Looking Forward to A New Success in the Forthcoming APP Paris

Jul 03, 2013  |  by

The 8th CTAF (Paris) as well as APP Paris will kick off in Paris Le Bourget Exhibition Center on September 16th – 19th, 2013, together with Texworld in the same place at the same time. APP Paris, after the successful transformation in 2011, has grown to the biggest apparel sourcing fair of the highest degree of specialization that Europe has opened to the Chinese exhibitors. On this platform, the buyers are able to come into contact with Chinese suppliers as well as other textile and garment producers and traders from the Asian and Pacific regions. Such an international and diversified platform will better highlight the advantages of Chinese enterprises and win them more attention. In view of the forthcoming APP Paris, the reporters interviewed Marie-Armelle de Bouteiller, Director of Messe Frankfurt France S.A.S. 
 

QSince we have the general idea about Apparel Sourcing Show held in Paris, would you like to tell us about how it will develop in the near years, maybe one or two years? How about the development of Chinese exhibitors in French or European market? And will you give us a general introduction to the current situation of European market? What are they expecting for?

 

Marie-Armelle: As you know, Apparel Sourcing has begun to work together with CCPIT TEX in 2007. This is why I join the company of Messe Frankfurt this time. First of all, we developed a part of Texworld for the people who are engaged not only in fabric. And the success lies where we decided to cooperate with CCPIT TEX in Apparel Sourcing and Texworld, and now it is a special show for people who are looking for apparel in Europe. It is the only international sourcing platform for apparel in Europe. So it’s something very important, because perhaps you do not know that a lot of shows in Paris are owned by French Union who develops shows mainly for the French market.

 

With Messe Frankfurt and with Apparel Sourcing, we are developing a platform for sourcing for goods of Europe. More than 75% of our visitors come from different countries in Europe, of which the top six countries are French, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Turkey; therefore, visitors are able to meet people coming from the main fashion industry countries in Europe. So it’s something very important for exhibitors to know as they need to meet people not only from French, but also from all of Europe. This is something special we achieved with Messe Frankfurt in Paris.

 

It linked every part of Texworld in Paris which is the capital of fashion. This is why lots of people get there at the same time in order for fabric sourcing as well as capacity for production of garments. So we are developing shows now not only with Chinese exhibitors, but also with exhibitors from all over the word. It’s something very important, because that’s not just a place for Chinese exhibitors but also for those from Morocco, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and all countries involved in apparel production. It’s good because more and more exhibitors are coming to see all the capacity of production in the word in the same place at the same time.

 

Regarding the situation in European market right now, what we are sure is that European market is the biggest one in the world. It is important for Chinese producers to be able to enter the European market, especially because the European market can accept prices that go from the basic to high-end products. So I think it’s something very important for the future in Europe.

 

And of course, a lot of people say that people are consuming less in Europe right now, but I would say that they don’t consume less but consume better products. So lots of people now in Europe are also looking for productions that are sustainable. This is something that China should keep in mind for development, because more and more people are aware of what’s going on in the production factories, and they really need to be sure what they are going to wear on their bodies, or something that is good for health. It’s something very important for the next future in Europe, so I think the consumers need information about outer garment that has been done, and they need more transparency about production as well as yarns that are used. They are also interested in recycling. This is the new movement now in Europe. And I know that in China this is also what people are interested in, so I think we can go together for better world and better production.

 

Q: As far as I know, CTAF’s cooperation with Texworld has become a very important platform for Chinese garment enterprises to explore the European market. How do you think about the new mode of “one-stop show” that help buyers purchase fabrics and garments together in the same place? What kinds of influence will it exert to the fair?

 

Marie-Armelle: According to the analysis within Textword, more and more people who will buy fabric also want to purchase garment at the same time. So it’s why at that time when we analyzed the exhibitors who want to have the same thing in the same place at the same time, we decided to make and also show for the people who are going to know the garment production capacity. Because when everything was mixed with Texworld, the exhibitors could find what exactly they want. People now want to come to show to buy very quickly, so you have to make very clean offer for them in order that they are able to go to right place without losing time during shopping. During the fair they want to meet people and see products, but they don’t want to spend time finding what they want between this product and that one. It is also something very important because sometimes two teams of a company come to the fair, and one is to buy fabric while the other is to take care of production, they can come together thanks to the “one-stop show” where you can find two shows at the same time, and work together. It is something very interesting.

