At the Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics - Spring Edition 2015 held in March from 18 to 20, Chinese textile industry continued its focus on ecology, high fashion and design. At the Verve for Design zone comprised of international design studios from Australia, China, France, Italy, England and more, suppliers were seen coming to pick up pamphlets on the latest design trends in China.

London-based Circleline Design Studio explained that buyers are willing to pay high prices for designs which are unique. Hand-illustrated designs and those with gimmicks are most popular.

The sections Salon Europe and Milano Unica presented a lineup of textiles catered to high-end men’s fashion. Hield England, a textile manufacturer participating in Intertextile every season since 1993, commented that the Chinese market is following European trends, but there’s also a strong presence of domestic identity and young creativity. In terms of Asia, Japan is their biggest customer, but they predict that China will grow to the same size in a few years.

Blue Sign Technologies from Switzerland, along with other companies participating at the Intertextile expo explained that the textiles industry hasn’t caught up with the world trend of becoming environmentally friendly. Since the textile industry requires lots of water and chemicals, they need to be more proactive about overcoming environmental issues.

Bernd Muller, a rep of Messe Frankfurt, with regards to the All About Sustainability zone said that ecology is a hot topic in China now, and laws are being created in line with these trends. The country is very large, both as a manufacturer and also as a consumer. The amount of waste coming from the apparel industry amounts to 20 million tons each year. Consumers are voicing these types of environmental concerns through SNS, and NGOs are working to remedy the situation. This topic will continue to be important.