As part of Messe Frankfurt’s renowned Intertextile brand, Intertextile Pavilion at the Shenzhen International Trade Fair for Apparel Fabrics and Accessories (“Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen”) has a distinctive focus on the South China market, benefiting from this region’s promising market conditions and providing huge opportunities for exhibitors at this year’s fair.

Given its solid industrial bases and favourable geographic locations, the South China region is at the heart of China’s garment industry, and its one of its two major cities, Shenzhen, has a reputation as the nation’s garment and fashion capital. Currently, the city houses over 2,000 garment companies, 30,000 fashion designers and more than 1,000 fashion brands. In 2016, total sales of the Shenzhen garment industry exceed 200 billion RMB (around 29 billion USD), accounting for over 60% of the market share of shopping malls in China’s first-tier cities . What’s more, with reference to Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s “China Garment Industry” research, due to the growing spending power of both male and female consumers, these two markets are projected to continue their strong growth. While the consumer market for men’s garments is undergoing a growth period with retail sales expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11.8% between 2015 and 2020, some domestic womenswear brands have started forging into the mid-range to high-end women’s garment market segments. The research also stated that most of the enterprises which own women’s garment brands such as Ellassay, Marisfrolg, Yinger and Koradior, are located in South China.

Echoing this pleasing market data are testimonies and insights shared by overseas exhibitors at last year’s Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen. Mr Hiroshi Kawabata, Sales Manager of International Sales Department of Japan’s Sunwell Co Ltd, commented: “We see the strong potential in the South China market because this is the hub for ladieswear. Given the large population in China, this market is very stable and the demand will continue to grow.” Mr John Lee, Director of the Exhibition Project Division of Korea Pavilion’s organiser DGTIA, added: “Shenzhen is a fast-growing city being a Special Economic Zone. More than 3,000 garment factories are located here, which creates enormous demand for apparel fabrics and accessories.” Moreover, Taiwan Pavilion’s organiser Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF) conducted its own research on the South China fashion market and found, “more than 75% of fashion brands in South China are keen to purchase high-quality overseas products,” Ms Petra Peng, representative of TTF explained.

A pivotal apparel fabrics and accessories marketplace in South China to meet high quality buyers

Not only are the favourable market conditions increasing the popularity of Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen among the global industry, but the fair’s ability to attract high quality buyers is also a key factor. In 2016, while the visitor number jumped 15% to 17,019 buyers from 36 countries and regions, easy commuting distances between Hong Kong and other major cities in Southern China ensured numerous international and domestic fashion brand buyers such as Brooks Brothers, Combi, Descente, Diesel, DKNY, Evisu, G2000, I.T, Initial, KINJI, Macy’s, Marc O’Polo, Pepe Jeans, Ralph Lauren, Zara, 6IXTY 8IGHT, Bosideng, Canto Motto, Cosmo Lady, EITIE, Goelia, Lilanz, Septwolves and WSM utilised the fair as their key sourcing platform in the region.

Visiting from Hong Kong last year, Diesel’s Senior Merchandiser (Knit – R&D) Ms Janice Liu commented: “I think the date of the fair is good for our sourcing because brands like us are always developing new products and consistently sourcing new materials at different time of the year. Therefore, although we also attend the Shanghai fair [Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics], this fair is still very important for us. We did find some potential overseas and domestic suppliers this time.” Hong Kong ladieswear brand KINJI Company Ltd’s Fashion Designer Ms Wing Cham also shared: “The fair is very close to Hong Kong and covers a good range of products, so I plan to invite my boss to come with me next time.”

Key country and region pavilions confirmed to partake

The 2017 edition of Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen will be held from 6 – 8 July in halls 6, 7 and 9 of the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center, with some key country and region pavilions set to return to feature an array of high-quality fabrics for ladieswear, casual wear, lingerie & swimwear and suiting, the latest knitting fabrics, as well as accessories, lace & embroidery, and yarns & fibres. These pavilions are: