The three-day fair attracted 1379 visitors, a 10% increase over the 2012
edition. This increase was mainly due to
the fact that the exhibition took place from Tuesday to Thursday, versus Monday
to Wednesday the previous year. The
majority of visitors represented major brands mostly from New York and
surrounding States, with an increased number of visitors from other States
compared with the previous session. 37%
of the attendees represented the flatbed knitting sector, with 16% involved in
knitted fabrics for outerwear, 10% in weaving for clothing, 8,5% working in
knitted accessories and 6% in hosiery.
The exhibition showcased 82 exhibitors and a bright and modern show
layout. Exhibitors included fibre
manufacturers, yarn spinners, knitwear and machine manufacturers, and design
studios from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Mauritius, Italy,
Germany, Turkey, France, the UK and USA.
A general
forum on the second floor of the venue displayed knitwear trends developed by Sophie
Steller Studio, featuring an array of yarns from the exhibiting
spinners and executed by knitwear manufacturers Brilliant Global, PT
Jaba Garmindo, GTIG Hubo, and Shanghai Xinnuo;
as well as a capsule display of knitwear from
graduate students at Nottingham Trent University.
“The trend forum is a
great opportunity for our merchants and design teams to see the way the yarns
look in knitdowns,” commented Trish Pasquino, Senior Director,
Product Development and Sourcing for Knitwear at Lands’ End.
Also on the program were seminars from WGSN, Nelly Rodi, knitwear designer Steven Oo,
and a presentation on textile recycling and garment longevity
from Helen Hill of NTU and Karla
Magruder of the Textile Exchange.
Knitwear manufacturers with a variety of specialties added their expertise
to the show; some offered complete vertical service from yarn to finished
garment. A collaboration between machine manufacturer Shima Seiki
and yarn spinner Nikko Textile created excitement at
the interactive stand of PT Jaba
Garmindo, Indonesia’s largest knitwear manufacturer.
The stand attracted a large number of visitors who could check the
manufacturing quality of the Indonesian company.
A seminar by Shima and Nikko
is planned for the upcoming September SPINEXPO
in Shanghai, and promises a fascinating look at the new technologies being
developed for knitwear.
“SPINEXPO gives me the ability to see the full
picture, from raw materials to finished product. I was really pleased
to see vendors with full-service operations such as PT
Jaba Garmindo,” enthused Kristin Schmidt,
Director of Product Development for Knitwear at PVH. “The show’s seminars were
quite rich and full of information,” she added.
Buyers were definitely looking for novelties, and this was the main factor
for the exhibiting companies’ success or lack of success. The mood in the US is
good, so buyers are not interested by basics but looking for innovation and
research, products with added value. Information on products before the show is
also an important reason for visitors to chose who they visit: most visitors
allow only one day in the exhibition.
Preparing ahead of time is a must to succeed in the US market, and this
is the reason why SPINEXPO works at gathering the
maximum information on the exhibitors’ products before the show: those who
provide this type of information are the most successful in attracting buyers.
Visitors had a positive reaction to exhibitors who displayed an
outstanding quality of developed yarns, and to the growing
sophistication of some of the exhibitors’ presentations. “The quality seems
much better than in the past, with more cashmere and Merino
being shown,” commented a knitwear designer from Ralph Lauren.
Pat Tunsky, Creative Director
at Doneger Creative Services, remarked, “What I liked was
the mix of spinners and knitwear manufacturers, and the diversity of products
from Asia as well as from the West.”
”
Fine cashmeres and Merino wools, cashmere blends, and chunky but light weight yarns with a vintage look
were most sought-after, reported the spinners. Blends with kid
mohair and baby alpaca were beautifully on-trend, such as those offered in
combination with cashmere at Ningbo Consinee, or the brushed luxury fibre yarns
at Manifattura Igea.
However, many US buyers preferred cleaner looks, according to the exhibitors.
“We can’t supply enough mohair. It is our top seller, but not in the US,”
remarked Jacky Chien of Best Shan
International.
At Hongye Cashmere Co. Ltd, a vertical supplier of greasy
cashmere and spinner of cashmere and sophisticated cashmere blends, Kevin Feng
expressed his satisfaction with the exhibition. “I’m very happy with
the results. I’ve seen many customers here and they are decent customers, big
companies, and good labels. They love our qualities.”
The quality of the visitors reflects the very strong vision for SPINEXPO:
the exhibition does not target a large visitors’ attendance but selected brands
able to generate suitable quantities at a correct price. The New York show is meant to be a platform to
meet the majority of the best US brands.
The exhibitors’ success in entering the market depends on the quality of
the products and the efforts brought to their collections. Time is no longer in offering the same
collection over and over again. Innovation
is the key to success.
The 22nd edition of SPINEXPO Shanghai is planned for
September 3 – 5 at the Shanghai World Expo Exposition and Convention
Center, with space already at a premium. Last year’s September show
featured some 200 exhibitors and over 11,000 visitors, and many of the spinners
who showed in New York are planning to offer additional new developments there.
“Expect surprises,” advised Tony Yan, Director at the Hualian
division of GTIG Hubo, who exhibits both the
spinning and knitwear divisions.
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Learn more about fashion and textile trade shows in our Apparel Search trade show directory.