"As the global apparel fabrics and accessories industry prepares to gather in Shanghai from October 11-13 for Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – with suppliers from 25-plus countries and trade buyers from around 100 countries – exhibitors are gearing up for yet another edition of strong results. Occurring towards the end of the autumn/winter sourcing period, buyers come to the fair well informed of next season’s trends, and are in a position to be able to make their purchasing decisions from the around 4,500 exhibitors that will be present."

As the global apparel fabrics and accessories industry prepares to gather in Shanghai from October 11-13 for Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – with suppliers from 25-plus countries and trade buyers from around 100 countries – exhibitors are gearing up for yet another edition of strong results. Occurring towards the end of the autumn/winter sourcing period, buyers come to the fair well informed of next season’s trends, and are in a position to be able to make their purchasing decisions from the around 4,500 exhibitors that will be present.

With fast paced changes both in national economies and the apparel fabrics and accessories industry, the number of trade buyers at the fair – around 70,000 – and their diversity – some 100 countries – presents an unrivalled opportunity for exhibitors to find new markets, or double-down on existing ones. This diversity is further shown in buyers’ product sourcing preferences at the fair. Last year, buyers’ main area of sourcing interest for all eight main fabric product categories was between 11 per cent and 38 per cent, reflecting a relatively even spread across all types of fabrics.

Innovation at its best

While Intertextile Shanghai is well-known for its exhibitor and product breadth, buyers in the know also use it as a sourcing platform for latest functional apparel fabric innovations. The fair’s Functional Lab, which will feature around 50 exhibitors this edition is the centre of innovation at Intertextile, featuring a wide selection of innovative yarns and fibres, fabrics, accessories, finishes and coatings, membranes and more, particularly for athleisure, sports and outdoor wear, as well as lingerie. Buyers looking for eco-friendly options can find plenty to choose from in this zone as well.

For instance, Aquafil, an Italian firm will showcase its Dryarn® fibre at the fair; what they claim is the lightest fibre in the natural world. Garments made of Dryarn® weigh 32 per cent less than an equivalent garment made of wool, and 34 per cent less than one of polyester. Moreover, it offers high levels of thermal comfort and breathability which makes it ideal for a wide range of uses including fashion, and sports and outdoor wear.

Belgium’s Vetex, specialists in coatings and laminations for various textiles, won an award at the recent Techtextil fair in Frankfurt for their ecologically-friendly solution to replace dimethyl formamide (DMF) as a solvent in PU coatings. At Intertextile Shanghai, they will present their seam seal tapes which are fixed to shoes, garments and outdoor products through a unique hot air process (seam sealing), an innovative technology that ensures they retain their specific properties during the manufacturing process. They will also showcase their laminates for the medical industry at the fair.

The Chemours Company will showcase Teflon EcoElite™ durable water repellent (DWR), which is a highly sustainable, renewably sourced, non-fluorinated treatment for fabrics. It contains 63 per cent renewably sourced content, is up to three times more durable than existing non-fluorinated repellents, and has high water repellency for at least 30 washes.

Expanded Taiwan Pavilion at Functional Lab

In addition to the expanded Taiwan Pavilion inside the Functional Lab (hall 5.2), a number of innovative products will also be on offer in the main Taiwan Pavilion in hall 6.2. For example, Kong You Industrial will feature a new technology at the fair – a waterproof, microporous PU membrane with enhanced breathability due a special four-way stretch technology employed during the melt extrusion process of the knitted fabric and PU membrane. Sheng Ye will showcase their new generation, eco-friendly, lightweight composite fabric. This fabric also contains a special high-tech film with pores that are extremely small and have an irregular curved arrangement, giving it a high permeability and resistance to water pressure. PFC-free, it is also biodegradable. This fabric is suited to outdoor wear and outdoor supplies.

Along with Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, three other textile fairs are held concurrently: Yarn Expo Autumn (hall 5.1), CHIC (halls 2 & 3) and PH Value (hall 3). Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn edition 2017 is co-organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd; the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; and the China Textile Information Centre.