand, Agathe Coudert who travels to Paris every year with her team to design the collections that will be on show in Spain in 2025 in the Corte Ingles corners said she was at Texworld to select fabrics from France or eastern Europe, and then supplemented with finished products at Apparel Sourcing, be they knitwear, which requires special know-how, silk blouses and double-sided cashmere coats.
For exhibitors, the show was also an opportunity to showcase their newest products to their customers. Chinese performance fabrics manufacturer, Oracle Textile Technology, was able to highlight the new colour and appearance ranges of its nylon spandex or seamless fabrics used for down jackets and outdoor clothing collections. The same goes for Pakistani weaver Liberty Mills, which presented its new cotton ranges to its British, French and Canadian retail customers.
Womenswear manufacturer BP Impex from India whose main markets from in Europe, said the show was an opportunity to meet the French, English, Dutch and Spanish brands and distributors. Buyers would come to their stand with drawings and design ideas, and worked with the company on their collections expecting delivery to be made in 120 days, said a company manager, who reported that they made some twenty new contacts during the three-day show.
“Despite the slowdown in the clothing market, Europe remains a major market for textile and finished goods manufacturers," explains Frédéric Bougeard, President of Messe Frankfurt France.
“For some players, it is becoming a strategic market to offset the uncertainties weighing on the Russian and American markets" he continued. Our mission is to fulfill our role as a market place, to adapt to these changes and to make the international offer more and more accessible."
The February's event also highlighted near sourcing from countries in proximity to major European markets.
From Ukraine, for example were nine companies that joined under the banner of the Ukrainian Association of Textile and Leather Industry Companies (Ukrlegprom).
Also participating were companies from Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands who, organisers said, were able to take advantage of the show's visibility to include their expertise in the sourcing plans of French and European buyers.
"We want to build on these initiatives and we'll be putting forward proposals at our next shows, but also, why not, in different formats" continues Frédéric Bougeard.
In addition to the diversity of exhibitors and new products, this edition focused in particular on sustainable products with the Texpertise Econogy initiative, which is presently promoted among the 50 textile fairs of the Messe Frankfurt group in 12 countries worldwide.
This new format will serve as a beacon in the sourcing industry for exhibitors displaying sustainability and will play a decisive role in the upcoming editions of Texworld and Apparel Sourcing.
The next show, under the new name Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris will take place from July 1 to 3 2024 in the same Hall 7 (7.2 and 7.3) of the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. It will be held three weeks prior to the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which are due to open on 26 July.
The show, which will remain the same size as that of this February, will offer a selective range of products, and will reflect the convergence between textiles and finished products.
Photos by Lucia Carpio
No comments:
Post a Comment