California Apparel News

NEW YORK—Texworld USA opened with bustling aisles that included buyers from many big retailers, brands and catalogs—including Nordstrom, Macy’s, Chico’s, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, C&C California and Garnet Hill. But the mood on the show floor was mixed, with some exhibitors reporting a definite uptick in business over last year, while others said buyers are placing cautious, price-conscious orders.

Texworld’s mix included textile suppliers, garment manufacturers and home décor resources showing in three shows under the Texworld USA umbrella—Texworld, the International Apparel Sourcing Show and the Home Textile Sourcing Expo—at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center during the show’s July 24–26 run.

The news was good for Los Angeles–based Ecotex, according to Chief Executive Officer Raphael Javaheri.

“Business has definitely been up so far this year,” he said. Javaheri was showing at Texworld to connect with Ecotex’s East Coast clientele. “We have some clients in New York who want to see more of us. In this business, you have to be in your customer’s face. Every day it’s a lot of face time.”

To stave off competition from Chinese vendors, Javaheri said, he’s adding more value-added fabrics to his offerings, including Bembergs, Cupro nylons, Tencel fabrics, Modal yarn dyes, and novelty denims, including pigment prints and neon-weft fabrications. In addition, he’s importing more goods from Turkey and Japan.

Monterey Park, Calif.–based novelty trim supplier Mako Inc./Ria Design was seeing a steady turnout of buyers at its booth, but company representative Kristiana Tho said business this year is still slower “compared to a few years ago.” Tho said her company has several big accounts on the East Coast, but compared with recent years many are asking for sharper prices and faster deliveries. “But they want the quality,” she said.

John Gallagher, Texworld USA president and chief executive officer, acknowledged a “sense of unease” in the economic outlook overall, but he was nonetheless pleased with the turnout at the show—and the resiliency of the U.S. market.

“When the market fluctuates, it scares people and you feel a little ripple in the market,” he said. “But people feel positive about the U.S. in terms of our ability to bounce back.”

Brazilian textile giant Rosset Group was showing at the show for the first time, in a booth manned by Tex-Ex Export Co. Inc., the Marlboro, N.J.–based company that has represented the company for more than 12 years.

Although Rosset is well-known in the swim, lingerie and active market, Jenny Venouziou, Tex-Ex Export vice president, said the company opted to show at Texworld “to revitalize the presence of Rosset mill in the market.” She said, “It’s time to be at the show. So far, we’ve had a good response.”

For some exhibitors, Texworld started off slow, but Warren Zaretsky, vice president of sales for Los Angeles knit mill Mansfield, was enthusiastic right from the opening day.

“We had a great morning,” he said. “We saw steady customers, including a few nice majors like Macy’s.”

Mansfield, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, has added a new focus on prints. Customers provide the artwork, which Mansfield will screen for them.

Another new development, Zaretsky said, is an increased interest in North American production.

“I’m noticing it’s coming back to domestic. All the signs are there,” he said.

Networking and sourcing

Texworld’s exhibitors also included yarn suppliers such as Mt. Pleasant, N.C.–based Tuscarora Yarns and Jefferson, Ga.–based Buhler Quality Yarns. Buhler, Tuscarora and Ecotex were all showing in the Lenzing Innovation Pavilion, which included 49 international companies showing a mix of products, including many made with Lenzing’s Tencel and Lenzing Modal fibers.

David Sasso, Buhler’s vice president of international sales, described the traffic at Texworld as “steady.”

“We’re seeing brands, customers, fabric people,” he said. For yarn suppliers, a trade show is an opportunity to network with customers along the supply chain, Sasso explained. “It’s educating people, asking the right questions, seeing if we can put together networks. I can help you put your supply chain together.”

Sasso said he also fielded questions about North American sourcing. “It’s always a good sign when they’re looking in this hemisphere,” he said, adding that companies need to diversify their production to “balance volume, price and risk.”

To assist manufacturers and retailers strike that balance, testing and certification provider Intertek was exhibiting its sourcing website and Trade Good service at Texworld.

“We’re trying to spread the gospel for our new platform,” said Eduardo A. Palomar, Intertek’s consumer-goods senior client manager. Trade Good originally launched as ISO in late 2011, but after beta testing, the company has rebranded the platform as Trade Good. Formed as a separate entity, Trade Good matches manufacturers with suppliers around the world.

“Intertek has been in business for over 100 years, doing inspection, certification, testing, auditing. We know the industry.” Palomar said. “Over the years, people have always wanted [us to] recommend a factory. We now offer that information without conflict of interest. The bottom line is it’s about the relationship between the buyer and supplier. We have visited these facilities. We’ve certified many of them. When we put it in the database, we’ve had contact.”