Searching for good fabrics in China

By Zhao Zihan

For the purpose to promote the interconnection between fashion designers and Shengze textile fabric clusters and enterprises， “100 Designers to Shengze” held in Shengze， Jiangsu Province on September 13th gathered hundreds of domestic brand designers from Beijing， Shanghai， Hangzhou， Guangzhou， Taiwan， Shenyang and Dalian to conduct matchmaking with 39 outstanding textile fabric companies in Shengze， and visited nearly 30 high-quality fabric stores.

Under the guidance of China National Textile and Apparel Council， the event was title sponsored by Jiangsu Wujiang China Eastern Silk Market Co.， Ltd.， and jointly sponsored by China Textile Information Center， China Textiles Development Center， and the Peoples Government of Shengze Town， Wujiang District， Suzhou City， Jiangsu Province. It was specially supported by China Fashion Association and China Eastern Silk Market Management Committee.

High-quality platform to help supply and demand interconnection

Lu Ziping， Deputy Director of China Eastern Silk Market Management Committee， said that the event relies on Shengze textile market to build a seamless matchmaking platform based on the needs of gathering and integrating textile and garment enterprises and designers to serve the whole industrial chain in Shengze， including fabrics， enterprises， brand companies and designers. It is hoped that the high-quality fabrics in Shengze can help designers inspiration sublimation， while Shengze textile enterprises can also draw on new design concepts to promote product transformation and upgrading.

Feng Qin， Executive Director and General Manager of Suzhou Shengze etex360 E-Commerce Co.， Ltd.， said that etex360 has initially formed a platform prototype based on the modern e-commerce platform， backed by a large local supplier cluster， and supported by supply chain services such as thermal power， logistics and finance in the future.

“This matchmaking event has gathered domestic high-quality brand designer resources and Shengze excellent textile enterprise resources， aiming to enhance the deep interaction between the upstream and downstream of the industry chain based on popular trends and markets by opening up and expanding effective and accurate matchmaking channels and dialogue platforms between supply and demand.” Liu Zhaoxiang， Director of the Industrial Cooperation Department of China Textile Information Center said when talking about the purpose of the event.

Special matchmaking effectively linked to professional supply and demand

In the special matchmaking meeting held in Shengze on September 13th， 39 excellent textile enterprises carefully selected and displayed more than 3，000 quality products， including fabrics and accessories for mens wear， womens wear， sports， and leisure， covering cotton， linen， silk， chemical fiber， etc.， rich in color and complete in technology.

Product ingredients， crafts， patterns， colors， quality， functions， applicable clothing styles， prices， order quantities， etc.， are the focus of brand designers. For this matchmaking meeting， the fabric companies combined with the brand designers demand for fabric category， design， color， craftsmanship， function， etc.， organized their own knock-out products.

Liao Xianghong， General Manager of Suzhou Xiangwo Textile Technology Co.， Ltd.， said that the activity cannot only effectively promote the fabrics of the company， but also allow more designers to re-learn Shengze fabrics. Especially in terms of functionality and finishing， Xiangwo is more technologically advanced， no longer the old textile in the traditional sense. It is hoped that such activities can be held continuously， providing an effective communication platform for enterprises and designers.

“At present， the requirements for functional fabrics are getting higher and higher on the market. It is necessary to be comfortable and environmentally friendly， and also has technological elements. For this reason， the companys reflective printing and magic printing fabrics are very popular in the market. For ex- ample， the magic printing fabrics can change a variety of patterns when meeting water.”

Jin Hongmei， General Manager of Suzhou Lingya Textile Co.， Ltd.， introduced to the designers that the memory fabrics and nylon fabrics exhibited by the company are suitable for outdoor sportswear such as down jackets and jackets. Especially the newly developed double seamless fabrics have strong stereo effect without any stitch pinholes thanks to the seamless manufacturing process. Mr. Lv from Suzhou Wujiang Tongzhou Textile Co.， Ltd. introduced that the company focuses on sports fabrics， mainly about fabrics for outdoor sportswear. The functions are mainly ventilation， sweat absorption， waterproof and protection. In recent years， it has gradually combined outdoor functions with fashion elements to create a comfortable and stylish texture. In addition， customization is also available according to the brand and designer.

