“Textile Week Effect”brings more to the New York Shows

By+Zhao+Zihan

New York Shows， including Texworld USA， International Apparel Sourcing Show（Apparelsourcing）， and Home Textiles Sourcing Expo （HTSE）， organized by Messe Frankfurt and Sub-Council of Textile Industry， China Council for the Promotion of International Trade （CCPIT TEX） ceremoniously opened on July 21st 2015 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. The three-day event， as a part of “NYC Textile Week”， together with the other co-located professional textile and apparel shows， provides global purchasing agents with an intensive and effective purchasing platform.

On the morning of July 21st， the distinguished guests from both China National Textile and Apparel Council （CNTAC） and Messe Frankfurt attended the opening ceremony and cut the ribbon， presided over by Xu Yingxin， Executive Vice President of CCPIT TEX.

“Numerous professional textile and garment exhibitions gathered at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center， highlighting the importance of New York as the worlds textile and garment industry and the fashion industry center. Chinese exhibitors this year witnessed further promotion in terms of the original design， own brand building， as well as environmental and social responsibility， embodying the comprehensive achievement that Chinese textile industry has made based on the objective of technology， brand， sustainable development， and human resources. Moreover， it will provide more diverse options and services to American clients.” Stated Sun Ruizhe， Vice President of CNTAC.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio sent a congratulatory letter to the Show，saying that NYCs fashion and design industry is essential for the local economy， and NYC will support the continued growth of these industries. He expressed gratitude to all organizers of NYC Textile Week.

NYC Textile Week gathered high popularity

The summer 2015 edition of the New York Shows， featuring garments， fabrics and accessories， as well as home textiles， showcased a record number of over one thousand exhibitors representing more than 20 countries from around the globe， including China， the United States， India， Pakistan， Turkey， Colombia， Italy to name a few. The three-day exhibition covered an area of nearly 30，000 square meters， up by more than nearly 30% than the previous edition. Among them， the exhibition area for Chinese enterprises saw a significant year-on-year increase with 50 percent and 36 percent for garments and fabrics respectively， while that for home textiles remained the same as last year. It can be seen that on the one hand， facing the current sluggish international demand， Chinese enterprises went with increased expectations for the US market； on the other hand， the organizersupgraded platform and service optimization were recognized by the exhibitors. In addition， Turkey Pavilion exhibition area has doubled， while the American companies have been for the first time participating in the form of exhibit-delegation.

It is worth mentioning that， under the support of NYC government， the concept of “NYC Textile Week” was officially introduced from the Spring 2015 edition of the New York Shows. During this summer edition， besides the three shows， Texworld USA， Apparelsourcing， and HTSE， a number of various famous industry exhibitions， including Kingpins， Première Vision， Milano Unica New York， SpinExpo Indigo and DG Expo， as well as menswear shows MRket， Project New York， Liberty and Capsule， and streetwear show Agenda， gathered in NYC at the same time. The gathering will bring an unprecedented concentration effect to enhance the comprehensive influence of textile and garment industry in the social， educational， commercial and cultural aspects， highlighting the important role of “Made in China” in the global textile industry chain.

Active participation of Chinese enterprises

The textile and garment enterprises in China took an active part in this exhibition， while the fabric exhibitors were mainly from such fabric industry clusters as Shaoxing， Changle， Huzhou， and Zhangjiagang， and the companies from Shaoxing accounted for 40 percent of the fabric businesses. Most of the home-textile enterprises were from Zhejiang， Jiangsu and Shandong. In addition， the garment exhibitors in the west and middle part of China also saw somewhat increases.

A good example is Everbright International， who once mainly focused on Australia， New Zealand and the European markets， began to give priority to the US market this year.

Changzhou Laosan Group Co.， Ltd. has been participating in the exhibition for the first time with main exhibits of POLO shirts， T-shirts and knit jackets. According to its second-generation successor Yao Shun， due to the instability of Japanese and European markets in recent years， the company has been in efforts of developing the US market for three years， and as a result， the proportion of orders quickly reached 50% of the Groups foreign trade volume. “In recent years we have proved a great potential to develop the vast US market， thanks to our weaving， dyeing & finishing， printing， washing， and clothing production lines as well as self-operation export and import right. Taking this opportunity， we will be able to communicate with customers face to face.”

