Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles:An occasion for inspiration

by+Flora+Zhao

Seven country and region pavilions line up at Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles

Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles is the gateway to Asias home living market， ensuring suppliers from around the world are eager to take part to capture the huge business potential in the region. Among the over 1，200 exhibitors， seven country and region pavilions as well as four domestic regional pavilions are formed to maximize companies exposure to visitors. The international pavilions which include Belgium， India， Korea， Morocco， Pakistan， China Taiwan and Turkey will be bringing their specialized products to the show， while domestic pavilions composed of Haining， Shaoxing， Tongxiang and Yuhang will present even more fabric options to buyers.

The seven pavilions have been long-term participants at the fair. Indian exhibitors， for instance， are specialists in rugs， bath mats， throws， shawls， handloom carpet and handmade rugs predominantly made out of 100% cotton and also blended fibres. Korean companies at the fair specialize in fashionable microfiber fabrics， polyester blankets and curtain fabrics， and will also demonstrate a full range of machine-made natural dyed sewing products. Exhibitors in the Pakistan Pavilion excel at bedding products， and will feature bed sheets produced with 100% combed and carded cotton or bamboo cotton. Pakistani companies have also developed a reversible stitching technique for bed sheet sets that helps save water and electricity. The Taiwan Pavilion will showcase eco-friendly fabrics and yarn with features including anti-odour， anti-ultraviolet， black-out， fire-retardant and fireproof， water repellent and more.

The presence of non-Asian pavilions including Belgium， Morocco and Turkey further reveals exhibitors enthusiasm towards the Asian market and their recognition of Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles leading position in the region. The Belgian group excels at upgrading fabrics with backing， laminations and fire retardant properties， while pavilion members will also present quality fabrics which are widely applied on decorative pillows， lampshades and other hospitality upholstery. The Morocco Pavilion comes this year to display their uniquely designed fabrics with embroidery， geometric shapes and ornamenta- tion. And the Turkey Pavilion joins again with quality products including towels， bed sheets， curtain fabrics， bathrobes， furnishing articles， curtains， interior blinds， bed valances and upholstery fabrics with original designs and made with eco-friendly technologies.endprint

A full array of home textile products in featured product zones

The wide range of home textile products under featured product zones is one of the reasons the fair attracts buyers from around 100 countries. The show features a strong lineup of worldwide upholstery fabrics suppliers like Alhambra， CASAMANCE， Designers Guild， JAB Anstoetz， Mark Alexander， Prestigious Textiles and Zinc Textile in the Editors Zone， while other renowned brands such as Aico Home， Culp， D Décor， GM Syntex， Enzodegli Angiuoni， Haining Qianbaihui， Hexin， Huatex， Maya Fabric and Yuanzhicheng will be in the Upholstery Zone.

A variety of machine-made and handmade carpets from Afghanistan， China， India and Pakistan are also on offer. Among a large number of their quality compatriots， Chinese suppliers strive to impress customers by incorporating innovative materials into their carpets. Carpet producer COC Group uses advanced production technology to produce carpets made from various materials such as pure wool， acrylic wool， woolpolyester， polypropylene monofilament yarn and spun silk. In 2014， they were authorized by DuPont to apply Sorona fiber to their carpets. They will be promoting their new carpet collection with soft texture， durable color and dirt resistance properties in the fair.

Haima Carpet is another exhibitor who endeavor to satisfy clients by providing personalized products. Being one of the leading carpet manufacturers in China， Haima sells their carpets to more than 50 countries over five continents. Haima carpets are also installed in over 1，000 worldwide five stars hotels. This year， they will be featuring two major carpet collections including handmade New Zealand wool carpets and raw silk nylon carpet.

