The 20th anniversary edition of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics which ran from October 20-23, 2014 saw record number of visitors and also exhibitors from the previous editions.
A total of 3,844 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions took part, up 2 per cent compared to 2013, while 71,138 visitors from 93 countries and regions attended the fair, also a 3 per cent rise from last year.
The top 10 visitor countries and regions, excluding China, were Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, the US, Taiwan, Turkey, Russia, Indonesia, the UK and India.
“Both the exhibitor and visitor figures represented new records for the show which was held across 15 halls and 175,020 square metres, making it the largest in the event’s history,” the organisers Messe Frankfurt said.
A number of displays and events were incorporated into the fair this year to mark the significant milestone of the 20th anniversary edition.
This included a fashion show, a Fabric Wall created from fabric swatches of different exhibitors and a celebration video which offered a retrospective take on previous editions of the fair.
A number of country and region pavilions, and product halls and zones featured at the fair, including the Milano Unica Pavilion which featured 127 high-end Italian suppliers.
Staying within SalonEurope, which featured 296 premium suppliers this year, Jose Antonio from Portuguese firm, Texser A Textil said, “The industry here is definitely booming, and this fair is the only way to get into this market and be known.”
Many other exhibitors, both from Asia and Europe, were optimistic that the apparel fabrics market in China and throughout Asia still holds a lot of potential in the next few years.
Sandeep Goel, Vice President at Kaybee Exim Pte Ltd, Singapore, explained, “The potential is very high in the Chinese market. Our business here increased last year, and we are very optimistic about next year too.”
Raphael Sommer, MD at Hausammann + Moos AG from Switzerland said, “The reason we keep coming to this fair is because China is a big market and there are many good representatives with potential here.”
This year’s Beyond Denim area was enlarged to an entire hall to meet strong demand in the local market, and generated a lot more traffic for exhibitors.
According to Munir Alam at Pakistan’s Azgard Nine Ltd this hall is good as it attracts only people interested in denim so it attracts only better quality buyers.
His compatriot, Aamir Hussain from Rajwani Denim echoed Alam’s sentiments by saying, “You should always have Beyond Denim in a separate hall as you get good, select buyers coming here. There are good-quality buyers from many different countries from all regions of the world.”
Due to strong interest in the sustainability field in the region, the ‘All About Sustainability’ zone increased in exhibition space by 148 per cent compared to the 2013 edition.
