After a sluggish year with buyers slow on their buying, there was a great expectation that Tex-Trends 2012 would be a boom for garment exporters working with smaller chain stores and boutique concepts, but that did not prove to be the case and most exporters were disappointed at the turnout of buyers and the actual business transacted. The weak response to the fair only reinforces the fact that not only the big retailers across the globe are taking time to place orders and that too as near as possible to the selling season, but the same is being followed by the boutique and smaller chain stores who are the majority that visit the fair. From products on display to prices offered, there seemed to be a mismatch between the exporters and the buyers expectation with the fair remaining as cold as the weather.
While some exporters speculated that with major sourcing fairs scheduled around this time in Europe many buyers stayed away from Tex-Trends, but the reality remains that even a lot of the regular buyers did not show up at the fair. “We knew in advance that our buyers were not coming, but thought that there would be many new buyers to connect with, however, we are disappointed,” said Sanjay Duggal, Director, Kokeva Designs.
Coming all the way from Kolkata, Al Champdany Industries was disappointed, as there were not enough buyers even on the first day. “We were expecting many foreign buyers here but this time even Delhi-based buyers were missing. I think the timing of the fair is not right, as for big buyers’ international fairs are more important than Tex-Trends,” candidly said Pradeep Kumar, representing the company.
An interesting trend at the fair was the fact that not many of the buyers were looking to place bulk orders, and were instead looking for small sample size quantities. “Buyers themselves are not sure what will work in this weak market and creating inventory is certainly not something that retailers want today. They are looking for lesser quantities with shorter shelf life and sharper prices,” said Venkat S, GM, Wonder Blues. The company was displaying menswear including denim bottoms and circular knit T-shirts. Even on the last day, which is the day when orders are generally booked, very few exporters reported any substantial business. Those that did get orders were mostly from regular clients.
Some of the buyers were disappointed with the products that the exhibitors were offering, though many others did express appreciation for some of the stalls, which had very interesting displays. “I would say only 20% of the exporters had something new to offer, others were displaying old collections or commodity products, there is a need to improve the range and variation of the fair to give it a truly international feel,” said Sham Lakhani of Lakhani Sportswear Inc., a wholesaler from New York. Working with India for the last 30 years, Lakhani was looking for embroidery and acid wash in ladies garments. “Since market is very tough we have to give something new, but was disappointed as newness is lacking here,” he added.
Another regular buyer Fabbi Loretta of Artemondo from Italy, was very critical of the displays. “Most of the styles on display are old styles and there is no real innovation, though the quality of the products is good,” she said. AO Fashion Team also observed that many stalls were displaying the same collection seen at the July edition of IIGF. While, this could also be because the orders did not come in at that time so the same collection is being pushed forward, but the biggest reason is that many exports came in with S/S 2012 collections expecting immediate orders and they did not introduce their A/W collections. “We were expecting buyers to be looking at ready shipments as we are very close to the season, also we were not sure what would appeal so we have a mixed collection, which may seem confusing,” admitted,” Zakir Hussain of Cotfab India.
[bleft]“We knew in advance that our buyers were not coming, but thought that there would be many new buyers to connect with, however, we are disappointed.” – Sanjay DuggalDirector, Kokeva Designs[/bleft]
Yet there were exporters like Tushar who received good buyers mostly for their handcrafted garments for A/W 2012/13. “We sent out pre-event invitees to our buyers specifying exactly what we would be showcasing, so those who were interested have come to see the collection,” reasoned Tushar, Director, Tushar Group of Jaipur. Other companies that received good response were Meenu Creation, Maharana of India, Rupayan, Vinegar, Goyal Fashions to name a few. All these companies had new collections with trend updated products.
Interestingly, keeping view of the slow market conditions many buyers were working backwards. “Earlier buyers used to negotiate on products that appealed to them, this year they are asking us to show in a price range that they want to buy and then they are selecting products,” said Duggal. Ruggiero Suppa of RS Couture Roma from Battisti said, “I am looking for garments in the price bracket of 3-10 euros and am only stopping to look
at collections that fall within my range.”
[bleft]“For me ideal price of a garment is $ 2.5, as I am working in the Singapore and Malaysia markets which is interested in cotton ladies garments.” – Deepak Jain Fashion Zone, Singapore[/bleft]
Of course the slow market conditions were responsible for many buyers holding back. Sanjeev Bhadana from Om Creations, France, an importer supplying garments and accessories to 30 wholesalers of Europe was looking for garments and accessories in natural fabrics and dyed with less work to meet his price points. “Last year I sourced 600,000 pieces from India but this year it is not even close to 300,000 pieces,” said Sanjeev. Rex Wong, Director of Phaya, a Hong Kong based wholesaler supplying to 30 retailers, was looking for ladies tops especially in mix fabric and multi colours. Though Rex was planning to source more than 20,000 pieces, he eventually picked up only a few thousand pieces as the prices for the garments he liked were higher than what he was looking for at $4 to $10.
[bleft]“Buyers themselves are not sure what will work in this weak market and creating inventory is certainly not something that retailers want today.” – Venkat S GM, Wonder Blues[/bleft]
There was no consensus on what price band the buyers in general were looking for. There were different levels of buyers, while some were at the bottom end, searching for products between the price range of $ 2.50 to $ 5.00, there were many who did not mind paying even $ 10 onwards for the right product. Deepak Jain of Fashion Zone, Singapore working in the Singapore and Malaysia markets was interested in cotton ladies garments. “For me ideal price of a garment is $ 2.5,” he said. On the other hand Priyae Talwar, representing Tini of Uruguay said that price was not the real differentiator. “We are looking for booking sizes of 30 pieces to 300 pieces depending on how exclusive the design is and price is not a concern.”
[bleft]“We are looking for booking sizes of 30 pieces to 300 pieces depending on how exclusive the design is and price is not a concern.” – Priyae Talwar Tini, Uruguay[/bleft]
Pradeep Nahata of Karni Exports was very disappointed as he did not get big buyers at the fair. “The organizers assured us that there will be many big buyers at Tex-Trends but I did not get to connect with any one of them. The usual boutique buyers were giving orders of 200-300 pieces, which cannot keep the factory running. Some of the big buyers that we did meet were asking almost 300 pieces per style in a total of 5,000 -6,000 pieces at the price of a 5,000 order size, how is it possible to work like that,” said a perturbed Nahata.
The fastest moving products at the fair were fashion accessories and scarves & Stoles. “With customers around the world wanting to create a new look without totally changing their wardrobe and at cheapest option, fashion accessories are hot property and many of the buyers were happy with our collection,” said Kapil Sadh of SK Overseas. “The range in scarves and stoles was truly wonderful and I was able to find exactly what I wanted,” said Bob Ruben of Matakie, Belgium. Most of the buyers expressed satisfaction at the range available in fashion accessories and many exporters had displayed a range to attract footfalls.
