The 16th session of SPINEXPO Shanghai, held at the Shanghai Pudong Expo Centre on 7-9 September 2010, showcased the Autumn/Winter 2011/12 collections of 165 textile mills and textile fibre manufacturers/promoters. The show confirmed its importance with visitors from outside China increasing to 48% of the total.

SpinExpo Shanghai welcomed 7,975 visitors, a stable figure compared to previous years. With 13,990 multi-visits (re-entries) compared to 9,618 in September 2009, SPINEXPO ended on a note of general satisfaction - unexpected given the economic outlook and the general increase in the price of raw materials.

There was also a significant increase in the number of visitors from Europe and South America, plus a steady increase in the number of visitors from the United States. The number of visitors from Japan remains stable - and this country appears to have survived its difficulties and regained its purchasing power.

Trend forums

The creative atmosphere was established by an inspiring trend forum, coordinated by design studio Sophie Steller, where SPINEXPO’s trends for Autumn/Winter 2011-12 included four ‘Passages of Time” using extremely diverse and interesting yarns provided by exhibiting companies.: Time to Play, combining colourful sportswear concepts with technical aspects; Time to Explore, a multi-cultural mix of handicrafts, artistic embellishments and chunky textures in vibrant colourways; Time to Shine, a modern take on vintage luxury in deep, mysterious shades, plush textures, lace looks and burnished metallics; and Time to Escape, a fantasy of discreet luxury, warm and delicate textures and soft shimmer.

New area for circular knitting

The trend forum continues to improve with new ideas and - in addition to the developments in knitwear and weaving corresponding with the trade fair's four trend themes - a new area dedicated to circular knitting, created around inspiration drawn from active sports, illustrated a selection of exhibitors' yarns in a radically different way. This ''yarn-to-garment' project is the first of its kind to be showcased at a textile trade fair.

Cutting-edge catwalks took place under a marquee: knitwear created using the new technology by Santoni Italy in association with stylist Giovanni Cavagna and Lenzing (Hong Kong) presenting seamless, denim, work wear and sportswear; the collections imagined by Nottingham Trent University (UK) and Hong Kong Polytechnic University sponsored by SpinExpo, who also displayed the work of their students in the trend area.

A programme of seminars featured a presentation of the trends and new creations from Australian Wool Innovation.Thai Acrylic and South Africa Mohair exhibited their latest fibre innovations, and StyleSight and WGSN enjoyed a full house for their Knitwear 2011 trends showcase.