From 15-17 July, Messe Frankfurt hosted its first trade fair since February and the first Intertextile Apparel show of the year - Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics. The show was newly rebranded this year to align with the two well-established Intertextile Apparel shows in Shanghai and, according to the organisers, was well-received despite the current industry challenges and travel restrictions, proving the significant demand for an Intertextile Apparel fair in the Greater Bay Area region.

Held at the larger, brand-new Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center, the 2020 edition of Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics welcomed a total of 886 exhibitors covering 50,000 square metres. Together with the concurrently held Yarn Expo Shenzhen, CHIC and PH Value, the four fairs attracted over 42,000 visits.

“With events beginning to resume in China, we are glad to be back in a position to support the textile industry and facilitate well-overdue business interactions. The show was the first to be held by Messe Frankfurt since February, when events were forced to be postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic, and we are pleased that Intertextile Shenzhen was able to go ahead as scheduled, providing a trusted platform for the industry to reconnect,” said Ms Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd after the conclusion of the fair.

“Whilst international participation was somewhat restricted, there have been many encouraging factors to highlight and takeaway,” Ms Wen continued. “Part of the new strategy around this fair is to capitalise on the potential in the region offered by China’s new Greater Bay Area concept. Through cooperation with the organisers of CHIC and PH Value, we have been able to offer the full textile supply chain by bringing the upstream and downstream of the industry together with these two fairs alongside Intertextile and Yarn Expo.”

Ms Wen added: “The overall positive response from participants has shown there’s a strong market for the Intertextile Shanghai platform in the southern Chinese region. Another highlight of the fair was the presence of the Fine Japan Zone which proved to be popular, reconfirming the business potential for overseas exhibitors at this fair. And the move to the larger venue is a pivotal step which will allow the fair to develop and expand alongside the increasing demand for apparel products in the region.”

“Thinking ahead, we are now looking forward to organising Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn Edition in September, as our next step to helping the industry recover, with hopes that later in the year, international exhibitors and visitors will be able to participate more easily,” Ms Wen concluded.

Additional hygiene precautions were in place onsite

For the show to be held safely for all participants, a number of precautionary hygiene and health measures were carried out. These included real-name authentication during registration and when entering the fairground, body temperature checks, the requirement for face masks to be worn to enter the fairground, crowd control and distancing measures throughout the whole exhibition period, public areas sterilised regularly, specific areas allocated for dining, and the requirement for hand sanitiser and medical service points to be available throughout the fairground.

Exhibitors’ experiences

“Our goal was to meet new customers, and we’ve met quite a lot including from the Greater Bay Area, as well as from Sichuan, Shanxi, Wuhan, Hangzhou and Shanghai. They were interested in our spring / summer 2021 collections and our cotton, knitted and woven products. We also met brand buyers including ELLASSAY and Max Mara. Usually we meet bigger brands at the Shanghai edition and smaller brands, manufacturers and wholesalers at the Shenzhen edition, so this fair is complementary to the Shanghai edition,” said Mr Tomohiko Yamada, Director President, Stylem Trading (Shenzhen) Limited, Japan

“We had a lot of customers visit us yesterday (day 1), around 70 to 80 brands and different kinds of buyers. Their quality is much better than the past too. A lot of unique brands in Shenzhen are emerging, and the supply chain here has developed quite well over the past 10 years. Many of our customers yesterday were from nearby areas which have seen more large brands emerge and a lot more investment in the past two years. With its scale, Intertextile is the leading fair in China. Our impression this year is really good, much better than previous editions,” added Ms Annie Chen, Marketing Dept Manager, Korea Textile Center, Korea.

“We had three online VIP business matching meetings with overseas buyers during the fair. The results are quite good as the matching of both parties’ needs was accurate, and the connection for the online meetings was smooth. Holding the fair in July is the perfect timing for our business with overseas customers,” commented Ms Merry Li, Zhangjiagang VCARE Textile, China

“The fair is able to attract quality buyers, including small brand designers and OEMs, from the Greater Bay Area as well as the Yangtze River Delta. Usually they would attend Intertextile Shanghai, but they were willing to travel to Shenzhen as they need to source new fabrics and learn about the latest products and trends. Quite a number of buyers were interested in our sustainable fabrics too. With the four fairs being held concurrently, it provides a one-stop platform for the whole industry which is beneficial. Overall we’ve achieved our goal to make contacts with a few quality customers who make the purchasing decisions,” said Ms Kathy Lin, Heng Li String & Brand (Shanghai) Ltd, China.

“We’ve exhibited at Intertextile for nearly 20 years and decided to exhibit here because Shenzhen is located at the heart of the Greater Bay Area, which is a base for many domestic fashion brands. The Greater Bay Area is a hot topic in recent years. This makes Intertextile Shenzhen a not-to-be-missed event for the industry. Our online business meetings with overseas clients went smoothly and were really helpful to us,” said Mr Liu Weilong, Huafang Co Ltd, China

“We were uncertain if many visitors would come to the fair because of the pandemic, but the fair has attracted more than we expected. Nearly all the visitors at the fair are our target clients as most of them are export-oriented companies. We offer tailor-made antibacterial products and have observed a sudden increase in the demand for antibacterial textile products. Many clients are looking for these and sustainable products,” concluded Ms Leonie Liu, Head of Marketing and Business Development, Hohenstein Textile Testing Shanghai Co Ltd, China

Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics was held from 15-17 July 2020 at the brand-new Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center. The fair is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd; the Sub-Council of Textile Industry (CCPIT) and the China Textile Information Centre. Intertextile Shenzhen was held concurrently with Yarn Expo Shenzhen, CHIC and PH Value.

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics Autumn Edition will take place on 23-25 September 2020 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center.

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