UKFT returned to Intertextile Shanghai for the first time since 2019, supporting 12 UK companies exhibiting at the show through their agents, as well as showcasing fabrics and samples from a further 21 companies.

Intertextile Shanghai is the largest fabric and yarn exhibition in the world. Organised by Messe Frankfurt, it attracts buyers from all over China but there are also visitors from Asia and Oceania including Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The show is vast, regularly receiving over 90,000 visitors per season. Most of the stands at the show represent Chinese companies but Hall 5.1 was home to the Salon Europe for premium European and international suppliers including sizeable pavilions from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Centrally located in Salon Europe was the Milano Unica pavilion with 40 premium Italian textile manufacturers. Nearby was the smaller UK pavilion, alongside which was located the UKFT stand.

The British companies exhibiting at the show included Fairbairn & Wolf Studio, Harris Tweed Hebrides, Intertek Group, Kenneth Mackenzie, Linton Tweeds, Mallalieus, Marton Mills, Moon, OMC/John Greenish, Scabal, Schofield & Smith and WGSN. In most cases this season, the UK companies’ stands were manned by Chinese agents. While this had the benefit of ensuring seamless communication with Chinese customers, it also potentially gave rise to concerns that UK companies might not always understand exactly how they were being promoted and sold in the market.

UKFT produced a handout in English and Mandarin to ensure that buyers could visit those companies who were present at the show on their own stands or ask UKFT to connect them with those companies which had provided textile swatches and bundles to UKFT in advance, but which were not at the show. The stand design and layout were inspired by UKFT’s textile stands at Milano Unica and Première Vision with UKFT’s film playing throughout. Also on the stand was a representative from British Wool who supported UKFT and the mills throughout the show.

UKFT attended the official opening ceremony and the Gala dinner to mark the 30^th anniversary of the show, where UKFT was presented with an Outstanding Contribution Award on behalf of the industry. UKFT also met with a number of industry associations including the China National Garment Association and the Taiwan Textile Federation.

On Wednesday 28 August, UKFT’s International Business Director Paul Alger MBE and UKFT Executive Dan Connolly were invited to an event hosted by Huddersfield Fine Worsteds and the British Consul General at the British Consulate residence in Shanghai. Attending the event were Matt Burney, HM Consul General Shanghai, Bob McAuley, President of HMS International Fabrics, Sohail Shaikh, Deputy HM Trade Commissioner to China and 40 of the most prestigious tailors and retailers in China, including Dan Wang- CEO of Greyhound Fashion China.

While UK fashion and textile companies often view the Chinese market with trepidation, especially as many companies have not travelled to the market since before the pandemic, it is also a key target market for textile products. China still has the lion’s share of the world’s apparel manufacturing, but the market is open to quality imported fabrics and innovative print design. It is for this reason that textile companies continue to be prepared to invest in China as a market earlier than fashion brands and designers.

Intertextile’s central position as the world’s largest textile and yarn show is proof that Asia plays an increasingly important role and that China is determined to play a central part in production in China and the rest of Asia, through its Belt and Road Initiative and the many factories China has invested in outside its borders especially in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. If any proof of this was needed, one had only to look at the non-European halls of the show where there was a huge array of innovative and sustainable (by the Asian definition) textiles on far larger and more impressive stands than those in the European hall. Similarly at nearby CHIC, the China International Clothing Fair, all the exhibitors were Asian, all had collections to show, most were unheard of in the West, but the designs were strong, and the products were manufactured to a high quality at price points not possible outside Asia.

Collectively, the three shows (Intertextile, Yarn Expo and CHIC) make up a hugely impressive vertical trade fair for the industry and paint an interesting picture for the future of the yarn, textile and fashion industry and China’s increasingly important global role in it.

Overall, business at Intertextile was very positive. Chinese and other Asian buyers were out in force and were looking at new collections. There were large numbers of visitors on the stands of all the British companies throughout the show. There was a lot of interest on the UKFT stand in some of the heritage British textiles on display. Following the success of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Dior Cruise 2025 runway show, the popularity of tartans and tweeds has been a key theme of UKFT’s textile export activity, and this was repeated at Intertextile Shanghai including tartans from Lochcarron and Macnaughton.

As in every show, sustainability was very much in evidence at the show. Most of the Chinese products were heavily focused on sustainability and technical innovation, putting many of their competitors in the shade. However, the Asian definition of sustainability does not look at ethical supply chains in the same way they do in the West, and this is still an area where Europe and the UK have an essential role to play. China  has been investing in factories outside China to prepare for an eventuality where, for instance, Chinese products might not be allowed into markets like the US because of human rights issues in Xinjiang or because of a trade war. As always, China looks to the very long term and has prepared for this scenario and is ready. We believe it remains important for UK business to remain engaged with China, despite the differences between our countries, because it is now impossible to think about a future of the industry without a major role for Chinese companies and consumers.

Before the event, UKFT had been concerned about the appetite for UK textiles in China, but there was genuine interest in connecting with UK textile producers. It’s also notable that more buyers from outside China attended, with many of the best conversations being with high-quality buyers from places like Australia and Singapore.

UKFT took advantage of the trip to China to visit Hong Kong and Macao and had a series of positive meetings with the British Consulate in Hong Kong, who are keen to help UK companies to enter Hong Kong and Macau and Greater China. Hong Kong was buzzing with international tourists, visiting the island’s luxury shows and shopping malls including Lane Crawford (where UKFT saw many of its regular exhibitors featured), IFC, Pacific Place and Harbour City. Interestingly, Lane Crawford Department Store and Pitti Immagine in Florence have announced that Pitti Immagine will curate spaces in Lane Crawford and showcase British brands such as Tateossian, Fox Umbrellas, Sunspel, John Smedley and Elliker. The luxury retailer will then act as a guest curator for this show in 2025.

UKFT also met with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, long-standing UKFT partners for Asian and Chinese sourcing and logistics. UKFT hopes that these conversations could lead to a research and contact building mission to Hong Kong and Macao in 2025.

Looking back to the textile industry, UKFT hopes to be able to return to Intertextile Shanghai in August 2025 (the next edition is in March 2025) and intends to visit Messe Frankfurt’s new VIATT textile show in Vietnam in February 2025 in which many UK textile companies have expressed an interest.

As the Chinese and Asian markets continue to grow and take market share for textile production and sales, Intertextile is a key show for UK companies to visit and show at and these markets cannot be ignored by UK companies as they are very much part of the future of the industry.

Companies looking to speak with the show organisers about participating in future can email: jane.matthews@uk.messefrankfurt.com or speak with Dan Connolly or Paul Alger at UKFT.

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