Ningbo Gaodu Imp & Exp Co.， Ltd. has been here for the third time， and its GM Weng Li is an experienced “foreign trade expert”， who has became acquainted with more than 20 new customers from the United States， Canada and other places during only half of the first day. “Through successive New York Shows， we have met a lot of important clients in this field. We can get a lot on the spot， on the one hand， we can demonstrate new products with independent property rights， and on the other hand we gather new market trend information from the customers.” Weng Li said：“Now to win a big order with conventional products in the United States has already been tenderminded， because only those businesses of small volume， various categories， and R & D capabilities can win the market. Whats more， the new demands of market also force enterprises to gradually upgrade for expand service areas in strategic thinking， product development， and supply chain management. We are moving towards a road to new foreign trade.”

Highlights on the spot

WGSN creates an “Experience”

This year WGSN， a Heimtextil Trend Table member， has partnered with Home Textiles Sourcing Expo to produce a portion of the “Experience” Trend initially seen in the Heimtextil Theme Park in January 2015. WGSN will re-create this visual inspiration by constructing a clear sense of direction of how to use the right prints， patterns and textures to create an elevated experience in any space. WGSN wants visitors to leave the Home Textiles Trend Forum and Seminar by Lisa White， Head of WGSN Lifestyles & Interiors， with a deeper understanding of not only what the trends are， but the hows and the whys that got us here. The Lifestyle Factor Seminar was designed to take visitors from the visual presentation in the Trend Forum to discussing the cultural relevant examples， and the consumer moods and shifts that support each of the market trends.

Seminar series

Five retail trends to watch

Mercedes Gonzales， Director， Global Purchasing Companies

Learn the key trends in the retail industry that are shaping consumer demand. As a designer， these trends should affect your way of thinking as you develop your collections for scalability.

How to start a fashion line

Mercedes Gonzales， Director， Global Purchasing Companies

This workshop is geared towards helping the new fashion designer， production person， and even retailer who wants to start their own private label line. Learn from this practical and insightful crash course on how business is really done.

Made in NYC

Eric Johnson， Director， Fashion & Arts Teams Center for Economic Transformation， NYC Economic Development Corporation

Erin Kent， Manager of Programs at The Council of Fashion Designers of America（CFDA）

Michelle Feinberg， NY Embroidery Studio

Moderator： Arthur Friedman， Senior Editor， Textiles and Trade， WWD

The rebirth of U.S. textile and apparel production in the last few years has also seen a revival of manufacturing in New York City. Spurred by support from city government and organizations such as the Council of Fashion Designers of America， initiatives have been created to create funding and infrastructure to get businesses off the ground， expand capabilities and invest in technology.

Home textiles in the Age of Millennials

Jennifer Marks， Editor-in-Chief of Home Textiles Today

Millennials are now commanding significant attention from retailers and product developers. Join this seminar to learn about the shifts taking place at retail as well as key product trends in home textiles.

Esthetics & the need for testing at home

Adam Varley， Technical Director and Co-Founder， Vartest Lab. Angela Boswell， SVP – Design and Product Development， Ellery Homestyles

Moderator： Nina Nadash， Home & Interiors Marketing Manager， North America， Lenzing

Light， color and sound not all things we immediately associate with textiles. Our panel of experts will take you through what textiles can do for the home from an esthetic and performance perspective. See what makes a home product beautiful， how performance gets tested and the best products delivered.

Innovation and impact – Inspirational new themes in color and design for home

Laurie Pressman， VP， Pantone Color Institute

In our highly competitive global marketplace， would be consumers and/ or clients are continuously being wooed by evocative and innovative uses of color and design. Traditional media has become more inventive， the gamut of digital outlets has rapidly expanded and new technologies have introduced unexpected color stories.