The summer edition of Apparel Sourcing, Avantex, Leatherworld and Texworld Paris, which was celebrating its 25th anniversary, welcomed nearly 6800 international visitors from 3 to 5 July and created a new dynamic around an ambitious scenography.

Texworld Evolution Paris’ exhibitors are already looking forward to the next edition, to be held from 5 to 7 February 2024 at Porte de Versailles, organisers say.

The Texworld Evolution Paris trade fairs, held from 3 to 5 July in Hall 1 of the Parc des Expositions at Porte de Versailles, ended on a very positive note. Bringing together more than 1350 exhibitors from 27 countries, the show was hailed for the breadth of its offering. The association with Curve Paris and Interfilière Paris, lingerie products and accessories fairs (Hall 5, 2-4 July), has offered buyers an unprecedentedly broad fashion platform in the heart of the French capital.

A renewed visitor experience

This edition, ‘more Parisian than ever’ - also marked Texworld's 25th anniversary - was also noted for its renewed design and the quality of the experience offered to visitors: a new T-Club space redesigned to encourage business exchanges, a revamped scenography at the entrance to the show and in other areas such as the Trend Forum or the Agora, and a concierge service were all praised by visitors and exhibitors alike.

The fashion world is increasingly challenged, with consumers - and therefore buyers - becoming more demanding in terms of price, quality and durability

In terms of visitor attendance, the breakdown by country of the 6800 visits counted over three days (including 200 from Interfilière) reflects, once again this year, the anchoring areas of European distribution: France leads the way (18% of visits) ahead of Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Germany. In terms of product offerings, this highly international edition confirmed the major balances between the Asian sourcing zones - as demonstrated by the strong Chinese presence, just six months after the reopening of the country, as well as Korean and Taiwanese - Indian and Mediterranean, with, once again this year, a highly visible Turkish offering.

Most of the buyers questioned welcomed the decision to locate the show downtown Paris, which simplified access to a show that was particularly eagerly awaited: “In this period of inflation, collection managers tend to redirect their long-term sourcing strategy towards Asia or the Mediterranean region for restocking. Texworld is unique in terms of what it has to offer," says one of the three Spanish buyers from a distribution group who came to Paris together. “In two days, we can build 70 to 80% of our collections, by mixing fabric choices for creations that will be made in Spain or Portugal, but also finished products, which we will have made in Indonesia according to our specifications."

Year zero for Texworld Evolution Paris

This session revealed the changes taking place in a global market that is reorganising itself, and for which the offering must be adapted. “The fashion world is increasingly challenged, with consumers - and therefore buyers - becoming more demanding in terms of price, quality and durability,” explains Frédéric Bougeard, President of Messe Frankfurt France. “We have to do more to attract our visitors and meet their expectations. That's why we've decided to renew our offer, in a new venue with new services, to 'whet the appetite' and make the visit more efficient. Eventually, we'll certainly have to go one step further, and offer our buyers a sharper selection of manufacturers. We are working on this with our partners, and it will be visible at the next edition, from 5 to 7 February in Hall 7 at Porte de Versailles," says Frédéric Bougeard.

Sustainability, an increasingly visible challenge

A growing number of supplier countries present at the show are incorporating sustainability as a central element of their approach and are moving fast on this issue. This key topic has been highlighted in the aisles by the sustainable sourcing itinerary, which enables visitors to easily identify several hundred certified companies.

This year, a number of Pakistani and Taiwanese manufacturers have joined forces to promote these aspects with a highly specialised range of products, such as that of Pakistani company Cresent Bahüman Ltd – present on the Sustainable Pakistan pavilion – which recycles the indigo waste generated by its dyeing processes to dye jeans and T-shirts sold by Pull& Bear (Inditex). Also worth noting: Wynist Retail Solutions, one of the six companies in the Taiwan Eco-Textiles Collective pavilion, has developed an upcycling process that produces shop displays (found at Uniqlo and Lululemon) from fabric scraps and used clothing.

South African creativity in the spotlight

Once again, this year, Messe Frankfurt wanted to shine a spotlight on the sourcing zones emerging on the international scene. The July edition featured the winners of the young South African designers' competition, organised by Allfashion Sourcing Cape Town, Messe Frankfurt's sourcing platform for African production. Thando Munkus Ntuli (winner 2021) and Carla Hanekom (winner 2022) were able to showcase their creations in a dedicated area near the Agora.

The event was organised as a part of the Texpertise – the textile business network, one of whose aims is to promote the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations This time the focus was on empowering women and achieving gender equality. Texpertise comprises around fifty of Messe Frankfurt's textile-related trade fairs worldwide.

Aware and Refact by Indigo, winners at the Avantex Fashion Pitch 2023

Developed as part of the innovation support policy developed by Messe Frankfurt France, the Avantex Fashion Pitch rewards the best projects in the fashion and textile sector every year. Eight companies were selected to present their projects at the show. The 2023 jury chose to reward the solution proposed by Dutch company Aware, which uses a scanner to determine the exact composition of a garment in order to facilitate its recycling. A special prize was awarded to Refact by Induo, whose solution enables the development on an industrial scale of a process for recycling all types of textiles and producing a new viscose fibre with very low ecological impact. The 2023 jury was made up of Corinne Bégaud - head of HEC's Challenge+ programme - Christian Martin - founder of the Fashion Tech Lab and a specialist in augmented reality - and Frédérique Thureau - partner and leader of the TCBL textile network. Organised by Avantex Paris, the international trade fair for innovation in advanced and sustainable fashion, this event gives fashion and textile start-ups international exposure to investors, professionals and the media. CDamslab, De Rigueur, HYPUnderwear, NIL Textile, Redivivum, Terra Ferra and Thesara were finalists in the 2023 Avantex Fashion Pitch.

Texworld Paris website