A successful end to the 17th edition of the world renowned Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics trade fair, which closed it’s doors on 21 October 2011 to record growth. This year’s visitor attendance reached more than 62,000 buyers, a 10 percent increase from the 2010 edition.

The double digit rise proves that the development of the fair is going in the right direction. Overall mood at the show was optimistic with positive praise for the quality of buyers and suppliers on-site, variety of products to choose from, informative seminar programme as well as a preview of international A/W 2012-13 fashion trends.

Mr Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board for Messe Frankfurt GmbH, said, "As the world's leading organiser of textile fairs we are really proud of the success of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics. Now the largest industry event in the world, this show has grown into the most important platform where mass to luxury suppliers can find new business partners, offer inspirational trends, learn from others experience and excite the growing fashion industry in China and worldwide.”

Mr Braun also commented on the future of the Intertextile brand: “With increasing market segmentation we are now focusing on high quality exhibitors who can offer premium products for high-end brands and buyers."

More than 3,100 apparel fabrics and accessories suppliers from 23 countries and regions including Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, China, France, Hong Kong, Israel, Portugal, Switzerland, the US and Vietnam as well as country and regions pavilions from Germany (25 exhibitors), India (12 exhibitors), Indonesia (10 exhibitors), Italy (100 exhibitors), Japan (73 exhibitors), Korea (102 exhibitors), Pakistan (10 exhibitors), Spain (12 exhibitors), Taiwan (154 exhibitors), Thailand (24 exhibitors) Turkey (6 exhibitors), the UK (10 exhibitors) highlighted their respective unique selling points.

Other special pavilions included exhibitors from Lenzing (54 exhibitors) showcasing man-made fibres with high quality cellulose fibres such as Tencel, Modal, and Lenzing Viscose; Invista (26 exhibitors) showcasing Lycra fibre and COOLMAX fabrics; Hyosung (10 exhibitors) showcasing Creora spandex, recycled polyester and nylon yarn fibres as well as Cotton Council International (6 exhibitors) showcasing cotton rich yarns and fibres.

Nearly 60 percent of the 924 international exhibitors were returnees proving the strength of the Intertextile brand. Participating for a decade now, Italian luxury textile mill Lanificio F.lli Cerruti 1881 brought their men’s and women’s fabric collections incorporating the finest wool, cashmere and silk. “The first three days were terrific – buyers from all over China came,” commented Mr Daniele Sanzeni, head of the group.

French textile design house Creations Robert Vernet agreed: “The China market is getting better and better, this has been one of the best shows over the last 10 years of participating here,” observed Mr Benoit Feder. He further reflected: “It’s difficult to imagine how business would be without Intertextile – we will be back again.”

First time exhibitor, ABY, Aditya Birla Yarn from Indonesia was equally as impressed. “It’s been absolutely fantastic here, we’ve met with buyers from across China as well as Asia-Pacific, Europe, South America and the US” exclaimed Mr Balachandra N.R, GM Product Development Overseas Spinning Business, who used their first global presentation to launch five of their branded products: ABY Colorlast yarn that uses pigment dyes, ABY Flexo Denim yarn blends that offers stretch, ABY Softura that is a 100% cellulose yarn, ABY Protek that has permanent flame retardant properties and ABY Style for fashion fabrics.

Fine worsted fabric producer, Hield, was also pleased with the visitor flow. “The quality of buyers has been good, very positive,” assured Mr Samer Chamsi-Pasha, Chairman for the UK mill. According to Mr Chamsi-Pasha, who has participated in the fair for more than a decade, a growing phenomenon within the Chinese industry is changing the dynamics of the domestic buying tendencies.

“Chinese brands are becoming more European in that their designers are migrating to different brands as they establish a name for themselves, attributing to a maturing fashion scene in China as well as great business potential for us.”

Chinese buyer, Mr Wang Baishang, Designer for Shanghai label Shen Collection also shared his thoughts on the changing fashion industry: “with the economic downturn still affecting Europe and North America, we now only focus on designing our fashion line for the domestic market. This show offers the finest quality fabrics and suppliers plus it’s conveniently located in Shanghai.”

Japan exhibitors were also looking to expand their business with the growing number of Chinese brands. Takisada Nagoya Co Ltd has been operating in Shanghai for a decade now to offer competitive pricing, and the flexibility to respond to urgent changes in demand. As the largest Japan pavilion exhibitor in terms of scale, they showcased their range of fashion fabrics for mainly menswear covering 90 sqm of space.

“We have shifted our focus to China and the response has been very good. We hope to further expand our booth next year,” said Mr He Jun Hua a representative from the Shanghai branch.