"Shenzhen is fast establishing itself as China’s fashion capital with some 1,000 fashion brands, 2,000 garment companies and 30,000 fashion designers based in the city and this year’s strong growth confirms Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen as the industry’s platform of choice for suppliers to connect with leading brands from this sector. Around 35 per cent more exhibitors came this year, which in turn attracted 13 per cent more trade buyers. Some big domestic brands sourcing at the fair included Bosideng, Elegant Prosper, Heilan Group, Marisfrolg, Peacebird and Purcotton, while the fair’s strong exhibitor profile and Shenzhen’s location adjacent to Hong Kong attracted global fashion labels like Debenhams, Evisu, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy, Ralph Lauren and Triumph to source at the fair."

The just concluded edition of Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen witnessed a greater increase in exhibitors and buyers, reflecting the strength of the Southern China fashion sector. The fair welcomed record 971 exhibitors from 12 countries, and 17,664 trade buyers from 35 countries. Accommodating these extra exhibitors, the fair occupied one more hall this edition, and covered 37,500 sq. m.

Shenzhen is fast establishing itself as China’s fashion capital with some 1,000 fashion brands, 2,000 garment companies and 30,000 fashion designers based in the city and this year’s strong growth confirms Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen as the industry’s platform of choice for suppliers to connect with leading brands from this sector. Around 35 per cent more exhibitors came this year, which in turn attracted 13 per cent more trade buyers. Some big domestic brands sourcing at the fair included Bosideng, Elegant Prosper, Heilan Group, Marisfrolg, Peacebird and Purcotton, while the fair’s strong exhibitor profile and Shenzhen’s location adjacent to Hong Kong attracted global fashion labels like Debenhams, Evisu, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy, Ralph Lauren and Triumph to source at the fair.

China, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the UK were represented by exhibitors again at this year’s fair, while India, Indonesia, Thailand and Turkey were new faces. This year’s top 10 buyer countries, excluding Mainland China, were Hong Kong, Taiwan, the US, Korea, India, Japan, Brazil, Australia, the UK and Macau.

Exhibitors’ experiences

Atsushi Yamazaki, President, Crystal Cloth, Japan, stated, “The reason we exhibit here is there are many young designers and small brands in Shenzhen that have high potential to become big in the near future. We have already met around 20 that we can work with that have a lot of potential. Our company has been in China for five years now, and we have seen a big improvement in the quality of buyers. This fair is effective for us to meet existing customers as well as new ones, and to increase our sales. We can find big opportunities to grow here.” Similarly, Alex Poyner, Print Designer, Fairbairn & Wolf Studio, UK, highlighted, “On the first day morning, there were already many buyers packed into our booth – both old and new customers. They were highly interested in our products. We have had mills and fashion designers visiting us, and they have been highly interested in our products. We have got very great results so far. I have been really impressed by the quality of the buyers as well, but not only this, the quality of their fabrics our designs will be printed on is also very good.”

Jacky Lam, Sales Director, UPW, Hong Kong, said, “We met many new customers who were strongly interested in our products, including Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong and European buyers, and some have even placed orders already. The buyers who showed immediate interest were mainly top management and designers of fashion brands as they can see our software benefits in terms of reducing production and design costs and time. Overall, this fair is very beneficial for us. Shenzhen is China’s fashion capital where most of the successful brands and market leaders are based, and this fair has attracted high-quality buyers that makes our participation effective, and even better than our expectations.”

Buyers’ delight

Gabriela Pardo De Andrade, fashion designer, Gabii G Fashion, Spain, said, “I am sourcing for our high-end, luxury collections, and this fair definitely has enough range here to match our needs. There is everything you could want here: from synthetic to natural, man-made to machine-made, and fabrics to accessories. Just for embroidery products alone I saw so many potential items to source.”

The next Intertextile fair in the apparel fabrics sector is Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn edition, which will take place on September 27-29, 2018. The next Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen will be held from July 4-6, 2019. This fair is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK); the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; the China Textile Information Centre; and the Shenzhen Garment Industry Association.