In response to the prevalence of the Smart Home concept in China， leading industry experts like Somfy， Shidian， Huatong， Nanhai Yongfeng and Xu Sheng will present their advanced sun protection system and electric curtains. Other fine product producers including wallcoverings and bedding & towelling can be found as well. Digital printing factories such as DIGITEX and MS Printing Solutions will also introduce their latest printing technology. Four domestic industry experts including Wuxi Pengda， All-Nice Coated Production （Suzhou）， Kunshan Caidu and Shanghai Twinjet will demonstrate the printing process onsite in the Digital Printing Micro Factory. Buyers can also source avant-garde and exclusive textile collections from global textile design studios in the Textile Design Zone.endprint

Digital printing solutions await buyers in the debut Digital Printing Micro Factory

The textile industry is one of the largest printing markets in the world， yet the majority of printing is still done in the traditional method. Given the advantages of digital printing including higher color definition， shorter design time and lower production cost， the industry is paying much more attention to this new technology in recent years， including in China. The growing Digital Printing Zone at this months Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles will consist of more exhibitors， a series of seminars and the debut Digital Printing Micro Factory to reflect this growing interest in the industry.

To facilitate visitors in learning about this emerging sector， the show will feature the Digital Printing Micro Factory for the first time， in which four of the leading domestic companies will participate to demonstrate the entire processing line from design software and printing machines to ink and final products. Being one of the leading Chinese large-format digital printing solutions providers， Twinjet Tech-nology Development Co.， Ltd. specializes in the production of digital textile printers. They have obtained support from famous brands like Dimatix and Ricoh to ensure the printing quality and stability. Also in the Micro Factory， Wuxi Pengda Science & Technology will present their latest separation style hot transfer printing machine and automatic flat hot transfer printing machine. Apart from machines， sublimation transfer paper is another essential element throughout the digital printing process. Transfer Innovative Material（Suzhou） Co.， Ltd. will showcase their highlighted transfer paper in which customers can simply print patterns on the coated paper and heat transfer to most kinds of fabrics. The last member， Kushan Caidu Digital Printing Co.， Ltd. will also illustrate their processing service in the Micro Factory.

In addition， fairgoers can gain insight from a series of Digital Printing Seminars on the first day of the show. Industry experts and leading manufacturers are invited to share and discuss the current status of the digital printing sector， its trends and technology developments， as well as digital printing design and applications.

Concurrent events to inspire the textile industry

The concurrent events make Intertextile Shanghai not just a sourcing platform， but an occasion for inspiration as well. The 2017 Andrew Martin International Interior Design Summit will be held on the first two show days in which nine experts from sectors of interior design， architecture and art will discuss the transformation of design in the new information era. There will also be a Home Furnishing Crossover Exhibition， where 40 designers and artists use furniture and installation art to illustrate new home living styles. Further to its success in holding a Design Challenge last year， the German fiber & yarn producer Trevira will come back to showcase their inherently flame retardant fabrics， and will invite visitors to create their own mood board with Trevira CS fabrics in a series of workshops.endprint

Four themes express the latest trends for 2018/19

Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles is regarded as an indicator of home textiles trends in China， not just for the latest styles to be found in exhibitors booths but also the trend forecast that is released every year. This year， China Home Textile Association， the Department of Home Textile Trend Research and Promotion， Concept & Style Fashion Project Group Italy have worked jointly to analyze the global and domestic market together with consumer behavior. From this， four themes were developed to express the 2018/19 Chinese home textiles trends：

Down To Earth： Inspired by nature and the desire to connect with it. The tension generated by the increasing pervasiveness of digital screens and their sterility， leads to research an earthy connection， with roots and experience in nature.

Connected Senses： The digital revolution began with the transformation and transposition of an increasing number of ‘real lifeactivities in expressible functions through digital entities.

No Borders： The multifaceted urban contest and the network are changing the way we perceive communities， identities and the way we pass a cultural substance.

Re-Thinker： We are in a period of transition， we eliminate the excesses to come to the lightness of being. We discover again the value of timeless classics which are reinvented for the future.

To provide visitors with more concrete ideas on the trend concept so as to encourage companies to develop new products with innovative design， the show will select products from exhibitors which resonate with the four trend themes to be presented in the Trend Area.endprint