The London Textile Fair: Bringing fashion forward

While global meltdown has affected each and every business, there seems to be a shimmer of hope for the fashion industry. The annual London Textile Fair offered enough evidence to prove this theory. This two-day affair, held in the iconic Royal Horticultural Halls in Central London, began on Wednesday after much anticipation.

Hailed as one of the most prestigious textile shows in the UK, the aim of the event is to showcase pre-collections and updates for the current season, as well predict up-and-coming trends. With a great array of collections from some of the most influential textile mills in the world, the road show displayed pre-collections for Spring/Summer 2013, as well as winter highlights.

The fair included around 120 participants and amongst these were mills from Italy, Turkey, Spain, France, and Portugal, as well Japan and India.  An array of products – fabrics, trimmings, sourcing, private label collections and textile designers – were exhibited with the aim of attracting central purchasing departments and chain stores, as well as creative independent labels. “Though the turnout of buyers has not been as much as expected, this is nevertheless a good platform for independent designers and suppliers to interact, as well as introduce one to potential buyers,” said Li Chun Yin, director of UK-based East & Silk International Ltd.

By the look of many of the stalls, prints (especially digital prints) as well as bursts of colour seem to be the trends to look out for in the coming year. Nicolay Philmann of London-based trend analysis company, Trendstop, said, “If runway trends and high street is anything to go by, then prints will be the key trend to look for in Summer/Spring 2013. Even colours will be a signature trend for both summer and winter.”

The increasing footfall did a lot to cheer the exhibitors as the day went by. “I came straight to this exhibition after a long flight from India but I am really glad to be here,” said Vedika Goenka from Apsara Mills, India. “We have been getting great number of queries about our designs, though we don’t know how much will translate into actual sales, it’s nevertheless a good platform to know what buyers actually want and learn from various mills around the world.”

The exhibition also saw several repeat participants. “I have come here couple of times in the past and it’s always a pleasure because the place is one platform to get noticed easily, as well get to know about the industry trends,” said Jane Watson, accessory designer from UK-based Ri-Ri Zips.

The buoyant response of many participants was testimony to the fact that, recession or not, fashion is here to enjoy some more proud moments.

Dhanya Nair

Photos: Sara Reverberi