Country: France

Paris edition of leading textile and apparel trade shows – Apparel Sourcing, Texworld and Avantex will take place from 6th to 9th February this year. Organized by Messe Frankfurt, the 4-day event will be a flurry of exhibitions, seminars, conferences and fashion shows, while also providing a platform for business interactions.

40^th Texworld Paris is continuing with its segment ELITE – a global platform for purchasing materials, fabrics and supplies, with 21 exhibitors. It will also host FRANKfurtstyleaward, the renowned international fashion competition. Meanwhile, Turkey, with 87 exhibitors, remains the 2nd most represented country at the show after China. Korea ranks third with 71 exhibitors.

AVANTEX PARIS is also evolving and is split into several segments of paramount importance for high-tech fashion design. The newly reorganized exhibition is divided into Materials & Components/Garments & Accessories/Prototype Studio/Smart Retail with an aim to provide a pioneering offer, starting with the raw material and continuing through to sales, for each segment.

Also Read – Avantex Paris to return in February 2017

Alongside these, key apparel sourcing fair – Apparel Sourcing Paris, which is into its 12th edition, is expecting a 30 per cent surge in the number of exhibitors. Focused on global apparel sourcing strategies, the show has major exhibitors from China. Apart from China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, attending with its denim ranges, and India (under the aegis of TEXPROCIL) is increasing significantly in numbers. Moreover, Morocco, a major supplier offering products from the nearby region with short lead times, is making a substantial contribution to the show with companies’ presence in the various segments depending on their respective expertise.

Première Vision Paris is scheduled to take place from February 7-9, 2017. At the trade show, 10 experimental works featuring clothing and accessories will be displayed in order to testify the fast-moving developments in the Fashiontech area in the past 10 years.

What makes this year’s exhibition unique is the launching of a Wearable Lab, an area dedicated to invention and forward-looking ideas in the fashion industry to bridge the gap between wearable and fashion technology.

Also Read – CELC showcases flat linen knitted collection at Première Vision Paris

Apart from sessions on fashion and technology, the event will host workshops, conferences, and exhibitions on fabrics, accessories and textile designs and leather among others. Moreover, the show will also have a separate showroom for start-ups dedicated to exchanging ideas from the young entrepreneurs.

Famous for its high-tech fashion fabrics, Avantex trade fair is scheduled to take place from February 6-9, 2017 at Paris Le Bourget. The show will run as the part of the Apparel Sourcing Paris show, alongside Texworld Paris show.

Michael Scherpe, President – Messe Frankfurt France, said, “Since Avantex Paris was launched in September 2015, Messe Frankfurt France has taken steps so that heads of collections and designs are offered solutions at the forefront of innovation for clothing and technical accessories. In September 2016, the show was expanded with lectures the aim of which is to promote and facilitate dialogue among the huge strides in development of high-tech fashion. The 2017 February show will give rise to series of new features to enhance sourcing for innovative fashion products and services and to intensify the interaction that is a vital factor in developing new products.”

Also Read – 3rd edition of Avantex Paris ends successfully

Primarily from Asian countries, around 300 exhibitors are expected to showcase their products at the show. Apparel Sourcing, meanwhile, will be presenting denims for the first time. The Avantex Paris will include every high-tech fashion domain, from fibres through to the finished products, from initial design through to sales. Moreover, the offers from the exhibitors will be classed into four main segments: materials and components, garments and accessories, prototype studio and smart retail.

Lectra, the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using fabrics, leather, technical textiles and composite materials, recently gathered over 110 industry stakeholders from 21 countries to imagine the future of fashion at a thought-leadership event in Bordeaux, France.

Various manufacturers, brands and retailers in the fashion and apparel industry shared perspectives
on the future of design, product development and manufacturing and explored a range of pivotal subjects set to impact the fashion and apparel industry, in particular four fundamental elements: millennials, digitalization, Industry 4.0 and China at the two-day event.

Examining the impact of the millennials on the future fashion industry, Edwin Keh, CEO, The Hong-Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HK RITA) proposed that millennials are ‘new consumers’, massively influencing and reshaping the supply chain. Zeta Beckett, 3D senior pattern technologist for UK-based retailer Matalan, talked about how Lectra’s 3D is helping in faster product development, more accurate and consistent fit, improved cost control, and better collaboration with suppliers.

Also, at the event, Celine U, Head of Merchandising at successful Chinese children’s wear brand Les Enphants, informed that adopting Lectra Fashion PLM is helping the company pursue its goal to expand across Asia and it is now planning to extend its use from design through to order management.

Also Read – Lectra collaborates with Under Armour to push innovation boundaries

Demonstrating the power of Industry 4.0, US-based global performance brand Under Armour presented their new state-of-the-art facility in Baltimore, which focuses on harnessing change. “The Lighthouse is a first of its kind, state-of-the-art facility that’s revolutionizing the way all products are made. It’s our secret weapon to develop new technology and make products on a smaller scale allowing for improvements to both efficiency and quality,” said Jami Dunbar, Vice-President, Lighthouse Apparel, Under Armour.