 

Q: As we know that some countries around china, such as India, are enjoying a lot growth accompanied by much lower labor costs, thus many European plants are transferring their orders to those countries instead of their original destination - China. In view of this situation, are there any suggestions you want to give to Chinese enterprises?

 

Marie-Armelle: Yes. Now what is very important is not only the price but also the quality. Therefore, as quality is increasing in china, I think European buyers will be interested in products. Perhaps now we will be ready to pay more if the products are more transparent in production as I said before. Of course, you can always find countries where labor costs are lower, but it’s not something that is going to last forever, so everybody are to make their minds and think about quality as well as quality of production. I think China is aware about that and able to offer European buyers good quality, perhaps of higher price.

 

If the quality is higher, the consumers in Europe perhaps will buy less, but they will buy better at a higher price. So this is something that could appear on the market in the following years that people don’t use fast fashion as before, but they are more confident in what they want to buy. So they buy more quality and pay more, maybe they buy just one instead of two. This is a way that china could export to those countries, even the price is higher, because quality is higher, and then it’s OK on the market.

 

Q: What kinds of service will the organizers provide to improve the quality of the fair as well as increase the satisfaction of Chinese exhibitors?

 

Marie-Armelle: The organizers focus on the numbers of exhibitors in every square meters instead of blindly expanding the scale of the fair. Many efforts have been made to improve the quality of the exhibition.

 

Firstly, Chinese exhibitors have received a lot of humanized service from the organizers. Different from the past, this spring session of the fair coincided with the Chinese traditional Spring Festival holiday, so CCPIT TEX, together with Mess Frankfurt France S.A.S., adjusted the exhibition time to delay one day so that the Chinese exhibitors could spend with their families on New Year’s Eve before they went to Paris for the show. This detail fully reflects the respect of organizers to the Chinese exhibitors.

 

Secondly, since CTAF is an essential part of Apparel Sourcing, China Pavilion, regardless of the numbers of exhibitors, has been enjoying a favorable position which is closest to the exhibition entrance since 2007.

 

Thirdly, the news center of Apparel Sourcing is open to Chinese exhibitors who are allowed to place any press release (without advertisements) into the news-center room.

 

Fourthly, each session of the fair is accompanied by trend release, and from the spring session in this February the trend book began to be published in Chinese not only in French.

 

Fifthly, the Design Director of Mess Frankfurt France S.A.S. believes that the quality and processing techniques of Chinese clothing products have reached a certain height; however, many improvements need to be made in terms of highlighting the product features and advantages on the spot. In this respect, the organizers invited senior French merchandisers, who did display design for international famous brands such as Prada and Chanel, to provide free service to the exhibitors in terms of booth display. Based on the redesign of designers, the booths look like shop windows, which help the exhibits showcase their prominent characteristics to the maximum in the limited space to be in line with the purchasing habits of European buyers, greatly improving the attraction of the booths.

 

Q: How do you think about the performance of Chinese exhibitors in the past several fairs since 2007?

 

Marie-Armelle: For us, the best way to see whether the show is good or not is if the exhibitors come back. But at times, we also have to face people who want to make money very quickly, so they come to the market once and say “Oh, it’s not working”. Of course, they have just arrived. Just as I explained before, my advice for Chinese exhibitors is to create really strategies when they come to Europe, not just come for one shot and just for making money, but to create really strategies of what they are going to invest during three years.

 

There is a very high continuous participation rate of Chinese exhibitors, which has been growing since 2010, from over 30% at the beginning to this year’s more than 50%. From the exhibitors’ point of view, there are still some problems to be solved. For example, some enterprises have their own plants, and they would send different business departments to attend various sessions of the fair. What’s more, there are no communications among the different departments that participated in the fair; therefore, although the enterprises have attended the fair for several years continuously, there is no any experience for them to make improvements.

 

However, there is always a sunny side. Some exhibitors would always sum up experiences as well as defects, and are willing to make changes. Thus, their next participation would be a fruitful one.

2024.12   

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