An Da， a cross-border designer from Beijing， is mainly engaged in mens and womens wear under ceramic cultural derivatives. He said that this participation in the matchmaking meeting is to prepare for the spring and summer next year. The thin and emotional chiffon， yarn and satin are his favorites. Among them， Husheng Textiles monofilament jacquard fabrics and yarn-dyed damask series are deeply loved by him. Zhang Huan， also a designer from Beijing， is more about understanding the crafts of various fabrics， hoping to find suitable fabrics for the research and devel-opment of spring and summer collection next year.

Wang Qian， Manager of the Development Department of Wujiang Libo Textile Co.， Ltd.， said that the designers were very professional， and the fabrics of the company were welcomed by many designers. She was very satisfied with the event. According to her， Libo mainly develops printing， jacquard， polyester， chiffon and other fabrics， provides fabrics for mountaineering， sportswear， down jackets， etc.， and cooperates with H&M; and other fast fashion brands.

The thermal insulation fiber yarn of Shanghai Sheng Yi Cheng Textile Co.， Ltd. has aroused great interest among designers. Zhang Wei， the person in charge of sales， enthusiastically introduced that this kind of lining has a permanent anti-static function， which solves the distress of static electricity in autumn and winter clothes. This technology has won the national patent tag， and is favored by Japanese suits and jacket clothing companies. Most of the companys products use TORAYs special fiber， which is supplied to major brands in Europe， America and China. The sales volume is very promising. When the designer asked if he could meet the individual needs of the fashion design in terms of craftsmanship， Zhang Wei replied very quickly， and the designer immediately picked up several fabrics for sample.

Cao Yajuan， a menswear designer from Shanghai， has an independent menswear brand， Mujing. She said that most of her garments are mainly solid colors， and the special embroidery of Jiarui embroidery is combined with flat cloth to make the products more layered.

Visiting “Chinas No. 1 Cloth Market”

Shengze， the famous “Ancient Silk Town， Textile City， and Fabric Capital”， has more than 2，500 weaving companies with an annual output of 13 billion meters of fabrics （accessories）. China Eastern Silk Market Management Committee， which has the “Chinas No. 1 Cloth Market”， covers silk， fabrics （accessories）， decorative and home textile fabrics， industrial fabrics， textile raw materials， etc. The annual sales of the mar- ket exceeds 100 billion yuan for five consecutive years. For brand designers， this is undoubtedly a paradise for fabric procurement.

On the afternoon of September 13th， nearly a hundred of designers visited the Shengze Eastern Textile City and visited nearly 30 merchants in mens and womens wear. On the fourth floor， they came to the amethyst high-quality spot fabric supermarket to select fabrics. The supermarket has gathered thousands of varieties of cloth， which are not only of good quality， but also for one-stop service such as spot goods， full quality inspection， no minimum order quantity， same day delivery， greatly improving the efficiency of fabric procurement. In a small and exquisite fabric exhibition hall， the designers also expressed strong interest in this professional fabric spot platform. The one-stop textile supply chain including 4，000 square meters of standard warehouse， tens of thousands of specifications of various types of fabrics， professional quality testing services and online fabric spot platform and big data support， is a prominent advantage. In addition， the designers also visited the Shengze Eastern Silk Market Exhibition Hall to fully understand the development of the Shengze textile industry chain and the related policies and achievements of the China Eastern Silk Market Service Platform.

The “100 Designers to Shengze” jointly created by the national-level industry professional service platform and the industrial cluster public service platform not only strengthened the close connection between fabric companies and original designs based on fashion trends and market demands， but also promotes promoted the mutual benefit and collaborative innovation between the upstream and downstream of the industry chain， from “good fabrics” to “good design and good brands”. On September 14th， the organizers also organized designers to visit the benchmark enterprises of Shengze Industrial Cluster such as Dingsheng Silk， Fuhua， Haitai and Huajia.