Textile Forum a big hit with leading designers & retailers

23 Mar '12

3 min read

Textile Forum's March event in London strengthened its position as a major fabric sourcing event for leading fashion retailers as well as independents designers, specialising in menswear, womenswear, bridalwear and lingerie, with visitor levels the highest for a spring show since Textile Forum was launched in autumn 2002.

Among the visitors were a team from House of Fraser. According to Jakki Pay, head of design, contemporary, the store group is looking to source a proportion of fabrics closer to home. “Textile Forum not only provided the variety but also the timing was great. We will be back in October,” she said.

House of Holland's Joe Nigoghossian found some exciting fabrics at The Woolmark Company. “It was great to see many of our regular suppliers face-to-face and we always find some interesting fabrics at the event,” he commented. Eudon Choi and Jonathan Anderson of J W Anderson also attended as did representatives from Jasper Conran.

Kaja Moran, who for more than 20 years was a fashion designer for leading high street retailers, and now runs her own business, was searching for fabrics for a new collection for an overseas client. “I discovered just what I was looking for: directional laces, mesh designs and affordable jersey qualities with great handle and drape for tops and dresses. Eyelets and broderie anglaise were very strong taking their influence from Prada and Louis Vuitton. It was great to find everything in one place. Textile Forum is a manageable size so you can review collections indepth and not just take a cursory look.”

Top surface designer Cathy Hoste of Betty's Revenge, who is working with some of the UK's major fashion retailers, was impressed with G H Leathers “they have great patterns, textures and colours and I could combine these with my prints”.

“We saw more exclusive couture companies than previously,” said Craig Sherwin of exhibitor Alan Litman. “It was a very positive show and we will definitely be back for the next one.” It was also a very good show for regular exhibitors' shirtings companies Acorn Fabrics and Ringhart, the latter doing well with its new Jubilee collection of fabrics featuring vibrant colours.

New exhibitors John Boyd Textiles, one of the last weavers of horse hair in the world, said they had an “excellent couple of days” as did The Woolmark Company.

“We had a fantastic show with almost as many visitors as in our traditionally larger autumn event. The atmosphere was very upbeat, with both lots of sampling and orders. We can't wait for to celebrate our 10th anniversary in October,” says organiser Linda Laderman.

New for this year was a briefing for fashion students held on the first day of the show, at which several exhibitors, gave a short presentation on their collections and students were able to review the ranges before the show officially opened. A similar event is being planned for October.

The next Textile Forum will be staged from 17-18 October at The Music Room, London W1 from 10am to 6pm.

Textile Forum

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