MILAN — The textile industry’s renewed focus on technically constructed yarns is spurring interest at the Filo yarn fair.
The show’s 25th edition here March 22-23 attracted 55 exhibitors and 2,132 visitors, an 18.4 percent increase compared with the show’s last edition.
Yarns constructed of natural fibers were the dominant trend, said exhibitors showing yarns for the 2007-2008 fall/winter season. Silk, cotton and wool served as the basis for many collections and mixed with alpaca, linen, bamboo and cashmere to enhance the look, feel and performance of the yarn.
Iafil presented an alpaca and linen blend yarn, dyed after the spinning process to achieve an opaque, twisted look. In one of its new yarns, Iafil wove a blend of cotton and cashmere around a wool center to give the yarn a soft, warm hand.
Cashmere was mixed with bamboo to demonstrate the fibers’ soft and lucid-like properties. Iafil also sourced kapok, a fiber originating from the seeds of a tree with the same name that was used in textiles in the early 20th century. Because of kapok’s limited availability, Iafil combined it with pima cotton to create a lightweight, soft yarn.
“Buyers are more interested in cotton-mix yarns for winter than they ever have been before,” said Ales Rigamonti, product manager of Iafil. “Now they are aware of what we can do to make cotton warm.”
Rigamonti said the company had a 15 percent rise in sales of natural yarns in the past two years, and he expected that to increase this year. Iafil recorded 2005 sales of 20 million euros, or about $24.9 million.
Silk specialist Ongetta also reached higher sales last year, reporting a 22 percent gain to hit 40 million euros, or $49.8 million. President Andrea Ongetta attributed the boost to silk’s renewed popularity in textile collections for clothing and home furnishings.
“I’ve noticed the American market gaining pace on every silk division, even men’s ties and accessories,” Ongetta said.
The Turkey-based textile manufacturers bought the company’s yarns more frequently, “as they are elevating their textile quality,” Ongetta said.
Brescia, Itlay-based spinner Filmar launched a new stock service called Cotton Store. Enrico Marzoli, chief executive officer, said he hoped the service would increase turnover by double digits this year.
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“Cotton is really strong for winter right now, and we are hoping to capitalize on that,” said Marzoli, adding that the new service has the added advantage of being able to supply cotton for textiles, flat and circular knitting within five days worldwide.
Filcompany showcased a line of chenille yarns with a touch of bouclé made from alpaca, viscose, acrylic and wool. Technical production manager Simone Mugnai said the company had worked on chenille yarns for the past two collections, but predicting trends was more difficult because orders come in late.
“The diabolical thing is that here we are showing a collection two winters ahead and my clients still haven’t finished placing orders for fall/winter 2006-2007 collection, which we presented a year ago,” Mugnai said. “It’s hard to conceive new yarn trends when you don’t know what the market is looking for.”
Natural yarns also were predominant at Filati Maclodio. The spinner produced wood fiber Lenpur, which originates from Canada, in delicate mixes with cashmere, mohair and silk. A fine cotton and silk jersey and a cotton and linen yarn were also part of the expanded collection, a product of sales manager Mauro Belussi’s effort over the last year to increase the quality of its product mix.
“It was a key decision for us to improve the quality of the product so we could grow,” said Belussi, adding that Filati Maclodio’s more prestigious yarn portfolio was predicted to help spike company sales by 15 to 20 percent this year.