Chinese fashion’s summer trip to Milan

By Zhao Zihan

On the afternoon of July 12th local time， “The Silk Road · Milan”Fabrics China Creation Show and Matchmaking Meeting for Italian Fashion Brands was held in Milan， Italy， the capital of fashion art. Under the guidance of China National Textile and Apparel Council， the event was hosted by China Textile Information Center and China Textiles Development Center.

Five FCPP （Fabrics China Pioneer Plant） enterprises， including High Fashion Silk （Zhejiang） Co.， Ltd.， Haixing Kaisheng Technology Co.， Ltd.， Hunan Huasheng Group Co.， Ltd.， Long Run Textile Co.，Ltd.， Shanghai Naturalism Biological Technology Co.， Ltd.， and seven shortlisted companies for Fabrics China， including Guangzhou Meibelia Textile Co.， Ltd.， Hangzhou Southeast Woolen Dyeing and Finishing Co.， Ltd.， Maidilang Group Co.， Ltd.， Quanshun Group Co.， Ltd.， Suzhou Taiyi Knitting Technology Co.， Ltd.， Yishui Hengtai Fangyuan Co.， Ltd.， and Shaoxing Yonson Industry & Trade Co.， Ltd.， brought the latest fabric products to Milan， conducting face-to-face and zero-distance interaction at the matchmaking meeting with more than 20 fashion brands and fabric buyers from Italy， such as RICCARDORAMISTUDIO， HIGH FASHION EUROPE， EUROPEAN FABRICS TRADER， BENETTON， PATRIZIA PEPE， SISLEY， INSETA GROUP， SAGAL SRL， ITAOCHU ITALIANA， GENERTEC ITALIA， MARONETEXTILE and MY WAY INTERNATIONAL.

Building a smooth channel to connect the global market

It is introduced that it is the second time for “The Silk Road · Milan”Fabrics China Creation Show and Matchmaking Meeting for Italian Fashion Brands to come to Milan. “Building a smooth channel for Chinas textile quality resources to connect with the global market， promoting excellent Chinese textile fabric brands， advancing the sharing of industry chains to create fashion and innovative design achievements， and promoting the positive interaction and long-term cooperation between Chinese and foreign textiles， is the reason and purpose for the carefully and continuously prepared event.” Li Bo， Deputy Director of China Textile Information Center， said at the meeting.

Li Bo also introduced that this event is part of the“Fabrics China” series of activities. “Fabrics China” is an industry-wide product development system project organized and implemented by China Textile Information Center and China Textiles Development Center under the guidance of China National Textile and Apparel Council. Guided by fashion trends， based on scientific and technological innovation， and focused on product development and cooperation system that promotes integrated innovation of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain and realizes the integration of industrial chain value， “Fabrics China”promotes the textile industry to comprehensively enhances product competitiveness， quality competitiveness， responsible competitiveness and sustainable development competitiveness， through quality management system and social responsibility management system.

Mario Boselli， Honorary Chairman of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion， said in his speech that Milan is Europes high-end ready-to-wear capital and an important producer of high-end fabrics. The Italian fabric and apparel fashion industry has a pivotal position in Italy with a turnover of more than 87 billion euros. The selection of Milan as a strategic cooperation base by China Textile Information Center is a right choice with positive significance. In the world influence of the Italian fashion industry system （fabric - clothing - fashion）， the influence of the fabric industry on fashion positioning is crucial. The Italian fashion world is home to many world-renowned fashion designers whose success is inseparable from the outstanding application of high-end fabrics. Judging from the products exhibited by Chinese textile fabric companies today， Chinas fabrics have made significant progress. There is reason to believe that the success of Chinas high-end fabric industry indicates that Chinas fashion industry will have a bright future.

At the meeting， Cao Xiaowen， Senior Trend Researcher of the Trends Department of China Textile Information Center， explained the Fabrics China Trend A/W 2019/20 for Italian fashion brands.

Professional supply linked with efficient purchasing

During this matchmaking meeting， the Italian fashion brands and fabric buyers and Chinas high-quality fabric companies got together to seek product development design concepts and exchange dual demands for international procurement and supply. The activity aims to build a professional and peer-to-peer communication platform and cooperation bridge between Chinese and foreign textile and garment enterprises， promote Chinese design and Chinese fashion to meet the global market， meet the international market demand for Chinese fabric personality development and efficient procurement， and realize the deep connection between inter- national clothing brands and Chinese textile enterprises to further promote the positive interaction between the fashion textile industry of the two countries.

At the matchmaking meeting， representatives of 12 outstanding Chinese textile fabric companies gave a detailed introduction to the categories， characteristics and advantages of their main products and on-site exhibits. On the spot， more than 1，000 high-quality fabrics were displayed， covering various categories such as cotton， wool， ramie， silk， and knitting.

