A Niche Too Small
Overshadowed by its sister fair Intertextile, Interstoff Asia has tried to reposition itself as a boutique fair for eco-friendly and functional fabrics. Exhibitors, however, question the sustainability of this tiny fair.
By Veronica Zaragovia
The lights keep dimming on Hong Kong-based Interstoff Asia whose 232 exhibitors drew weak visitor traffic.
The October fair displayed exhibitors from several countries, including China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, but Interstoff Asia has gotten progressively smaller each year. Some visitors prefer its small size, like Murray O’Neill, director of New Zealand-based O’Neill Textiles, who said simple fairs give him greater access to vendors. But others weren’t as pleased.
Georgie Stanistreet of Australia, a designer with SABA and product developer said she prefers larger fairs like Intertextile Shanghai. “They have more to offer and more of my suppliers go there,” she said.
Yet despite its small size, there was no shortage of quality fabrics, which showed that Interstoff Asia still has some value in the textile industry.
Going Organic
Benny Wei, a sales representative with Handseltex of Taiwan, showed the company’s new materials like Apexa, made with bio-degradable polyester, and Sorona, a corn-based fiber made partially with agricultural feedstock, which requires less petrol in the production process. The bulk of his customers demand organic cotton, he said, especially for children’s wear, because people are most familiar with this chemical-free fabric.
Customers of Samsung Fashion & Textiles of South Korea also demand organic cotton, and the company has a number of other natural textiles, including its Ingeo line made from 100% corn fiber and its SeaCell, a cellulose fiber with added seaweed, intended to moisturize the skin and provide vitamins and minerals.
Investing In Eco
A weakened economy doesn’t stop eco-conscious clients from promoting their image, which helps business for exhibitors that sell organic and recycled materials.
Jim Lee, a merchandiser with Taiwan’s Shiny Tex, said his consumers are spending on the company’s recycled polyester, although in small quantities. “They just need it for the image of the brand,” said Lee, who added that Shiny Tex is developing “extremely light-weight fabric for jackets,” like Toray.
Hong Kong-based Hinkei produces tapes and strings made with polyester from recycled bottles and film scrap or biodegradable bamboo, and also makes organic cotton labels. The company is holding on to its clients because these parts “represent the brand and the company’s image,” said Hammer Chu, managing director. “Having a green label is important to companies maintaining this look.”
Juniata Kwok, business development manager of Hong Kong-based textile mill Chan Wing Hing, was among the few exhibitors whose clients are less concerned with organic or recycled materials. Popular among her clients are woven fabrics with texture using the jacquard technique and animal prints like leopard. Chun Wing Hing Trading Co.Ltd. exhibits at only a few of the annual fairs. “It’s a waste of resources so we’re pacing ourselves,” Kwok said.
Austrian fiber producer Lenzing promoted its MicroModal AIR, an ultra light-weight version of their well known Modal, that’s especially well suited for undergarments. Modal, too, was leveraging the “green” angle as the cellulose fiber is made from wood. Andrew Chan, technical manager, said that though the fiber is popular, they face challenges like keeping costs down while maintaining quality and also reducing the impact to the environment from production.
Although demand for their fibers is strong, the challenge they face is timing production with market demand was a huge challenge for fiber manufacturers, explained Thomas Gaidoschik, Lenzing’s Hong Kong director. “It takes a lot of capital investment and long time to build up a new plant. You hope that by the time the plant is on line that the demand is still there,” Gaidoschik said. This is particularly true for fashion driven fibers like Tencel.
Currency Chaos
For UNI Textile of Japan, a company with polyester fabrics in a large spectrum of patterns and colors, the problem is working with the weakened dollar and Euro. Two years ago UNI Textile expanded into China, Taiwan, Australia, Europe and North America – and now it’s difficult to export because of the appreciating Japanese yen. Satoshi Ninomiya exhibited at Interstoff Asia to meet more customers, but he wasn’t keeping his hopes up. “It’s difficult to get good results from a fair,” he said. “Out of 70 or 80 visitors, only several will become customers.”
Jarvis C.M. Chung of Toray said the strength of the Japanese yen also hurt business this year. “It’s quite difficult to export to the U.S. and Europe,” Chung said. But that hasn’t stopped them from developing lightweight polyester and nylon-based material for down jackets to reduce their weight.
But the weak stream of visitors at Interstoff Asia could mean fewer of these exhibitors will attend next year. Julian Choi, assistant manager of Samsung Fashion & Textiles’ export sales team, expected many more people. “Where is everybody?” she asked. “We’re disappointed.”