PARIS — February 29, 2016 — The trade fairs in the Texworld constellation are staying on course in an atmosphere of heightened security which is doing little to encourage international travel.
Avanprint Paris was successful, arousing lively interest in the highly-relevant solutions being contributed to the industry by digital printing.
The political upheavals which affected major international events in Paris also had an effect on the results of the Texworld series of trade fairs, which suffered a 7% drop in visitor numbers, reaching a total of 12 684 visitors.
Asian, and to a lesser extent American, visitors, sensitive about the security rules issued by major fashion groups, were less in evidence at this event: down 8% in the case of the USA, and 18% for Asia as a whole.
Michael Scherpe, CEO of Messe Frankfurt France, nevertheless commented: “Business did not suffer at all. We expected this situation, but we thought that it could also interfere with contracts concluded at the fairs. The opposite happened, to our great surprise. The fairs kept up their visitor numbers, namely the customers and quality market players who make our business so dynamic.”
European countries and Russia balanced out the losses.
For the second time in a row, France recorded a rise of almost 5% (compared to September 2015).
The Netherlands and Belgium came back in great form, up 17% and 10% respectively.
Eastern Europe was not to be outdone, with an extraordinary showing by Russia at +42%, and by Poland, which came in at +8%.
Finally, Spain. a major ready-to-wear country, generated a 10% increase in visitors, which was greatly appreciated by the exhibitors at the various fairs.
“I was delighted to see that some countries, such as Spain and the Netherlands, have recovered their strength and are indisputably contributing to the strong economic performance of the fairs. I am pleased to confirm that the Russians have discovered the current Asian offer, so relevant to them, at our Parisian trade fairs,” added Michael Scherpe, CEO of Messe Frankfurt France.
It should be noted that the continent of Africa, with a score of +5% and led by countries specialising in short-cycle work (Morocco up 30% and Tunisia up 16%), is also displaying great synergy between textile businesses and garment manufacturing, which are at the heart of the Messe Frankfurt France range of trade fairs.
TEXWORLD PARIS
The new, very clear sectoral divisions, benefiting a search by materials, were well received. The generally more elegant, bright and airy layout enabling the 658 exhibitors from 22 countries to be shown at their best was also noticed and much appreciated, and was a real boon for the visiting purchasers. The general move upmarket by the fabric collections was also surprising and inspiring.
Overall, the atmosphere was more than positive, despite some exhibitors noticing a decrease in the usual number of visitors, and exhibitors were able to showcase new labels, with extremely convincing results. The February 2016 event was dominated by commercial discoveries and opportunities. This was confirmed by Dennis Van Os, a sales representative for the cotton specialist Noteboom Textiles (Netherlands), who said: “A very good business atmosphere with very good meetings with both regular and new clients”, and by Huan Wang, of Conco Textiles (Harbin), whose stand showing linen and hemp was consistently popular. “The outcome of our first attendance at Texworld was better that we had hoped. It was extremely positive. We met many visitors, from both the luxury and the mass market sectors, who were very interested in what we had to offer and were not at all pretentious!”
APPARELSOURCING PARIS
The range of the Moroccan short-cycle experts attending the fair for the first time resonated with visitors. The casualwear attracted not only loyal customers but also brands on a scale which they would not find anywhere else. Abderrahman Atfi, Manager, International Development Centre, Moroccan Textile and Apparel Manufacturers Association (Amith), expressed his satisfaction with attendance at Apparelsourcing: “A very professional, positive, diverse trade fair, allowing us to develop visitors’ projects more quickly by interacting with other exhibitors.” Great satisfaction felt by all the exhibitors at the Apparelsourcing fair overcame some initial scepticism.
Overall, the feeling that the trade fair had been commercially advantageous and beneficial in terms of development opportunities predominated amongst the 230 exhibitors from 13 countries. For example, Eliott Fres of the knitwear company Gérard Fres said, “Apparelsourcing is an invaluable trade fair and a real pleasure. Apart [Attirez l’attention du lecteur avec une citation du document ou utilisez cet espace pour mettre en valeur un point clé. Pour placer cette zone de texte n’importe où sur la page, faites-la simplement glisser.]
from my regular clients whom I met, I have also made plenty of new contacts.”
A general comment – the visitors were all true professionals, skilled in their field, and with a keen fashion sense.
The announcement during the fair by François Girbaud of a collaboration with Naveena, the Pakistani denim producer, is a perfect illustration of this meeting of major industrial creative specialists, which is one of the prime purposes of Europe’s number one trade fair for global garment sourcing.
Shawls&Scarves – the Accessories Showcase, created the same buzz as Apparelsourcing for its 24 exhibitors, revealing itself to be a serious, constructive and meaningful business platform for the exhibitors, who were very satisfied, not least with their new contacts.
AVANPRINT PARIS
The initial event of this trade fair dedicated to cutting-edge digital printing technology was a great success. The proof: the fair stood out because of the sale of two digital printers, one to industry and one to a label. The ten or so exhibitors from Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, with a particular orientation towards exclusive and bespoke collections of fabrics, attracted a host of brands very interested in innovative, reactive and creative solutions provided by digital printing, which is where the future lies. “New contacts, new clients who are not seen at the other shows we usually attend”, explains Olivier Luedtke, the European Marketing Director of Kornit Digital. “Our printing methods caught the attention of visitors who were discovering these state-of-the-art machines. The question of changing over from traditional to digital printing kept coming up. Avanprint proved to be inspirational and innovative, and opened up new commercial horizons.” Andrea Barbiani, the marking director of MS Printing Solutions, added “a surprise, in the positive sense, and one which has to be repeated”.
Avanprint turned out to be in total synergy with the other trade fairs in the Texworld constellation, providing highly-specific solutions to deadlines, supply and added-value service to visitors due to the wide range of its immediate creative applications.
AVANTEX PARIS
The second Avantex event, which combined technology, textile R&D and the fashion ecosystem, was very lively in February, continuing in the same successful vein as in September. It formed a meeting point for specialists in functional fabrics and state-of-the-art technology, mainly from Taiwan, but also China, Thailand and Korea, and including the ENSAIT/GEMTEX laboratory (France) and the French federation La Fashiontech, whose members are stakeholders in innovative, sustainable fashion. There was no lack of curiosity. The visitors came back of their own accord to see the season’s innovations. Research into added-value products contributed by new techniques such as connectivity. LEDs, heating elements and multi-functional fabrics attracted brands from across the spectrum, from ready-to-wear to accessories.
The ten or so exhibitors who attended well understood the importance of seasonal exhibiting, as visitor expectations are themselves seasonal, and again sensed the particular buzz around the future and the promise of fashion more in step with the times. Ravene Lee, marketing manager at Everest Textile (Thailand) Co., Ltd, a major specialist in fibres and eclectic fabrics, sums up this impression in just three words: “commercial, useful and ethical”.
Avantex is positioning itself as the fashion-friendly technical R&D trade fair. This event also saw the birth of two partnerships, one in the form of an exchange of selective information at interdisciplinary seminars with the Dornbirn Man-Made Fibers Institute (Austria) and the other highly creative, with the French Federation of Couture Creation Custom – Paris.
These four days of professional meetings in the global garment and textile industry were punctuated by seminars on what’s new stylistically and economically in the industry and fashion shows highlighting the skills of exhibitor countries and guest designers.
Posted March 1, 2016
Source: Messe Frankfurt
