California Apparel News

Textile trade show Material World Miami Beach is set to bow with an eye to the future at its Oct. 7–9 run at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

The 3-year-old show will host a pre-show conference to help apparel and textile firms prepare for the elimination of quotas in 2005 and the anticipated impact of duty-free imports from China on the domestic market.

The Oct. 6 conference, titled “How to Position Your Company Now for 2005,” will cover such topics as how merchandising timetables will be affected by the elimination of quotas, what will happen to domestic production, what product will continue to be produced in the U.S., how to finance a company with longer lead times, the legal issues of producing offshore, whether or not the strength of the euro will impact Chinese exports to the U.S., where and how to staff a company with offshore business, and whether or not joint ventures and overseas ownership will be more prevalent after 2005.

Also on the agenda for Material World is an increased international presence. The Atlanta-based trade show had originally chosen Miami Beach as the site for its textile and apparel sourcing show to position itself as the gateway to Latin America, but now the focus has broadened.

“Our direction is clearly global,” said Tim von Gal, executive vice president of Urban Expositions, organizer of the show. “If we’re going to be of most use to sourcing managers here domestically and throughout the Americas, we need to have a bona fide global scope in our presentation. Therefore, in addition to the Caribbean and Latin American countries that are very well-represented at Material World, we will also see individual presentations [from] outside of the Americas, including Africa, Europe and parts of Asia.”

Indeed, the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) recently signed on as an exhibitor in the show. The CCA will be looking for companies interested in taking advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides trade incentives for goods produced in sub-Saharan countries using U.S. materials. AGOA was enacted last year in conjunction with the Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership-Development Act (CBTPA), which was created to foster trade between the U.S. and Caribbean basin countries. The CCA will bring a delegation of 10 apparel and accessories executives to the show to meet with U.S. representatives looking for sourcing partners in Africa.

More Shows, More Technology

Material World is both an apparel production sourcing and a textile sourcing show, although beginning next year, the show will expand its technology offerings.

“On the attendee side, our two major categories are fabric purchasers and sourcing personnel from both private-label retailers and branded apparel companies— that’s very evenly split in terms of the way we direct our attention and our efforts,” von Gal said, adding, “The technology personnel [and] the whole IT aspect of both branded apparel companies and private-label retailers also has become a growing and important part of our reach as well.”

The technology spotlight is timed to prepare Material World attendees for 2004, when the American Apparel and Footwear Association will host a sister show spotlighting technology, machinery and equipment for the sewn products industry.

Trade shows Bobbin and the Sewn Products Expo have also announced plans to host shows at the same time.

And Material World will become a biannual event beginning in 2003, when Urban Expositions adds a spring show, which will also be held in Miami Beach. At one point, organizers considered hosting a second show in another location. A New York show was originally planned for last year, and many in the industry speculated that Los Angeles might be a possible location for a Material World show. But von Gal said the show is committed to its current location both because it’s a central location between North, South and Central America and because it’s a convenient venue.

“It has worked out extremely well not only because of all that activity throughout the Americas, but also it’s been a very well-received destination from both U.S. domestic attendees and exhibitors and international [attendees],” he said.