Premiere Vision Paris takes over the reins of TexSelect to support textile creation and design

Premiere Vision Paris takes over the reins of TexSelect to support textile creation and design

Première Vision Paris attracts some 60,000 trade visitors, fashion and textile professionals from around the world and international members press and media to each of their bi-annual seasonal events.
The next PV Paris will take place 17 - 19 September 2019 in Parc des Expositions, Paris.
Photo by Lucia Carpio.

A couple of  months ago news got out that the not-for-profit organisation TexSelect (previously known as TexPrint) was to  wind up after more than 40 years of nurturing, mentoring and supporting British-trained textile and design talents due to funding challenges and the retirement of long-standing management executives. 

Now industry professionals can feel a sense of relieve with the announcement that the Paris-based Premiere Vision Group, organiser of the world's leading sourcing events for fashion professionals, will continue its support for emerging textile designers through an agreement with TexSelect that will build on the talent search programme's legacy with an international perspective from 2020.

The P.V. Group will take over as champion of new graduate talent when TexSelect completes its voluntary winding up at the end of the year.  Further announcements will be made about the future structure of the talent selection scheme under Premiere Vision's auspices during the September 2019 edition at Premiere Vision Paris in Parc des Expositions.  The two organisations have run in parallel for nearly 50 years, share a common objective of supporting creativity in textile design.

"Both Premiere Vision and TexSelect view knit, print, weave and mixed media innovators as being a vital, creative force in the advancement of textile and apparel design, "says Gilles Lasbordes,  (at left) managing director of Premiere Vision Group.  "Premiere Vision is committed to giving new designers space and support between university and the launch of their professional practice."

Barbara Kennington, TexSelect's honorary chairman (at right) explains:" Over recent years, we have had a tough time raising the funds required to run the scheme.  At the same time, many of our loyal management team are retiring."

"As a major sponsor and host of the TexSelect design village, we spoke with our colleagues at Premiere Vision about our intention to windup the charity at the end of 2019.  We are delighted that Premiere Vision has been so forthcoming and will create new opportunities for young designers when TexSelect in its current form closes."

Premiere Vision Group is the global leader in upstream, creative fashion trade shows.  From 15 Lyon-based weavers in the early 1970s to more than 2,000 exhibitors at PV Paris today, the group's strategy has remained to support the development of the international fashion industry and major market evolutions through its services and 12 events per year, to which has been added a unique online sourcing tool:  Premiere Vision Marketplace, managed by the company's subsidiary, Premiere Vision Digital.

The next PV Paris will take place 17 - 19 September 2019 in Parc des Expositions, Paris.  The show encompasses textiles, leather, yarns, fabric design, haberdashery and accessories,  knits finished goods and manufacturing. 

All photos by Lucia Carpio.

China's huge automotive market presents opportunities for nonwovens producers at China International Nonwovens Expo

China is undisputed the world’s front-runner in the global car market, leading the way in both production and sales. 

While new car sales in China dropped for the first time last year since 1992, production still reached 27.8 million vehicles in 2018, including 23.5 million passenger cars and 4.3 million commercial vehicles. While these numbers were down slightly year-on-year, the opportunities for global textile producers are still unrivalled given the overall size of the market.

At this year’s biennial China International Nonwovens Expo & Forum (CINE – supported by Techtextil), which runs from 3 – 5 June in Shanghai, a number of leading automobile brands, and textile suppliers to these companies, are expected to be sourcing at the fair. Previous buyers have included Autoliv, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Lear Corporation, Lydall, Toyota Boshoku, Volkswagen, Wangbo Co Ltd and more, according to organisers at Messe Frankfurt's Hong Kong office.

This edition, buyers can source from a range of automotive nonwovens suppliers. This includes Shanghai Shenda, one of the country’s largest producer of automotive textiles, who will group together a number of automotive interior suppliers.   The CINE 2019 fair will take place in a new venue, the Shanghai Convention & Exhibition Center of International Sourcing, located conveniently between Hongqiao airport and downtown Shanghai.

