Textiles & Apparel / Garment
Munich Fabric Start – a leading trade fair with international focus
- Great opening of the 2015 Spring/Summer season with 8% more visitors
- Clearly defined blueprint ensures increasing international relevance
- Global players use Munich as a kick-off platform
- Greater demand in established exhibition segments
Within the various segments of the exhibition, approximately 20,000 trade visitors were given a very clear overview of the latest developments and innovations. For three days Munich was again a central platform for international designers, buyers and product managers wanting to gain plenty of pre-seasonal information at MUNICH FABRIC START, the first international leading trade fair. During the three days of the fair the organisers recorded an encouraging increase in visitors. Besides excellently frequented halls and the usual productive working atmosphere, longer periods of time spent at the trade fair by visitors were registered as positive attribute of the show. The exhibition concluded with an 8% increase in visitors compared with last year.
“Our overall approach involves covering the ever-increasing need for information and orientation at this early point in time, so that we can offer a comprehensive portfolio of collections, featuring both fabrics and accessories. This also includes an inspiring accompanying programme and opportunities for an intensive exchange within the industry,” says Wolfgang Klinder, as he explains the clear focus on quality rather than quantity. “We’re very pleased that more and more exhibitors and visitors are using MUNICH FABRIC START as an important kick-off platform for the season. For many years now we have seen continuous growth from one season to the next, thus confirming our international orientation.”
After all, within the German-speaking countries MUNICH FABRIC START and Munich as its location have long been a clear fixture for the entire industry, so that its potential for regional growth has been virtually exhausted. “Basically, we can only grow this trade fair further if we operate internationally, over and above the countries which are already represented, and if we reach out to new markets. We had some major international industry players such as Zara, Li & Fung, Benetton and Tommy Hilfiger as well as visitors from the US, the UK and East Asia, which confirmed that this trade fair is now becoming an increasing international force. One particularly good aspect is the remarkably positive response from exhibitors in all areas, confirming the increasing internationalization of MUNICH FABRIC START,” says Sebastian Klinder. In all, he concluded, this positive development was borne out by the latest MUNICH FABRIC START – a development which had been emerging for several seasons, with more global players and with greater internationalism.
Increasing demand at BLUEZONE
After two intensive days a generally positive results was also recorded by BLUEZONE. With an even larger exhibitors’ portfolio than before, featuring 76 denim specialists, the Who’s Who of the denim community met in the Zenith Hall on 4 and 5 February. This line-up included all the well-known weaving and finishing mills and laundries. After its successful launch in September, the information and inspiration platform CUBE X was highly popular again. And there are already signs that BLUEZONE will be successfully repeated as a denim platform this coming September. “BLUEZONE recorded a considerable increase in exhibitors again, and we’ve already received enquiries from new exhibitors wanting to come to the next BLUEZONE. Again, our approach has borne fruit in that we are offering a unique presentation zone in a special environment – a separate denim platform which can potentially reach 900 international exhibitors and about 20,000 visitors,” says Sebastian Klinder who is clearly pleased about the quality of the exhibitors’ line-up.
Pic: Blue Zone at Munich Fabric Start HAUTE SPORTURE – precise cuts meet transparent colours
Running under the heading HAUTE SPORTURE, the various trends in textiles and colours were presented in all their sporty elegance, ranging from calm, light colours to genuine transparencies with an amazing clarity, major expressiveness, precise cuts, sharp silhouettes and new geometric shapes. Clarity and transparency, however, are not just fashion concepts for the current season; they are also principles pervading the general trade fair blueprint. The Colour Forum, laid out with an eye for detail, and also the Trend Forums and Sample Areas serve as places with focused presentations of new, forward-looking themes of each season. A clear segmentation can also be observed in the various exhibition sections such as COLLECTIONS, ADDITIONALS and the ASIA SALON. All three areas were continually well attended on all three days and are now becoming increasingly established in their own rights. Together with BLUEZONE, the DESIGN STUDIOS, the ECO VILLAGE and organicselection, they have become major representatives of the wide-ranging portfolio shown at MUNICH FABRIC START.
Strong formats successfully established
The established exhibition formats are continually under review by the organisers and are dynamically adapted to changing market conditions. In this season the DESIGN STUDIOS, the ECO VILLAGE and organicselection were presented under new design principles, allowing interactivity and plenty of communication. It was a great success. Alex Voigt, the sustainability expert of MUNICH FABRIC START, spoke of the “biggest influx of visitors for years” at the ECO VILLAGE and at organicselection, the sustainability forum of the trade fair. In particular, he says, this season has been marked by buyers from some big, well-known firms and with an interest in the growing range of sustainably manufactured high fashion textiles. More than ever before buyers focused on the sourcing of prints and high-quality materials such as silk and linen. “organicselection received a continuous flow of visitors. Designers and buyers were highly purposeful in their sourcing activities and in their quest for material, clearly seeking solution-focused approaches as they discussed their needs with experts at the ECO VILLAGE – approaches that can also be implemented on a large scale,” says Voigt as he sums up his observations.
If you would like to gain some initial impressions of the three days of the trade fair and of the legendary MUNICH FABRIC NIGHT, which attracted some 1800 guests to the Kesselhaus on the night of the first day, have a look at the website.
Pic: The MUNICH FABRIC NIGHT
Quite soon, on 15 and 16 July 2014, the VIEW Premium Selection will provide a selection of high-quality fabric collections and thus an initial glimpse of the trends and developments in the autumn/winter season 2015/2016.
The next MUNICH FABRIC START will be held from 2 to 4 September 2014 while BLUEZONE will be running in parallel on the first two days, i.e. on 2 and 3 September 2014. The forthcoming MUNICH FABRIC START is already promising to be another powerful trade fair, as a large number of exhibitors have now submitted their registrations and there has been a generally positive response among visitors.