Nearly 10,500 visitors braved the heat of Paris to attend Interfilière Paris, a leading international trade fair for lingerie and swimwear materials and accessories that took place from 4-6 July, exhibiting the vast choices from the best performing and innovative collections.

The exhibition hosted 71% foreign visitors, with UK being the most represented country, followed by Germany, Italy that has lost its second place, China, USA, Spain, Hong Kong, Netherlands, and Belgium. While Intimates and Beachwear brands were out in force in comparable numbers to last year, there was also a slight increase in ready-to-wear brands and independent designers.

The show welcomed 57 newcomers, compared to 33 in 2014. These included AEFFE (Italy), Britannia (Brazil), Legoplast (Italy), Alabert Guegain (France), Acundis (Switzerland), Sportwear Argentona (Spain), Antares (Italy), G.T.L. (Italy), Giemme (Italy), V.T.L. (Tunisia), Profectia Manufacturing (Romania), Onur Telstil (Turkey), Zinc Design (UK), Studio Eleven (USA), L’Atelier du dessin textile (France), and others.

Season’s first appointment

The show recorded the same number of visitors as in 2014. Overall feedback has been positive, even though the textile market remains tense, organisers report.

The new layout in Hall 1 was welcomed positively and boosted the dynamism of visits to the Interfilière Paris and Mode City shows. The flow of exhibitors from Mode City to Interfilière Paris also worked well.

“Our show results are far better than expected. Given the political and economic context, we might have feared a slightly subdued session. But the show was a perfect success for us. We saw all our key visitors who were mainly there to talk business,” commented Ria Stern, Hyosung, Creora.

Performance and innovation

“Clients are looking to stand out from the crowd and are mainly interested in the most technical and innovative products: knits featuring functional fibres with cooling properties, moisture regulation, quick-drying or stimulating,” said Fabio Cescon, Sales Director for Maglificio Ripa.

The two sectors, activewear and performance lingerie, were highlighted and developed this session, with considerable success, according to the show organisers. The conferences entitled Seductive, high-performance activewear and Innovative lingerie: Sport& Medical Focus offered these developing markets a powerful method of communication.

Strategic development

A highly sought-after market, half-way between sportswear and intimates, activewear is a strategic development for the future with its sights set on a 3 in 1 concept, offering technical functionality, combined with comfort and style.

“I was pleased to see the show had incorporated forums and conferences related to sports bras and sports bra innovation. Sports apparel, and specifically sports bras, are a growing market segment. The organisers of Interfilière recognise this and are evolving the show to visibly include this important product type,” said Laura Tempesta, Sports bras innovation Director at Nike.

New developments in fibres

Visitors were looking for new collections, with a main focus on new fibres. An explosion of colours, refined, floral and tropical motifs from textile designers was on display at the trade fair.

“Whether it’s for Europe or export, research into new products and innovation for future collections is driving growth more than ever before,” said Thierry Mamodaly, Managing Director of Nilit France. “I was able to establish contact with brands such as Lululemon, who travelled all the way from Canada for Interfilière.”

www.interfiliere.com