The Paris fashion shows Apparel Sourcing Paris, Avantex Paris and Texworld Paris organized by Messe Frankfurt France had a significant drop in visitors, in view of the numbers of tourists recorded in Paris over the last few weeks. Considering the circumstances, the shows recorded a limited decrease of 4.6 percent.

Exhibitors who managed to create lines with new articles and innovative products even sensed a certain buoyancy in the market. Messe Frankfurt France visitors continue to be very international about 80 percent. However, numbers of visitors coming from countries that had recently been subjected to visa restrictions were down compared with the usual figures.

In contrast, the American continent, represented first and foremost by Colombia, Argentina and Mexico, posted good results that were up by 5 percent. This demonstrates how very attractive the shows are, helping them to draw in customers from much further afield. The trend is confirmed by the good results from Australia, with an increase of 20 percent.

Northern and Eastern Europe have as a whole increased their visitors from an increase oaf 13 percent to 20 percent on average, following the example of Norway, Finland, Denmark, the Ukraine, Romania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Austria and Switzerland to name but a few.

Following repeated increases in numbers of French visitors, this September 2016 show confirmed the interest shown by domestic buyers with a significant rise of 11 percent. This means the shows are becoming unmissable events for the French market.

The figures demonstrate that Messe Frankfurt’s trade shows are firmly established in their global reference markets and generate sales for exhibitors, which ensure the sustainability of their business.

TEXWORLD PARIS: Exhibitors and visitors viewed this September’s international trade show for fabrics, trimmings and accessories as a success. They particularly applauded the excellent organization, wide range of services and availability of staff.

The general scenography was praised for its elegance and the clear layout, which set off the fabric collections to their best advantage and further supported the upscaling of improved and creative products from exhibitors. The general forum, Texworld’s inspiration book and the catwalk area designed by the artistic directors Louis Gérin and Grégory Lamaud all found favor with visitors on the lookout for professional information and creative tips.

Novi from Hakatex stressed the positive and calm atmosphere was a good place for discussions, facilitating meetings and contributing to efficient business dealings.

ELITE, the new segment organized by Texworld to provide a core of producers of fabrics for higher-end markets, was met with all-round approval by the selected exhibitors.

There was a very good standard of visitors as well as attendance by exhibitors’ existing customers. This was confirmed by Chaoyang Fang, sales manager at Hi-Tex who commented on a very high standard of visitors, in particular those from their target market of Europe. Texworld is the place to be and the best exhibition in Europe.

APPAREL SOURCING PARIS: Since the show had generated a 37.5 percent increase in numbers of exhibitors, this in turn led to higher visitor numbers associated with more extensive ranges. The great majority of clothing manufacturers expressed their satisfaction with the September 2016 show and were pleased with new contacts that proved to be relevant.

Enrique Woc, international sales director at the Guatemala-based knit producer Startex said that Apparel Sourcing Paris is really a pleasant surprise. They were able to meet companies from all over Europe and even from Latin America, which gave them real business opportunities.

The segment for short lead times continues to grow. For the first time, a Moroccan pavilion, in addition to some Tunisian companies, exhibited their solutions for fast and exclusive sourcing from nearby countries.

On this subject, Michael Scherpe has signed a strategic agreement with Karim Tazi, president of AMITH (the Moroccan Association for the Textile and Clothing Industries) to promote the Moroccan textile industry on an international scale.

This rich variety for international sourcing, much appreciated by visitors, allows them to find solutions for their projects more easily, quickly and conveniently. This was confirmed by Dennis Lam and Iftikhar-ul-Hassan of Masood Textile Mills. Everything is very clear and open, which makes communications easier.

AVANTEX PARIS High technology + fashion: This third Avantex Paris show proves how sound the underlying concept is. It will be expanded by February 2017 to take account of the global nature of innovation in all areas of fashion, from design through to the retail sector. Exhibitors amassed many contacts during the four days. What is important is that a dialogue, which may have started a year and a half ago, leads to actual business in the form of orders.

Visitors who were new to the show also immediately found what they were looking for from among the existing products, as of course the offer at Avantex is constantly being developed, said Michael Scherpe, President of Messe Frankfurt France.

Michael Scherpe encouraging the textile branch said that it should continue to keep on innovating, improving and moving forward.