by+Wei+Wei

The 21st Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Autumn Edition （26 –28 August 2015） opened on Wednesday with a record number of companies confirmed to take part. Asias premier trade fair for home textiles and accessories featured over 1，400 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions， and was held for the first time at the brand-new National Exhibition and Convention Center， Shanghai.

In recent years， the fair has expanded to cover the entire home textile product spectrum， including upholstery fabrics， bedding & toweling， carpets & rugs， wallcoverings， design artwork， digital printing， sun protection systems， nontextile curtain accessories and more. The extra space in the new venue allowed exhibitors to be grouped together more effectively to make the sourcing process more efficient for buyers. All overseas exhibitors and sun protection systems and non-textile curtain accessories suppliers were in the International Hall （hall 7.2）， while domestic upholstery suppliers were located in halls 5.1， 5.2， 6.1， 6.2 and the West Hall， and bedding & toweling in hall 7.1.

Premium exhibitors from 30 countries & regions to feature

The fair is always regarded as Asias leading trade fair， particularly for its offerings of premium products from overseas， in addition to the wide range of price and quality options provided by Chinese suppliers. The premium offerings were most evident in the Exquisite Europe zone （hall 7.2） which features exhibitors from 12 countries. This included editor brands such as Casadeco， Designers Guild， JAB， Jean Paul Gaultier and Prestigious， bedding and towelling exhibitors including Curt Bauer， Mundotextil and Traumina， and upholstery fabrics suppliers Fiorete and Trevira. Exquisite Europe included pavilions from Belgium and Italy， while other pavilions from India， Korea， Morocco， Pakistan， Taiwan and Turkey also featured in the International Hall.

Product zones in this hall included upholstery fabrics， bedding & toweling， carpets & rugs etc.， and for the first time a Whole-Home Style zone featuring exhibitors with multiple products displayed in a real-home setting. In addition， the Intertextile Design Boutique showcases original serviced designs and artwork， while the debut digital printing area featured suppliers from this increasingly popular sector of the industry.

Buyers on the lookout for original service designs and artwork for fabric and product development had a wide range of choice in the Intertextile Design Boutique. Design studios participating included Antoinette et Freddy， Diane Harrison， Elka Studio and Simon Ashby Studios. A carpet & rug zone also returned to the fair again as suppliers from Asia and the Middle East looked to take advantage of the increasing interest in these products from Chinese consumers. And for the first

time， a digital printing zone showcased digital printing applications for the home textiles industry in this increasingly popular field， plus a debut Whole-Home Style zone featured exhibitors with multiple products displayed in a real-home setting.

Domestic suppliers offered buyers full home textile product spectrum

A strong feature of this years fair was the wide range of Chinese exhibitors taking part， which had been grouped by region and product category to ensure sourcing efficiency for buyers. This included the Emerging Players Hall （West hall） featuring new companies， the Glamorous Brands Hall （hall 5.1） showcasing branded decorative fabrics and the Home Experience Hall （hall 7.1） which highlighted Chinese fabric trends， and also included regional pavilions from Binzhou， Gaoyang， Guangzhou， Huzhou， Nantong（including Haimen and Tongzhou）， Pujiang， Zhenze and Zhouquan. In total， 13 regional pavilions feature， with the biggest ones being the Colourful Haining Hall （hall 5.2）， the Fashionable Yuhang Hall （hall 6.1） and the Premium Two-City Hall （hall 6.2） featuring the Tongxiang and Shaoxing Pavilions.

To better meet the needs of the industry this years fringe program has been revamped， with a new name for the design and trend section： InterDesign. Included in this were the Intertextile International Lifestyle Trend Area featuring the 2016 trends， the ‘DREAM UP！ 8x8 Intertextile Trend Concept Show which partnered Chinas leading designers with the industrys preeminent brands， while the Forum Space was where trendsetters and designers exchanged their expert views.

Industrys leading experts to conduct seminars

Buyers looking for design and trend inspiration and ideas， or the latest market updates， could find them in the revamped fringe program. This years InterDesign trend program was the fairs most comprehensive offering yet， including the International Lifestyle Trend Area featuring the 2016 trends， the Trend Concept Show where eight of Chinas leading designers have been matched with leading brands to bring these trends to life， while the Forum Space was where trendsetters and designers exchanged their expert views. All of this was in the InterDesign area in hall 7.2， while a full schedule of concurrent events was available on the fairs website.

In addition， seminars on market information and testing & certifications also took place. This included a presentation on the global and US home textiles markets by industry expert Warren Shoulberg， Publisher / Editorial Director of Home & Textiles Today from the US， and a seminar conducted by Olivier Ammann， Head of Business Development and Charles Nie， Head of Sales from Hohenstein Textile Testing on International Test Standards for Textiles.