By IF Staff

After a year that’s been a bit of a nail-biter for most companies, all eyes were trained on Shanghai last week in hopes of catching the buzz about the China market – the last hope for the apparel and textile industry.  A convergence of four trade fairs, Shanghai Mode Lingerie, Premiere Vision Shanghai (for high end, primarily European fabrics), Kingpins (denim) and catch-all Intertextile created an ideal barometer of the health of the industry.  

The news was good…despite facing tough challenges of its own, China has so much growth potential that even in bad times things are still pretty good, relatively speaking. 

Mills reported a rapidly growing demand for higher quality fabrics...and a willingness to pay for them.  In big demand were fancies.  Fiber quality and construction maybe be important, but design is the top priority.  This market wants something beyond basics...way beyond.  Forget about classic European color palettes here.  Bestsellers are going to be brights or pastels, nothing in between.  Likewise prints and jacquards were doing a brisk business with mainland buyers.     What else is selling? >>