China's strong automotive market growth is evident also in in new energy vehicle (NEV) sales, as well as exports of all vehicle types.  NEV production totalled 1.27 million units last year, a staggering 60% increase, while sales grew by nearly 62%.  More e-vehicles are sold in China than rest of the world combined, while the government recently set a target of selling 7 million e-vehicles by 2025, ensuring growth in this sector will remain robust for some time. Exports of all vehicle types in 2018 did not grow as fast as NEVs, but the 1.04 million vehicles produced for overseas markets last year still represented growth of 16.8%.*

* Sources: China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China Industry Information Network, MarkLines, Nonwovens Industry.

The China International Nonwovens Expo & Forum (CINE – supported by Techtextil) is organised by the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; the China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA); the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA); and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd.

Photos from Messe Frankfurt (HK) taken at CINE 2017.

Ethiopia, along with a host of international manufacturers met European companies at Paris Apparel Sourcing Fair

For regular attendees of Messe Frankfurt Paris’ group of trade shows in Paris: Apparel Sourcing – held February 11 – 14 2018, they were greeted by the more familiar manufacturers from China and Hong Kong, India, Turkey, Pakistan and Bangladesh, where a choice of prime contractors and clothing manufacturers were familiar with the customs and practices of supplying to European fashion labels.

What’s new this February edition was the addition of a number of emerging markets, including Ethiopia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Jordan and Kyrgyzstan to promote their manufacturing capabilities and products.

Michael Scherpe, Président of organiser Messe Frankfurt France, described the congregation of different nations was similar to the Winter Olympics held concurrently in Pyeongcheng, Korea, during a press conference.  

Ethiopia was the guest country of honour this season, presenting eight companies offering varying  skills and textile products for the European market, including 100% organic cotton, dyes based on coffee or wine.  A selection of their fashion was also paraded on catwalk at the trade fair.

Camillo Calami, director of bag company Village Industry, ummed up the general feeling shared among the Ethiopians: “Visitors to the trade fair were targeted exceedingly well. We met those we were hoping to see, tending towards European brands. We spoke with a great number of French and Spanish visitors as well as those from the UK, Germany and Holland. We made some very interesting contacts from various sectors:- fashion labels, consultants for sourcing and even retail chains!”

Leading the pavilion was His Excellency Dr Bekele Bulado, who introduced various development programmes for the textiles and clothing industry in their country at a press conference.  The Ethiopian entourage included  the Honourable Bogale FelekeState Minister at the Ministry of Industry  and Mr Fitsum Arega, Director General of the Ethiopian Investment Commission.  

The Ethiopian pavilion was organised in conjunction with the German agency for international cooperation GIZ (Gesellschaft fûr Internationale Zusammenarbeit).  

The Asian country of Myanmar (formerly Burma) also brought eight garment companies to the fair and had met with trade visitors from Europe as well as the US.

In addition there were eight Kyrgyzstan companies, and their participation had been supported by the American USAID programme. 

Photos © Lucia Carpio 2018

Paris Textile trade fairs report record attendance

As today's retailers continue their discussion and debates over the importance of bricks and mortar retailing as opposed to the increased popularity of online trading, trade fairs catered for the textile and fashion industry that offer face-to-face interactions are proving their continued relevance for conducting business.

As organisers at Messe Frankfurt France have reported this week, European fashion brands remain very keen on attending their recently held trade exhibitions, namely TEXWORLD and TEXWORLD DENIM  PARIS, APPAREL SOURCING, AVANTEX, SHAWLS & SCARVES – The ACCESSORIES SHOW-CASE, (the shows focusing on textiles, materials, components, trimmings and manufacturing for the fashion and accessories industry), have recorded 13.9% more visitors than the show held in September 2016, to the tune of 15,473 visitors in total.

