Solidifies status as global apparel textile flagship
Back-to-back visitor increases of 15 per cent have solidified Intertextile Apparel’s status as a global apparel textile flagship. 94,661 visitors from over 110 countries & regions attended the fair (2018: 82,314, 104 countries & regions). Aisles in six exhibition halls saw a sea of visitors, as the quality, variety and innovation of the textile options on offer impressed trade buyers from all over the world. Reports of strong onsite order levels belied concerns of a slower economy and trade disputes – suggesting that, at Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, there is always potential to be found.
After already experiencing a significant increase in last year’s Spring Edition visitor numbers, and with muted reports coming from some industry events earlier in the spring / summer sourcing calendar, we were not expecting such a strong increase again this edition,” acknowledged Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd.
“However, it’s apparent that no matter the economic situation, the unrivalled scale and variety of Intertextile Apparel’s exhibitors means that trade buyers worldwide continue to choose this fair as their main spring/summer sourcing platform, year-after-year. We look forward to welcoming the global apparel industry back for their autumn/winter sourcing from 25 – 27 September, for our 25th anniversary.”
This year’s Spring Edition housed 3,273 exhibitors from 23 countries and regions (2018: 3,386 exhibitors, 22 countries and regions) over six halls at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre (Shanghai). This included an increase of 12 per cent in overseas exhibitors. The top 10 visitor countries & regions this year were Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, India, the US, Taiwan, Russia, Italy, Vietnam and Spain. The invitation-only Milano Unica Pavilion had a 20 per cent increase in visitor numbers compared to the 2018 Spring Edition, and reported a more than satisfactory presence of Chinese buyers, including those who could not visit Milan in February due to the overlap with the Chinese New Year holiday. In addition, Milano Unica noted the presence of international buyers from Asia, in particular South Korea and Japan, but also India, Russia and Saudi Arabia. As well as offering access to the global textile market, the fair also provided industry insight at the fringe programme, which included three panel discussions and 25 seminars.