Significant increase in visitors from Northern China at SPINEXPO

The 17th edition of SPINEXPO Shanghai was held from March 8th-10th, 2011 at the Pudong Expo Center for the last time in that venue, and recorded the most substantial increase in visitors since the trade show first launched.

With 9,456 visitors for a Spring/Summer season as compared to 7,846 visitors for the previous Autumn/Winter edition, the increase in international visitors was 22%. This hefty increase was largely due to changes in our China promotion office and to its professionalism.

The office, based in Shanghai, was strengthened in terms of size and skills, and the team assigned to visitor information cleaned up our entire China database, removing over 50% of obsolete data and carrying out research region by region, thus increasing our communication with the textile industry to a considerable degree as well as our familiarity with Chinese niche textile markets that are constantly expanding.

The number of Chinese visitors rose to 7,741 as compared to 5,970 visitors for the previous season: it is noteworthy that the most significant increase came from Northern China, including Beijing and nearby provinces, where the number of visitors rose to 499 as compared to 271 for the previous season. Shanghai and nearby provinces also recorded a significant increase with 7,488 visitors as compared to 5,381 for the previous season.

Only the Southern China region remained unchanged, which underlined the importance of the work that was carried out, since provinces in this part of China were not included in the database enrichment process. We are encouraged by these results and will carry out similar work for Hong Kong and the province of Guangdong for the upcoming Autumn/Winter season.

Visitors from outside China also recorded a significant increase, rising from 1,046 for the previous season to 1,715 for this edition (+65%). Taiwan and Hong Kong recorded a drop compared to the previous edition, but Japan is rising, as well as the United States and South America. We have begun the same process on our USA database and are beginning to record results, with major decision-makers attending the trade fair from the USA and Europe.

The biggest increase came from visitors from department stores and ready-to-wear brands. In terms of product categories, we have recorded an amazing increase in the circular-knit sector, with 3,562 references as compared to 830 for the previous season. Although it corresponds to a Spring/Summer season that is more favourable to circular than to flat-bed knits, this very substantial increase strengthens our conviction concerning the importance and future of this sector, which is divided into "outerwear" (2,005 references, lingerie/underwear (1,163) and hosiery (394).

The flat-bed knit sector is down slightly with 4,599 references as compared to 5,360 for the Autumn/Winter season, as is the garment and home textile weaving sector (1,252 versus 1,694 for the previous season). We changed the interior decor for this edition by putting our new stand concept to the test in preparation for the change of venue for the upcoming Autumn/Winter season.

This new concept has received unanimous approval, as has our new eco-trend lighting system that we imposed on exhibitors in order to eradicate the electricity consumption problem associated with the current site and that met with the full satisfaction of exhibitors, which proves that we can combine elegance with reasonable and responsible electricity consumption.

The Trends Forum has expanded with new talents. Designed and coordinated as always by the Sophie Steller Studio of the UK and embellished with weaving, knitted banners and accessories by Scotland’s Carruthers-Associates Studio, the forum welcomed for the first time Hong Kong knitter Kamful, specializing in hand-painted knits, the Italian knitwear stylist Roberto Tirelli and the English studio, Cast Creations.

SPINEXPO is proud to have these many talents on its team. Their work was also visible in the "Well Being" area, which sparked the continuation of our research on sustainability and ecology applied to textiles. The Italian dyer Tintoria di Quaregna appeared in this area and presented its 100%-ecological vegetal dyeing processes and its research on indigo and the jeans wear market, while another section of this presentation was dedicated to micro-encapsulation, making it possible to envisage clothing that accompanies us with a fragrance throughout the day. Another part of this presentation was dedicated to vegetal materials (linen, cotton, paper, bamboo, etc.) and illustrated the products of the exhibitors present. The Chinese spinner Huafu also presented the different phases of its eco-cotton production.

A program of seminars completed our marketing offering during the first two days of the trade show. Stoll Germany, WGSN, StyleSight, Celessence and Shartex joined in offering visitors the latest news about their technologies and trends for the upcoming seasons.

SPINEXPO also offered a seminar targeted towards exhibitors, in which a preview of Autumn/Winter 2012-2013 color ranges and product trends was presented for the first time since the trade fair first launched. A new tool, a "Fashion Intelligence Report" was also presented which will be made available to participating companies twice every season focusing on the strong points of leading boutiques in various places around the globe.

The first of these two reports will present flagship products from Europe’s capital cities (Paris, Milan and London), highlighting the most fashion-related details, as well as aspects that we found worth pointing out in leading boutiques in numerous Chinese cities. The second edition will be dedicated to Summer and will illustrate the trends of St. Tropez (France), St. Barth and another seaside town.

The next edition of SPINEXPO will be held at the recently renamed "Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center" (previously the Expo Theme Pavilion) from September 6th-8th, 2011, which will enable the exhibition area to be increasedby over 30% and accommodate an even greater number of exhibitors of all nationalities, selected for the quality and creativity of their products, on a single floor of reference.

This change of site will be the start of a new phase for a trade fair that never ceases to improve and develop to the satisfaction of visitors who are becoming increasingly important and whose numbers are ever-increasing.