According to Michael Scherpe, President of Messe Frankfurt France, the record turnout at these fairs, held at Le Bourget, Paris from 18 to 21 September 2017,  was "unexpected": after two years of lacklustre performance, buyers were in need of renewal and a change in fashion codes; the outlook was proactive and buyers were drawn to new products, he said.

There was a sharp increase of 15% in attendance and the top 5 countries that sent buyers and trade visitors included France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Turkey respectively. The ranking that was identical to that of September 2016, with strong growth for all except France, which remained unchanged.  Germany came in 6th position, up by 18.7%, followed by Belgium up by 4.8%. 

“We found the September 2017 show to be extremely busy. From the very first day of the show, there was a wind of change blowing through the shows. (There was) A fresh appetite for the industries of fashion. Global ready-to-wear firms were certainly present, ready to get down to serious and enthusiastic business at the stands. Exhibitors welcomed the attendance, even from the European luxury sector. The same goes for the return by Americans (+19,38)” says Michael Scherpe, President of Messe Frankfurt France. 

The organisers pointed out that the joint trade fairs' artistic backdrops, the segmentation of the shows, and the scheduling of fashion shows and seminars along with the wide ranging exhibits all helped to enrich the experience of visitors and demonstrated that the show was open and appealing to all fashion brands.

On the "Small Quantities" circuit, large international luxury companies were set side-by-side with major global ready-to-wear brands, including young designs.  The quality of the materials was one of the discoveries welcomed by visitors.

China (with the largest contingent of weavers at Texworld Paris) was one of the main attractions, as confirmed by Zhang Tao, the Secretary General of CCIPT TEX. The improvement in the business models of domestic firms, as advocated by the Chinese government, aims to continue working towards genuine fashion products, to develop technical innovation and to emphasise sustainable development, said Mr Tao at a press conference.

At the “From Workshop to Shop” exhibition, organised by the Chinese government under the auspices of the CCIPT TEX, some 30 ensembles from 10 Chinese ready-to-wear brands were arranged around a space that, using virtual reality, immersed the visitor in the production sites. These brands for women’s and men’s ready-to-wear: Aiyimei, Upper , Bosideng, Hodo, Bridge Group, Dragon Silk, Heyi, Nikky, Top Garment, Sankei, Renoir and Yinchuan Binhe Ruyi, are already established in China and, are using the trade fair as a springboard to extend their presence on the world market.  A display of ever-more specialist skills from these 12 clothing manufacturers can also be seen at the show.

One of the highlights in the ELITE segment, an area dedicated to firms offering a wide range of tailored services, was the demonstration by a specialist attired in traditional Chinese brocades woven by hand using the traditional method of the Tujia ethnic group from the Chinese regions of Hunan and Hubei .

Upscaling was widely adopted at stands representing Turkish weavers, while the a wide range of cotton and embroidery from India was on offer, as well as quality prints from South Korea, the comprehensive offer, even technical products from Indonesian exhibitors all drew visitors’ interest. Creativity was the overall achievement recognised at TEXWORLD PARIS, said the organisers. 

Texworld Denim was a new addition this season, with nearly 80 exhibitors for materials and clothing production to celebrate its grand opening.  The area allowed makers of fabrics and manufacturers in one area to make contact and to network. 
Another area Business Beyond Borders, a partnership that fosters business contacts between players in the textile and clothing industry and small manufacturing firms, set up by Eurochambres, also met with resounding success, said organisers. Some 200 meetings were held in the dedicated space involving 258 companies from 42 countries.   
Three conferences and round table discussions took place at TEXWORLD PARIS: the sector for future clothing, Ex-aequo, the trends for autumn/winter 18/19, new technologies and new skills.

Dates for the next TEXWORLD, Avantex, Apparel Sourcing, Shawls and Scarves and TEXWORLD DENIM: 11, 12, 13 & 14 February 2018 Paris Le Bourget.

Photos: from Texworld / © Lucia Carpio 2017