NEW YORK — Textile buyers have moved away from over-embellished styles in favor of higher-quality fabrics and more subtle detail work, said exhibitors at the second edition of Material World New York.
Textile manufacturers and importers said buyers’ tastes were becoming more refined at this year’s show, which ended its three-day run at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center here on Sept. 28.
Two years ago, the majority of buyers were looking for silks that were heavily beaded and embellished, said Dipak Desai, a sales representative with Los Angeles importer Angus International, which specializes in silk prints. Buyers have now shifted to cleaner, more basic styles. As a result, Desai has noticed a change in the accessories market.
“Accessory buyers are paying more,” he said. “The garment is toning down, so the accessory is getting louder.”
The challenge from foreign competition continues to weigh on domestic operations. Representatives from these firms expressed a need to provide customers with one-stop shopping to survive. Homing in on specific trends has become less of a priority for some.
“It’s all over the board,” said Robert Shostak, the New York sales manager for Los Angeles fabric importer United Fabrics International. “There’s no rhyme or reason to it anymore. We’re a supermarket. Everyone’s in a different market and has different color needs.”
Bernie Gardner, chief executive officer of stock house Impala Industries, said, “It’s just a seasonless situation. It’s difficult to know what people need or are looking for.”
Impala has tried to gain an advantage in speed by using a heat-transfer method to produce print fabrics. Gardner said, “We have 12 to 15 fabrics we can print the same print on, which gives you that merchandising flexibility.”
Impala has gotten a strong response from a new matte jersey fabric, as well as tie-dyed designs on Brazilian rayon. Gardner has also seen designers and buyers looking for high-quality fabrics in basic styles and colors.
Designers are looking for good-quality fabric that they can then embellish themselves.
“I think people are fishing around for what we think is going to be big,” said Peter Perrone, a sales rep with Alexander Henry Fabrics. “I think they come in with sort of a blank slate.”
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David Rubin, West Coast sales manager for McComb Mill, which specializes in fabric for athletic and team apparel, said increased foreign competition has forced the company to offer customers a stock program.
“The fact that we can react quickly distinguishes us,” Rubin said.
Although foreign competition has changed the business, Rubin said the majority of his clients see the value of using a domestic source. “Most of my customers are sticking with it. They get reliable color and consistency.”
The show marked the debut of the Africa Pavilion, hosting more than 30 companies from Botswana, Ethiopia, Lesotho and Ghana.
Belinda Edmonds, director of Cool Ideas, a firm that helps companies source fabric in African countries, said the biggest obstacle keeping Africa from being a major player in the textiles and apparel market was a lack of education. The size of the continent presents another challenge for those looking to source fabric from Africa, she added.
“I think a lot of people will be surprised when they see the diversity available and the improved styling and design,” Edmonds said.
Many of the African exhibitors were manufacturers of finished goods rather than textile and fabric suppliers. Gofa Sithole, a designer who creates apparel inspired by African tribal clothing, came as part of a delegation from Botswana looking to get her product into U.S. boutiques.
“I’m hoping to leave here with as many orders as possible,” Sithole said. “African fashion doesn’t have a huge representation here.”