The 8th CTAF (Paris) as well as APP Paris will kick off in
Q:Since 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
With Messe Frankfurt and with Apparel Sourcing, we are developing a platform for sourcing for goods of
It linked every part of Texworld in
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
And of course, a lot of people say that people are consuming less in
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
If the quality is higher, the consumers in
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
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.