Mills Have China On Their Minds
The marketing spin might be on “sustainability”, but when it comes to business the focus is on China.
By Veronica Zaragovia
The world is looking to China as the market with the most promise, and that was certainly evident at Intertextile Shanghai (October 20-23). Serendipitously, during the same week
the Chinese government released promising data. In the third quarter of 2009, the nation’s GDP jumped 8.9% compared to the previous year, signaling increased spending in the country of more than 1.3 billion people.
“We’re excited about what’s happening with brands and retail in China,” said Allen A. Terhaar, executive director of Cotton Council International (CCI). “It’s going strong while the world suffers from the downturn.” The organization, which promotes the use of U.S. grown cotton, is finding that its COTTON USA label is gaining traction amongst China’s fast developing consumer brands.
Clariant, which makes dyes and chemicals for the textile industry, exhibited at the fair for the first time. “We want to get closer to the Chinese customer,” said Keith Parton, manager of textile marketing. And they literally were. The booth was teeming with people. Working with high-end jeanswear company’s like Levis and Replay, the company offers alternatives to traditional indigo which use less water and gentler chemicals . “In China, it’s still cheap to use water, but the regulations for water use are getting tougher,” Mr. Parton explained.
It’s About the Environment
So-called eco-friendly fabrics were everywhere at the fair. The concept is not new in regions like the U.S. and Europe, but it has yet to sweep China due to higher costs. The bulk of non-Chinese mills displayed recycled, organic or natural materials. A leader in eco-fibers, Japanese polyester-producer Teijin was promoting its ECO CIRCLE program, a recycling system for polyester in which used fabric is collected from member companies and processed into new ECO CIRCLE polyester fiber. Teijin’s general manager of marketing, Polly Okawara, said the process reduces the use of energy and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as trash.
The eco concept was also in full force at Korea’s Hyosung, the world’s second largest producer of spandex. The company had a number of its eco-friendly fabrics on display, including its Creora eco spandex, made with less energy in the knitting process and used for items ranging from swimwear to jackets and jeans. But recycled fabric production is still a “niche,” said Rea Stern, director of global marketing and brand. “It has to be with the right customer with the right product development mindset,” she said. “It will grow, but it will still take time.”
Unifi was promoting its Repreve line of recycled filament polyester or nylon and a recycled staple polyester fiber, made out of fiber waste and consumer bottles.
At Dupont, Helen Weng, marketing communications specialist, said the company had a waiting list for its Sorona fabric, made from natural starch in corn kernels. “We are short of supply, and orders placed will have to wait until next June,” she said. “We are afraid of receiving new customers. Sorona’s key selling point is that it’s made from 37% renewable sources,” by weight, she added, using what is essentially agricultural feed stocks instead of petrochemicals.
To offset high fabric costs, companies are shifting production to even lower cost nations. Nutra Uttamapinant, marketing coordinator of Thong Thai Textile, the first EU-certified supplier in Asia of eco-friendly cotton-knitted fabric, said some of his clients are headquartered in China but produce in nations like Cambodia, Vietnam or Laos to escape China’s rapidly rising production costs.
Make It Easy
While eco may be in the spotlight, easy-care is still an important direction, and perhaps more important when comes to actual product sales.
Pinar Ozokumusoglu, a manager of Turkey-based Soktas, a cotton thread and yarn-dyed shirting company, said the trend is to make easy-care, worry-free shirts for the consumer that are less taxing on the environment. Soktas, whose clients include Armani, Hugo Boss, Banana Republic and Dolce and Gabbana, makes its fabrics without using ammonia, a common ingredient in the production process.
Dow Fiber Solutions’s XLA exhibited its Re:Flex4, which can be used to make stretch denim that has four-way flexibility, as well as non-iron shirting. While chemicals and dye treatments are required for these shirts, Akiko Inui, global brand marketing manager, said the company uses a recycling and clean up system for liquid ammonia. Since easy-care shirts eliminate the need for dry cleaning, they also promote a more eco-friendly lifestyle.
More Buyers, Fewer Visitors
Mr. Uttamapinant noted that it seemed that Intertextile Shanghai was drawing more “buyers” increased as opposed to “visitors.”
Jay Hertwig, global sales and marketing manager of Unifi, agreed. “There are more high quality people here, more leads and more opportunities,” he said, although he noted that in general the number of passersby were fewer than in 2008.
At Lian, a Hong Kong-based manufacturer of crystal, senior sales executive Alfred Leung said more people were coming by the booth to ask for samples and talk about sales, rather than browsing and requesting the company’s catalogue. Leung said Lian was weathering out the economic downturn because rhinestones are in demand as a value added detail to a garment, which people want when they’re choosing to spend on clothing.
Eye On China
Some came not to reach out to the Chinese market but to get ideas from Chinese fabric makers. Carlos Modolo, commercial director of CTM, a Brazilian textile company, said he flew to Shanghai to seek novelties in fabrics that he could transform into yarns for the Brazilian market. “We’re in a worldwide connection, so what could be new here could be good for the Brazilian taste, too,” he said.
Some garment makers come every year and said they wouldn’t miss Intertextile Shanghai, like Constanze Eikel and Britta Blume of Germany-based Jeantex, both of whom praised the improved collections at the fair.. Fernanda V. Neri, general manager of Italian company 7 Giorni, said the quality of Chinese fabrics is improving. Her company sells in the domestic Chinese market, an advantage when the U.S. and Europe are bogged down by economic woes.
Thomas Steinbruck, creative director of Tally Weijl, said his company is also faring well in China. He came to search for affordable fabrics that were in stock for immediate delivery. Tally Weijl has opened about 15 boutiques in Shanghai.
China’s Challenges
Brian Berridge, chief executive of Lurex, which produces fine metallic fibers, was none too pleased with Chinese companies promoting the Lurex logo at their booths without necessarily using their product. Berridge said the company is starting to work with licensees of Lurex in China, which haven’t yet achieved the level of Italy since the machinery is not the same. Lurex is offering to help some of these companies raise their manufacturing standards when working with Lurex yarns. “In China, the standard is getting higher,” Berridge said. “The rich people in China want beautiful clothes like they wear in Japan.”
For Sabrina Wielfaert, product manager of Belgium-based Concordia Textiles, a producer of polyester and cotton blends for outerwear like lightweight down and ski jackets, said China’s distance was costly and she found the timing of Intertextile Shanghai “too late.” In Europe, the decisions for the winter season have been taken, she said, and it costs them less to fly to clients in Europe than to visit China for the fair. Nevertheless, Wielfaert said that in the company’s third year of exhibiting at Intertextile Shanghai, good came out of it, too. “For three years there have been talks, and now finally orders are coming.”