Texworld Fair, The Industry Prepares for Environmental Compliance

PARIS — Held amid the suspense of two rounds of parliamentary elections that risked a far-right majority government in France, the Texworld Apparel and Sourcing fair welcomed fewer visitors during its three-day run, which ended July 3.

Organizers said the upcoming Olympics also may have discouraged international visitors from traveling to Paris, fearing chaos.

Attendees cited the global environmental urgency, economic downturn and July timing as reasons for the quieter aisles at the Porte de Versailles exhibition halls. 

“Every trade salon in the world is quieter than usual. The whole industry has been reshaped since COVID-19, when visitor numbers were almost double,” said Julien Schmoll, marketing director for Messe Frankfurt, adding Texworld will keep its July date for at least another session. In their post-show statement, organizers said the “current economic situation” is prompting them “to explore all alternatives to adapt the Texworld offer to market demand.”

“There are not enough people, neither exhibitors nor buyers. I just haven’t found my suppliers,” said Alexandra Papadimitrio, a designer for women’s apparel company and wholesaler AXF SA in Greece. “I’ve been visiting for many years and July is just not good timing for us. It was better in September. Everybody complains about this.”

Among those who appreciated the July date, the menswear design team from Next was upbeat. “The atmosphere in Paris feels actually really good, the city seems a lot cleaner, maybe because of the Olympics,“ said Martin Fincham, menswear tailoring designer for the U.K. retailer. 

After an initial slow start to this season, the team was on the hunt for transitional pieces: fall looks in summer fabrics for the U.K. high street.

“We’re pushing winter fabrics back to October and looking at relaunching more summer fabrics like linen into July and August,” said menswear tailoring and style director Murray Brown, naming linen collections with a good quality-price ratio at mills from China and India among his highlights at the show.

The retailer has seen good business in wedding and proms, he said. “Suits are where we’re seeing the biggest uptick because people are still willing to spend money on weddings,” Brown said.

Also a happy menswear customer, Katarzyna Wojciechowska, a fashion designer working with Polish label Giacomo Conti, had found what she was looking for: quality affordable polo shirts at Sandland Garments, a Chinese manufacturer.

Others were less upbeat. “Spain is dead, Europe is dead,” declared Christina Pastaeiro from the fashion design team of Purificacion Garcia as she browsed for summer fabrics. While too early to gauge the success of the Argentine men’s and womenswear label’s U.S. openings, sales are fantastic in the Middle East, she said, despite the turmoil in the region. “Fashion is their priority. In Europe, fashion is not a priority anymore. People are more cautious,” Pastaeiro said.

The designer bemoaned the fashion industry’s overall shift toward speed and mass production. “Designers are less designers and more buyers,” she said. “It’s difficult to continue to be a designer — too fast cycles, too many seasons. There’s no time to create because you have to have it, and you have to have it tomorrow. We’re here today, and next week we need to be already sketching the collection for March.”

Pastaeiro urged: “We all need to stop buying so much. But when it comes to climate, what people say and what they do is different.”

Seeking to help professionals navigate that paradox amid rising raw material prices and upcoming environmental legislation, which has already seen companies fined for noncompliance of the Extended Producer Responsibility in Europe, Texworld held a series of conferences on the implementation of the digital product passport and priorities and timelines of emerging EU regulations through to 2026.

Outlining the legislation as “a bit of a nightmare for you to navigate in the next few years,” Luisa Balaband, representing TuvRheinland, a German testing, inspection and certification company, told the audience that there’s still time to prepare.

She urged companies to look at their data collection, governance systems and to forge collaboration. “Enable your employees, the people who understand the supply chain, maintain a very close eye on legislation, subscribe to weekly updates, and be part of the stakeholder dialogue,” she urged.

“There’s a lot of talk. Implementation will be another question,” said Stella Liu, general manager of Olive Fashion, showing among China labels in the Apparel Sourcing area.

Liu said the fact that overproduction is the number-one contributor to environmental impact had been left out of the EU regulatory framework. “The reason people buy more is there’s so much available at cheap prices,” she said. “A lot of the manufacturing companies are just saying, ‘We’ll see what happens.’”

Attending the fair for activewear fabrics, Amelie Utzon, founder of Utzon Equestrian, a Dubai-based equestrian brand selling to 25 countries, said environmental compliance is paramount.

“My main concern is the chemicals used, because my customers care a lot about that. I don’t think anyone has changed much, however. Manufacturers say things like, ‘It’s recycled,’ but I don’t know how much I believe them,” Utzon said.

Among busier stands at the Ethiopia and Rwanda showcase, Pink Mango, the Rwanda-based manufacturer of puffer jackets for mass market, also presented its own brand Asantii, a collection of hand-embroidered, handwoven traditional textiles featuring everything from cultural symbols of Ghanaian royalty or feminine energy from 12 designers across countries in Africa.

“The fair has definitely been much quieter than other editions,” said founder and chief executive officer Maryse Mbonyumutwa. “But we’ve been lucky because our business model is so different, and we’ve been promoted in the conference panels.”

Continuing to spearhead one of the first social standards for the garment industry in Africa, Mbonyumutwa said the company’s model, which provides free onsite nursery care for workers’ children up to the age of six, is proving its value and competitiveness for both business and its artisan workers, as she positions Rwanda as a socially and environmentally innovative production hub for luxury labels.

In color trends, Texworld’s fashion forecasters summed up the season with subdued hues named “flipped confusion,” “solar apocalypse,” “polar extinction” or “massive isolation.”

In this edition’s new yarns area, the China-based Dongqi Group said there wasn’t much take-up for yarns. But like other exhibitors, despite this slow edition, it will still be back for the next edition from Feb. 10 to 12, when the show returns to its traditional Paris-Le Bourget center, currently occupied by the Olympic Games media center.