PARIS - Texworld opened the way for the ready-to-wear textile collections for Fall 11 in what seems to becoming a predominantly Chinese show. Out of the total of 880 exhibitors, 404 were from China, the other four key participant countries included South Korea 95, India 72, Taiwan 70 and Turkey 80. That’s not to say quality wasn’t in the offering, but as always at Texworld it is a market show were the mills don’t set the trends but fit into the general directions forecasted for the season.

The fair was busy, in part leveraging the pull of Premiere Vision, which was held concurrently.  Messe Frankfurt had installed a shuttle bus at the station near the Premiere Vision fair grounds to transport buyers from PV to Texworld. 

There was less excitement at Texworld this season…you sense a feeling of ‘nearly there’ with some of the qualities, but nothing really jumps out and leads you into a new direction. This is truly a fair for selling big volumes of more basic fabrics, with a few novelties here and there.  The trend area, as always, was clear and concise with fabrics evenly placed flat on tables in a linear, almost sparse experience. Floor to ceiling diaphanous fabrics of the color palette offered a great look in presenting the key tones for the season.

Inspiration was offered in a new installation at Texworld called ‘Designers and Fashion Fabric Experience’ - a series of linked walk-through areas explaining the process of the textile and fashion industry, starting from fibers through to fabrics to design and finally leading to a series of dresses.  Visually stunning and full of inspiration, one did wonder why anyone attending a “trade show” like Texworld would need to be taught the supply chain that leads to the final garment? However it seems this is actually what is needed for the younger generation that now works in the textile industry. As one regular visitor told Inside Fashion “the industry is changing, it’s not like it used to be and today’s new generation just don’t have the understanding of the fiber and textile side, they just have the idea of the final garment.”  READ MORE