The Arlington, Va.-based American
Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), organizer of Material World New York, has laid out its
educational program plans for the three-day exhibition for the sewn products industry. The event
will be held Tuesday through Thursday, Sept. 26-28, 2006, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center,
New York City.
AAFA’s Supplier Resource Committee will kick off the educational programs Tuesday morning
with a headliner event titled
“Product Lifecycle Management
(PLM)
: Integrating People, Processes and
Information.” The program, subject to an admission fee of $50 in advance or $75 onsite, will offer
case studies from three industry brands and their PLM users; as well as open panel discussions of
business practices, technologies, and improvement and growth opportunities for businesses that
implement PLM.
A new event this year will be Tuesday afternoon’s Designer Conversations, featuring a panel
of New York-based designers discussing issues related to the current designer business. The free
program will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
AAFA also announced a pavilion presenting more than 30 textile and apparel companies from
Africa will be included among the numerous country and regional pavilions on the exhibit floor. The
Africa Pavilion — organized by Trade Links LLC, a Washington-based company that promotes African
products and services in the US market — will present a panel discussion on Tuesday afternoon
titled “Brand Africa Presents: What’s New — Sourcing Apparel in Africa,” moderated by Bill Releford
Jr., D.P.M., US president and CEO, Made in Africa Inc. — a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based manufacturer
and marketer of apparel made in its network of facilities in sub-Saharan Africa. That program also
is free of charge and on a first-come, first-served basis.
Material World New York will present programs on security and trade as well, in addition to
numerous color and style trends. A complete schedule of events is available at
www.material-world.com.
June 20, 2006