For this matchmaking meeting， Chinese fabric companies specially prepared matched new high-quality fabrics， combined with the style of Italian fashion brands and their demand for fabric categories， design， color， craftsmanship， functions， etc. High Fashion Silk（Zhejiang） Co.， Ltd. From FCPP-Silk Textiles brought silk and mixed silk fabrics. The company specializes in stretch silk， heavy crepe， wide-width （280 cm） digital jacquard fabric and printed fabric， machinewashable home textile products， silk ties， silk scarves， silk garments， and silk craft gifts. Haixing Kaisheng Technology Co.， Ltd. from FCPP-Bio-based Synthetic Fibers mainly focuses on bio-based synthetic fiber， including Sustans？ for apparel fabric， Sustans？ insulation， and Sustans？ foam alternative. Hunan Huasheng Group Co.， Ltd. from FCPP-Ramie Textiles brought ramie and blended products， mainly engaged in hemp and related blended yarns， blended fabric and garments， mixed ramie casual fabric and garments. Long Run Textile Co.， Ltd. from FCPP-New Fiber-based Yarn brought the siro-compact-spun yarns and colored spun yarns， focusing on Run-Natural （cotton， linen， wool/cashmere， silk）， Run-Ecological （LENZING Modal？ （1.3D）/Micro Modal？ （0.9D）/Micro Modal Air？ （0.7D）， Tencel？ A100/G100/LF， LENZINGTM ECOVEROTM）， Run-Cool （polyester yarns with moisture absorption and wicking performance）， Run-Warm（acrylic yarns）， Run-Healthy （comfortable & skincareful yarns）， Run-Charming （solution-dyed yarns， slubby yarn， nep yarns）. Shanghai Naturalism Biological Technology Co.， Ltd. from FCPP-Vegetable Dyed Textiles brought natural dyes and related technology and products， mainly focusing on natural dyes， natural dyed fabric， natural dyed garments， and technology of natural dyes. Shaoxing Yonson Industry & Trade Co.， Ltd. is a professional supplier of high-end womens fashion fabric， mainly engaged in dyed and printed fabric of fashion womenswear， digital printed fabric， cotton/nylon casual fabric， and knitted fabric made of high-twist ITY or high-twist viscose. The extensive procurement resources provide a wide range of choices for Italian fashion brands and fabric buyers.

Chinese fashion textiles leap into the global perspective

The pattern design， production process and raw material texture of the fabric can reflect the comprehensive strength of the fabric enterprises. Can we find the balance point in the wearing and innovation research and development to meet the design and procurement needs of the garment brands？ It is a test of its own competitiveness. “It not only meets the mainstream consumer demand of market consumers， but also gives the brand a lot of product design space. This is the product we need. There is a big difference between the European market and the Chinese market in fabric material， color， fashion trends， consumer aesthetic taste， etc. However， the speed at which Chinese companies are pursuing new and high-end fabrics and new elements is also accelerating and the quality is getting higher and higher， which attracts us to pay attention to the design wisdom from the East.” Said a person in charge of an Italian apparel brand.

The participating fabric companies said that through the matchmaking， Italian fashion brands can fully understand the new materials， new features and new values of Chinas high-quality fabrics. At the same time， Chinese textile companies can also fully demonstrate the brand strength， listen to the forward-looking opinions and promotion suggestions of international brands on fabric product innovation， further deepen the understanding of Italian fashion brand demand and international market， and help enterprises to target in the future product development and innovation.

“Chinas textile industry has developed rapidly in recent years. Many fabric companies are constantly carrying out equipment innovation， technology upgrading， and vigorous originality. Meanwhile， they are actively‘going global to lay out the global market. The upstream and downstream of the industry chain are mirrors to each other. At the matchmaking， we can see the efforts and improvement of Chinese textile companies. We can also see the demand for direct feedback from international brands on behalf of the downstream market and the highly improved evaluation of Chinese textile fabric suppliers，” said the responsible person of the event organizer.

2018 marks the 40th anniversary of Chinas reform and opening up， and Chinas textile industry has gradually changed from big to strong. Over the past 40 years， Chinas textile leading enterprises have continued to rise and develop， constantly sending out strong Chinese voices to the world， and playing an increasingly important role in the global textile arena. “Now， Chinas textile industry has entered a new era of high-quality development. We， together with excellent Chinese textile fabric enterprises， look forward to linking and integrating the raw materials， design and development resources， brand resources and market channel resources of the upstream and downstream of the global textile industrial chain through more high-end， high-quality and effective international exchange and cooperation platforms， which will jointly promote Chinas manufacturing， Chinese design and Chinese fashion to all fashion gathering places in the world， and advance the layout of Chinas fashion textiles.” Li Bo said.

In addition to the exchange of Chinese and Italian companies， in the morning， Ms. Ornella Bignami， the former Chairman of the International Commission for Color in Fashion and Textiles and the Founder of ELEMENTI MODA， illustrated the latest trends in textile fabrics. Mr. Federico Boselli， Founder of Italian high-end fabric brand Luxury Jersey， shared his experience in the development of Italian high-end textile fabric brands.