by+Flora+Zhao

The Winter 2017 editions of Texworld USA and Apparel Sourcing USA opened their doors and show floors to exhibitors and visitors alike on Monday， January 23rd， 2017. Continuing through Wednesday， January 25th， and once again taking place at the Javits Convention Center in New York City， the colocated shows presented an assortment of international suppliers from around the globe who showcased textiles， trims and accessories， manufacturing and private label development services， as well as finished apparel.

Texworld USA Winter 2017 boasted over 225 exhibitors representing 12 countries and regions， including： Canada， USA， Colombia， India， United Kingdom， China， Hong Kong， Japan， and more. Turkey， Korea and Chinese Taiwan returned with dedicated country pavilions. The Lenzing Pavilion also returned to the show floor with 17 exhibitors focused on integrating sustainable fibers into a wide range of product categories. From cotton to functional fabrics and knits to lace， Lenzing Pavilion exhibitors showcased the best use of TENCEL？ and Lenzing Modal？.

Apparel Sourcing USA， a long-term joint venture partnership between Messe Frankfurt and CCPIT-TEX， presented 107 suppliers from 9 countries and regions including： China， Hong Kong， India， Myanmar， Taiwan， USA and Sri Lanka. In addition， Mexico and Peru represented western hermisphere sourcing options with 12 suppliers present on the show floor.

“Its no secret that consumer buying patterns are changing quickly and that the customer is looking for more value than ever when purchasing apparel.” said Jennifer Bacon， Show Director， Fashion & Apparel. “This is impacting brands and our buyers every day and we recognize that. This is why weve focused on curating a group of exhibitors that offer a great product at a great price. Ultimately， our buyers can visit other textile or apparel shows to network and get inspiration on trends， but Texworld USA is the show to find in-demand， on-trend fabrics at realistic and affordable prices. Were an order writing show， now more than ever.”

On the attendee side， Texworld USA and Apparel Sourcing USA Winter 2017 ultimately welcomed a record number of verified visitors across three days. The final attendance recorded showed a staggering 20% increase over the previously documented record for any winter edition in the shows 10 year history. Visitors represented a total of 54 countries and regions， including： USA， France， Australia， Canada， Japan， Brazil， India， Israel， Nigeria， Guatemala， Puerto Rico， Italy， Spain， Argentina， Taiwan， United Kingdom， Ukraine， and others.

“The Winter 2017 edition of Texworld USA and Apparel Sourcing USA has been a recordbreaker， both in terms of exhibitors presented and visitor attendance.” said Dennis Smith， President and CEO， Messe Frankfurt North America. “We knew that this edition would prove to be an important gauge for where the apparel market is headed and what weve seen is that a mood of cautious optimism is prevailing over all else. The apparel industry is far from standing still and were thrilled to be the industry sourcing event that buyers choose season after season.”

Texworld USA Seminar Series and new Texworld USA Floor Sessions hit the mark with attendees

As always， Texworld USAs complimentary educational sessions proved to be a big draw for attendees. Organized by Lenzing Innovation， the seminar series focused on industry hot topics like TPP and duty-free trade， color and fabric trends， digital printing， and the impact of the buy-now-wear-now trend.

The most popular seminars by attendance included Pantones color trend seminar titled “Muse： Colors to Inspire”， the WWD-moderated “Instant Fashion： How Has And Will The Move To In-Season， Buy-Now， Wear-Now Fashion Shows Impact The Textile And Sourcing Supply Chain？”， and “Fashion 101： Getting Back to the Basics of Starting a Fashion Line” with Mercedes Gonzales.

The January 2017 edition also saw the debut of Texworld USA Floor Sessions. This addition to the shows educational programming was designed to provide attendees at all levels of the industry with the opportunity to discuss topics of interest with their peers in a more intimate setting. The discussions tackled topics such as sustainability， growing an independent fashion brand， and future outlooks on the global textile industry. The three distinct series included “Performance Pitches”， organized by Texworld USA， “Textile Talks”organized by Lenzing Innovation， and “Independent Designer Discussions”， organized by StartUp FASHION.

“This was an excellent show and a great opportunity for the market to convene. I was impressed with the high attendance at all the seminars as there is a quest for knowledge and connecting to exchange information.” said Tricia Carey. “Our new ‘Textile Talks platform， with short interviews on the show floor， exceeded our expectations.”

New Texworld Showcase and SPOTLIGHT display areas highlight the best of exhibitor products and services

In a move to more comprehensively present the best of what can be found on the show floor， Texworld USA revamped the well-known trend forum for Winter 2017. The new Texworld Showcase placed a heavier emphasis on curating textiles across all 16 categories of products available and allowed visitors to get a wider view of exhibitor offerings for Spring/Summer 2018.

Additionally， a heavy focus was placed on the chosen theme of the season， functional fabrics and apparel， in a new dedicated area of the Apparel Sourcing USA show floor. The SPOTLIGHT display area highlighted some of the best functional fabrics from Texworld USA exhibitors， as well as active wear and performance apparel from Apparel Sourcing USA exhibitors. The SPOTLIGHT area will return to the show floor in July 2017， where attendees can explore a new theme for the Fall/Winter 2018 season.