With online sourcing options supplementing the in-person fair, buyers from around the world are gearing up to source from a wide range of domestic and international home and contract textile exhibitors at this week’s Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles. Running from 9 – 11 October in four halls of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), this year the fair is held alongside Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, Yarn Expo Autumn, PH Value and CHIC.
The fair will take place in halls 5.1, 5.2, 6.1 and 6.2 with product categories covering the entire home and contract textile spectrum. In addition to the Belgium Pavilion, a number of product zones will feature at the fair including:
• Carpet zone: featuring renowned domestic and international providers of carpets and floor coverings.
• Editor zone: offering high-quality upholstery fabrics from prominent European manufacturers.
• Finished product zone: international suppliers will showcase their latest finished goods for a variety of applications.
• Textile design zone: leading design studios will exhibit their creative ideas and products for all areas of the interior markets.
• Textile technology zone: presenting cutting-edge textile technologies which can achieve flexibility, efficiency and sustainability.
• Contract business: leading suppliers will offer a vast portfolio of functional fabrics catering to different interior settings such as hotels, restaurants and public spaces.
• Cross-border e-commerce zone: this new zone features e-commerce platforms, warehousing and distribution providers, electronic payment companies and other service providers related to e-commerce. A seminar programme will also take place as part of the zone, allowing exhibitors to learn more about the new channels on offer and giving them knowledge on retail sales in overseas markets.
Online Business Matching platform caters to overseas buyers
The Online Business Matching platform ensures buyers can still engage in business activities with the fair’s exhibitors even if they can’t travel to Shanghai. Livestream presentations specific to product categories will be conducted each day of the fair, with online buyers able to communicate dynamically with the exhibitors, or follow up with them after the fair. An online matching programme will also be offered again, with buyers able to arrange virtual meetings with their desired exhibitors during and after the fair.
Fringe programme highlights
The fair’s fringe programme is split into four categories, each featuring a range of conferences, seminars and presentations: Design Inspiration, Business O2O (online to offline), Textiles & Technologies and Industry Empowerment. Highlighted events include:
• Design Talk: a series of presentations will take place from leading international designers, including from China, Japan and Europe, to share their design insights.
• New Voices of Top Youth Upholstery Designers – Intertextile Upholstery Design and City Roving Exhibition: this new concept features the work of six young local designers from across China who will showcase the interior design ideas of their generation through displays and a forum.
• Business O2O: with e-commerce becoming increasingly important for the industry, a number of seminars will be hosted by the likes of JD Home, AliExpress, Tmall and others.
• Textiles & Technologies: sustainability is a big focus of this category, with presentations from Kornit Digital, TESTEX and more.
• How Sustainable Fashion is Reshaping Lifestyles: sustainable development has become an even more important issue for the textile industry in recent times. As such, the fair has partnered with Donghua University to present a half-day forum to shed light on how sustainable fashion is reshaping lifestyles, with speakers from WTiN, Shanghai Fashion Week, Cathay Biotech, Coloro, Design Innovation Institute Shanghai, Sunvim, Remakehub and HowBottle.
