Suppliers from over 25 countries and trade buyers from around 100 countries are gearing up for yet another edition of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, a grand show of global apparel fabrics and accessories, to be held in October 2017 in Shanghai. Occurring towards the end of the autumn/winter sourcing period, buyers will come to the fair well informed of next season’s trends and are in a position to make their purchasing decisions from the around 4,500 exhibitors that will be present.

With all the changes going on both in national economies and the apparel fabrics and accessories industry, the number of trade buyers sourcing at the fair – around 70,000 – and their diversity – some 100 countries – present an unrivalled opportunity for exhibitors to find new markets, or double-down on existing ones. This diversity is further shown in buyers’ product sourcing preferences at the fair. Last year, buyers’ main area of sourcing interest for all of the eight main fabric product categories was between 11 per cent and 38 per cent, reflecting a relatively even spread across all types of fabrics.

While Intertextile Shanghai is well-known for its exhibitor and product breadth, buyers in the know also use it as a sourcing platform for the latest functional apparel fabric innovations. The fair’s Functional Lab – which will feature around 50 exhibitors this edition – is the centre of innovation at Intertextile, featuring a wide selection of innovative yarns and fibres, fabrics, accessories, finishes and coatings, membranes and more, particularly for athleisure, sports and outdoor wear, as well as lingerie. Buyers looking for eco-friendly options can find plenty to choose from in this zone as well.

Aquafil, an Italian firm, will showcase its Dryarn fibre at the fair, which they claim is the lightest fibre in the natural world. According to the company, a garment made of Dryarn will weigh 32 per cent less than an equivalent garment made of wool, and 34 per less than one of polyester. Moreover, it offers high levels of thermal comfort and breathability which makes it ideal for a wide range of uses including fashion, and sports and outdoor wear.

Belgium’s Vetex, specialists in coatings and laminations for various textiles, won an award at the recent Techtextil fair in Frankfurt for their ecologically-friendly solution to replace dimethyl formamide (DMF) as a solvent in PU coatings. At Intertextile Shanghai, they will present their seam seal tapes which are fixed to shoes, garments and outdoor products through a unique hot air process (seam sealing), an innovative technology that ensures they retain their specific properties during the manufacturing process.

The Chemours Company will showcase their Teflon EcoElite durable water repellent (DWR) at the fair which is a highly sustainable, renewably sourced, non-fluorinated treatment for fabrics. It contains 63 per cent renewably sourced content, is up to three times more durable than existing non-fluorinated repellents, and has high water repellency for at least 30 washes.

Unifi Textile, showcasing their Repreve brand of fibres made from 100 per cent recycled materials, including post-consumer water bottles and pre-consumer waste, will also release an updated version of its Sorbtek moisture-wicking and thermal-regulation fibre at the fair.

As one of the industry’s powerhouses when it comes to innovation, the Taiwan exhibitors will be out in force in the Functional Lab. Singtex has products ideal for garment producers with customers who are eco-conscious coffee drinkers. Evermore Chemical Industry’s Kirintex polyurethane film has enhanced elasticity and ventilation, while also having zero ozone depletion potential and lower greenhouse effect potential. In ASTM testing, the foam has recovery exceeding 90 per cent, higher than high-stretch knitted fabric and woven cloth, and air permeability far exceeding that of TPE foam and neoprene.

Kong You Industrial will feature a new technology at the fair: a waterproof, microporous PU membrane with enhanced breathability due a special four-way stretch technology employed during the melt extrusion process of the knitted fabric and PU membrane.

Sheng Ye will showcase their new generation, eco-friendly, lightweight composite fabric. This fabric also contains a special high-tech film with pores that are extremely small and have an irregular curved arrangement, giving it a high permeability and resistance to water pressure. PFC-free, it is also biodegradable. This fabric is suited to outdoor wear and outdoor supplies.

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn Edition 2017 is co-organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK), the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, and the China Textile Information Centre. The three other textile fairs are held concurrently: Yarn Expo Autumn (hall 5.1), CHIC (halls 2 & 3) and PH Value (hall 3). Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn edition 2017